AI in Medicine Community Symposium 2026 Recap: Search, LLMs & Health

Recap: AI in Medicine Community Symposium – A Community Conversation About Artificial Intelligence, Health, and Hope

Artificial intelligence is no longer something that only happens in labs or tech companies. It is in the apps on our phones, the search bars we type into late at night, and increasingly, in the tools that support doctors and nurses.

That is exactly why this morning mattered.

On Saturday, October 24, 2026, neighbors, survivors, caregivers, and professionals gathered at Lincoln Memorial Congregational Church in Los Angeles, and online, for the AI in Medicine Community Symposium: A Community Conversation About Artificial Intelligence, Health, and Hope. Ventry Group was proud to have our own Damien Halliburton on the panel.

The Event at a Glance

The symposium was presented by The Gailen and Cathy Reevers Center for Community Empowerment, Celebrate LIFE Cancer Ministry, and Healthy Lungs California. It was built around four guiding themes: Faith, Community, Health, and Hope.

• Date: Saturday, October 24, 2026
• Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM, followed by lunch
• Location: Lincoln Memorial Congregational Church, 4126 Arlington Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90008
• Format: In-person and virtual
• Admission: Free, with registration

The Speakers

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Bino Varghese. Dr. Bino Varghese delivered the keynote, opening the program and setting the stage for a clear, community-friendly look at how artificial intelligence is showing up in medicine and what it can mean for patients and families.

The Panel. Following the keynote, four panelists brought their perspectives to the conversation. Together, the keynote and panel aimed to translate a complicated subject into language everyone in the room could use:

• Damien Halliburton – Managing Partner at Ventry Group. Damien works at the intersection of people, workforce, and AI infrastructure, helping organizations build stronger teams and put practical automation to work. He brought a view of how AI is changing the way work gets done, including in health-related fields.
• Dr. Anton Bilchik – Panelist, part of the conversation on what AI means for patients and care.
• Karen Busa – Panelist, adding her voice to the community discussion.
• Patricia Williams – Panelist, helping ground the conversation in the real questions people in our community are asking.

Who Was in the Room

The organizers made it clear that everyone was invited, and the program was designed with a wide audience in mind.

No technical background was needed. The goal was simple: help people understand what AI in medicine means for patients, families, and communities, in clear and community-friendly language. The audience included:

• The general community
• Cancer survivors
• Caregivers
• Health professionals
• Seniors and young adults
• Church members

Why a Community Conversation About AI Matters

Health decisions are personal. They involve fear, faith, family, and hope. When a new technology enters that space, people deserve to understand it, not just hear about it.

Today, many people's first step after a diagnosis or a worrying symptom is not a phone call. It is a search. Or, more and more, a question typed into an AI chatbot.

Those tools can be helpful. They can also be confusing, incomplete, or simply wrong. Knowing how they work is one of the best ways to protect yourself and the people you care for.

In the spirit of today's symposium, here is a plain-language look at two of the most common ways people find health information online: search engines and large language models.

How Search Engines Work (In Plain Language)

When you type "what does a lung nodule mean" into a search engine, the results feel instant. Behind the scenes, three big steps have already happened.

1. Crawling: Exploring the web. Search engines use automated programs, often called "crawlers," that travel across the internet following links from page to page. Think of a librarian walking every aisle of a giant library, noting which books exist and what is on their shelves.

2. Indexing: Organizing what was found. Once a page is discovered, the search engine reads it and stores key information in a massive catalog called an index. It notes the topic, the words used, the structure of the page, and many other signals. If a page is not in the index, it generally will not show up in results, no matter how good it is.

3. Ranking: Deciding what you see first. When you search, the engine looks through its index and ranks the pages it thinks best answer your question. It weighs things like relevance, how trustworthy the source appears, how clear the page is, and how well it works on your device.

What this means for health searches. Ranking is not the same as accuracy. A page can rank well because it is popular or well written, not necessarily because it is medically correct or right for your situation.

A few habits help:

• Check the source. Is it a hospital, a recognized health organization, a government health agency, or a qualified professional?
• Look for dates. Medical guidance changes. Older pages may be out of date.
• Be cautious with ads. Sponsored results appear at the top because someone paid for that spot.
• Compare several sources. If trustworthy sites agree, that is a good sign. If they don't, it is a great question to bring to your doctor.

What Are Large Language Models?

You have probably heard of AI chat tools that answer questions in full sentences. Most of them are powered by large language models, or LLMs.

An LLM is a computer program trained on enormous amounts of text. Through that training, it learns patterns in language: how words, sentences, and ideas tend to fit together. When you ask a question, it predicts a helpful-sounding response one piece at a time.

How LLMs differ from search engines. This is the key difference to understand: A search engine points you to existing pages — you can click through and see who wrote them. A large language model generates a new answer in its own words — sometimes it cites sources, often it does not.

Search is like a librarian handing you a stack of books. An LLM is more like a well-read friend summarizing what they remember. That can be convenient, but you can't always see where the information came from.

Where LLMs can help. Used carefully, these tools can:

• Explain medical terms in plain language
• Help you prepare a list of questions before an appointment
• Summarize long, complicated documents into something easier to read
• Support caregivers who are trying to keep track of information

Where LLMs Fall Short

LLMs also have real limits, especially in health:

• They can be confidently wrong. An LLM can produce an answer that sounds polished but contains errors. This is sometimes called a "hallucination."
• They may be out of date. Many models are trained on information up to a certain point in time.
• They don't know you. They don't have your medical history, test results, or the full picture your care team has.
• Privacy matters. Think carefully before typing personal health details into any online tool.

The Human Side of Care

That is why the human side of care is not going anywhere. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and community health workers bring judgment, context, and compassion that no model can replace. Community education, like today's symposium, helps people use AI as a tool for better conversations with their care team, not as a substitute for them.

This article is for general education only and is not medical advice. Always talk with a qualified health professional about your health.

The Ventry Group Perspective: People, Process, Technology, AI

At Ventry Group, we believe AI works best when it serves people. Our work is built on four pillars: People, Process, Technology, and AI.

The same principle applies in medicine. Technology can speed things up, organize information, and open new possibilities. But it still takes skilled people, thoughtful processes, and trust to turn that technology into better outcomes.

Damien's seat on this panel reflected that view. As AI reshapes industries, including healthcare, communities need clear information about how these tools work, what new skills they demand, and how to make sure the benefits reach everyone, not just a few.

Events like this one are where that understanding starts: in a room full of neighbors, survivors, caregivers, professionals, and people of faith asking honest questions together.

Thank You, and What's Next

Thank you to The Gailen and Cathy Reevers Center for Community Empowerment, Celebrate LIFE Cancer Ministry, and Healthy Lungs California for creating a space where faith, community, health, and hope could meet a subject as big as artificial intelligence. And thank you to everyone who joined in person and online.

If you have questions about the symposium or would like to hear about future community programs, please reach out to the organizers at PastorRhonda@CelebrateLifeCM.org or 424-258-5433.

And if your organization is thinking about how AI, automation, and the right talent can work together, we would be glad to talk. Ventry Group helps teams put practical AI to work without losing sight of the people behind it. Book a strategy session with Ventry Group at https://ventrygroup.com.

Ventry Group: Build Better Teams. Automate Better Businesses.