AI in Medicine: What You Should Know About MedGemma and MedSigLIP

Will AI Replace Nurse Practitioners and Doctors?

No, but it is changing how we practice.

With new tools like MedGemma and MedSigLIP, AI is entering the medical space faster than many expected. As providers, it’s normal to feel unsure or even concerned. But these tools are not here to replace us,  they’re being developed to support documentation, image analysis, and decision-making.

As a nurse practitioner in functional and concierge medicine, I believe staying informed is the best way to stay in control. Here’s what you need to know about MedGemma and MedSigLIP, what they do, and what they don’t — and why it matters for your practice. 

What Are MedGemma and MedSigLIP?

MedGemma and MedSigLIP are AI models created to process and analyze medical images and clinical data. They fall under a category called multimodal AI, which means they combine text and visual inputs to draw conclusions.

• MedGemma: Interprets radiology images (like X-rays and CT scans) and generates clinical reports or notes based on the images.

• MedSigLIP: Matches and interprets relationships between text-based data (like symptoms or diagnoses) and images, helping make connections between patient descriptions and visual findings.

These tools are designed to support, not replace, medical decision-making. They’re being trained on massive datasets to improve efficiency, accuracy, and documentation workflows — but they don’t have clinical judgment, context, or ethical reasoning.

What These Models Can Do

• Help summarize findings from diagnostic images

• Assist with chart documentation or note creation

• Flag potential concerns in large data sets

• Support education and research

What They Can’t Do

• Make treatment decisions

• Conduct a physical exam

• Build trust with patients

• Weigh psychosocial, emotional, or environmental factors

• Replace the value of your clinical experience and intuition

Why This Matters for Functional and Concierge Providers

For those of us in functional or concierge medicine, where time, nuance, and personalized care are critical, these tools may eventually help automate routine documentation or surface patterns faster — freeing us up to focus on what machines can’t do: listen, think, educate, and guide.

Instead of viewing AI as a threat, I believe we should stay informed, be willing to adapt, and lead these conversations. AI will likely be part of our future — the question is how we use it to enhance, not replace, what we already do well.

Final Thoughts

MedGemma and MedSigLIP are impressive tools. But they don’t replace you — they work best with you.

Let’s keep the conversation going.

What are your thoughts on AI in medicine? Are you curious, concerned, or both?
Comment below — I’d love to hear how you’re thinking about this shift.