At the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, the future of healthcare education is coming into focus. Healthcare 5.0 represents a time when humans will collaborate with machines—and healthcare professionals work alongside artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality (XR), and smart systems to improve patient care. While artificial intelligence and immersive technology continue to transform every industry, including healthcare and education, the College has spent the past two years positioning itself to harness these tools for the benefit and empowerment of students, practitioners, and patients alike.
The College’s efforts in this space, led by Dr. Michael Fulford, Assistant Dean for Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Initiatives, emerged when it engaged in UGA’s presidential hiring initiative in data science and artificial intelligence. The College of Pharmacy has worked specifically with Veterinary Medicine and Education to not only explore the promise of AI and immersive tools, but to develop the expertise and infrastructure necessary to integrate them into teaching, research, and patient care. Fulford shared the College’s progress in this area.
“For the past two years, the College of Pharmacy has taken a measured approach by building capacity, partnerships, and infrastructure. AI and XR, or XAIR as we like to call it, can open the door to new methods of learning, engagement, and health care practice. However, this requires a balanced approach that is grounded in the clinical and scientific acumen that our faculty can provide patients and learners.”
Laying Foundations Through Collaboration
Since delving into this space, the College has seen tremendous growth and opportunity. In addition to the faculty employed as part of the presidential hiring initiative, the College built collaborations with faculty in UGA’s College of Engineering, the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the UGA Institute for Artificial Intelligence, and the new School of Medicine. In addition, it engaged with leaders from VA Immersive and partnered with faculty from institutions such as Stanford University, Auburn University, the University of California-San Francisco, along with leaders in industry.
Nash Carroll, Graduate Assistant for Immersive Technology at the College of Pharmacy, demonstrates VR tools.
In addition, the UGA team was awarded a $100,000 grant from the university’s foundation to implement immersive technology in courses. This funding allowed the College to partner with such organizations as GigXR, HouseCall VR, and ReCourseAI to enhance the student learning experience in the Doctor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Science in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences degree programs. Additionally, UGA faculty have taken early steps to explore and pilot technology-enabled learning and create immersive AI-driven experiences, while successfully attaining seed funding to pilot future initiatives and partnerships. These collaborative initiatives will reshape the way the College delivers education in the PharmD, undergraduate, and graduate degree programs.
Preparing Faculty for the Future
A key emphasis has been on training the trainers. Faculty across the College are engaging in professional development and collaborative planning to prepare for a future in which AI-enhanced simulations and immersive environments will be a part of the classroom experience. These efforts are creating a foundation that will allow the College to move quickly as technologies mature and become more widely available.
As an example, a team that includes the Colleges of Pharmacy, Veterinary Medicine, Education, Journalism, Engineering, the School of Medicine, and the Institute for Artificial Intelligence, will host a state-of-the-art conference co-sponsored by the UGA Provost Office titled, “Healthcare 5.0: Precision Health & Education Through Immersive Technology.” To be held March 23-24, 2026, at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel at UGA, the conference will showcase cutting-edge immersive technologies and artificial intelligence applications aimed at transformative improvements in healthcare education, clinical practice, and translational medicine. Speakers will include renowned national experts. Click here to express an interest in the Healthcare 5.0 conference or contact Fulford.
“AI-powered interventions in pharmacy practice and education aren’t just novel new software applications,” Fulford emphasized. “They are now providing portals to the future of pharmacy practice and education. As we move into the age of Healthcare 5.0, technology will reset how we attain knowledge. Our graduates will work in spaces and with people who use these technologies everyday, and the idea of digital health will no longer be novel; it will just be how healthcare is done.”
Looking Ahead
While much of the current work is visionary in nature, UGA Pharmacy is making deliberate strides toward becoming a leader in this evolving space. Next steps include expanding faculty development opportunities, deepening collaborations across campus, and continuing to design pilot projects that bring immersive learning into both student and patient education.
Successfully implementing immersive technology and AI requires a truly interdisciplinary approach. As the team grows, so does the expertise they bring to the College. The core faculty from the hiring initiative include Drs. Matt Schmidt, Rich Lamb, Jennifer Liu, and Eunice Kim. These faculty members come with extensive experience in implementing immersive technologies in education. Additionally, Drs. Tim Brown, Eugene Douglass, Susan Smith, Josh Caballero, Robin Southwood, Devin Lavender, Chelsea Keedy, Russ Palmer, along with Katie Smith are spearheading similar projects as well. Lastly, the initiative has grown through partnerships with Drs. Kyle Johnsen from the UGA College of Engineering, Grace Ahn from the College of Journalism, and Drs. Aimee Martin and Janette Hill from the School of Medicine.
For the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy, the past two years have been about laying the groundwork and creating the infrastructure to move from following the trend to being the trend in an ever evolving healthcare and educational landscape.
