diff --git a/.github/workflows/cicd_tests.yml b/.github/workflows/cicd_tests.yml
index d5cb03a33f..28a420d8c8 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/cicd_tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/cicd_tests.yml
@@ -7,19 +7,11 @@ on:
       - dev
       - main
       - releasing/*
-    paths-ignore:  # skip if only docs are modified
-      - '**.md'
-      - '**.rst'
-      - 'docs/**'
   pull_request:
     branches:
       - dev
       - main
       - releasing/*
-    paths-ignore:  # skip if only docs are modified
-      - '**.md'
-      - '**.rst'
-      - 'docs/**'
 
 permissions:
   contents: read
@@ -55,6 +47,53 @@ env:
 # When support is dropped for a version it is important to update these as appropriate.
 
 jobs:
+  # This job will set its output value `skip` to 2 if only documentation was changed, either documentation files or
+  # the docstrings of source files. If any source lines are changed, or non-documentation files are changed, the
+  # result is 0 which then triggers tests to run. This job works by using the compare_sources.py script to compare
+  # changed files to see if they differ in ways other than comments or docstrings.
+  test_skip:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      skip: ${{ steps.check-changes.outputs.skip }}
+    steps:
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      with:
+        fetch-depth: 2
+    - name: Set up Python ${{ env.PYTHON_VER1 }}
+      uses: actions/setup-python@v6
+      with:
+        python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VER1 }}
+        cache: 'pip'
+    - name: Check File Changes
+      id: check-changes
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        echo "skip=1" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+        mkdir -p /tmp/check_changes
+        if ! git diff --name-only HEAD^..HEAD ':!docs' > /tmp/check_changes/changed_files
+        then
+          echo "skip=0" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+          exit 0
+        fi
+
+        while read i
+        do
+          echo "Checking for changes: $i"
+          if ! git show HEAD^:$i > /tmp/check_changes/$(basename $i)
+          then
+            echo "New file found, or 'git show' failed, running tests."
+          elif ! python monai/utils/compare_sources.py $i /tmp/check_changes/$(basename $i)
+          then
+            echo "Change found, running tests."
+          else
+            continue
+          fi
+
+          echo "skip=0" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+          break
+        done < /tmp/check_changes/changed_files
+
   static-checks:  # Perform static type and other checks using runtests.sh
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     strategy:
@@ -87,6 +126,7 @@ jobs:
 
   min-dep:  # Test with minumum dependencies installed for different OS, Python, and PyTorch combinations
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    needs: test_skip
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -123,8 +163,8 @@ jobs:
 
     timeout-minutes: 40
     steps:
-    - if: runner.os == 'Linux'
-      name: Clean unused tools
+    - name: Clean unused tools
+      if: runner.os == 'Linux' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         find  /opt/hostedtoolcache/* -maxdepth 0 ! -name 'Python' -exec rm -rf {} \;
         sudo rm -rf /usr/share/dotnet
@@ -132,16 +172,20 @@ jobs:
         sudo rm -rf /opt/ghc /usr/local/.ghcup
         sudo docker system prune -f
     - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
     - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       uses: actions/setup-python@v6
       with:
         python-version: ${{ matrix.python-version }}
         cache: 'pip'
     - name: Prepare pip wheel
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         which python
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip wheel tomli
     - name: Install the minimum dependencies
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         # min. requirements
         python -m pip install torch==${{ matrix.pytorch-version }}
@@ -150,6 +194,7 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip list
       shell: bash
     - name: Run quick tests
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         nvidia-smi || true
         python monai/config/check_env.py --env --monai
@@ -168,51 +213,56 @@ jobs:
       matrix:
         os: [windows-latest, ubuntu-latest, macOS-latest]  # macOS-latest is very slow (#8864), testing install only
     timeout-minutes: 120
+    needs: test_skip
     env:
       QUICKTEST: True
     steps:
-    - if: runner.os == 'Linux'
-      name: Clean unused tools
+    - name: Clean unused tools
+      if: runner.os == 'Linux' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         find  /opt/hostedtoolcache/* -maxdepth 0 ! -name 'Python' -exec rm -rf {} \;
         sudo rm -rf /usr/share/dotnet
         sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/android
         sudo rm -rf /opt/ghc /usr/local/.ghcup
         sudo docker system prune -f
-    - if: runner.os == 'windows'
-      name: Config pagefile (Windows only)
+    - name: Config pagefile (Windows only)
+      if: runner.os == 'windows' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       uses: al-cheb/configure-pagefile-action@v1.5
       with:
         minimum-size: 8GB
         maximum-size: 16GB
         disk-root: "D:"
     - uses: actions/checkout@v7
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
     - name: Set up Python ${{ env.PYTHON_VER1 }}
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       uses: actions/setup-python@v6
       with:
         python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VER1 }}
         cache: 'pip'
     - name: Prepare pip wheel
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         which python
         python -m pip install --upgrade pip wheel
-    - if: runner.os == 'windows'
+    - if: runner.os == 'windows' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       name: Install torch cpu from pytorch.org (Windows only)
       run: |
         python -m pip install torch==${WIN_FULLDEP_VER} torchvision==${WIN_FULLDEP_VISION_VER}+cpu --index-url https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cpu
       shell: bash
-    - if: runner.os != 'windows'
+    - if: runner.os != 'windows' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       name: Install torch gpu
       run: |
         # install the lowest version of PyTorch supported
         python -m pip install torch==${PYTORCH_VER1} torchvision==${TORCHVISION_VER1}
       shell: bash
-    - if: runner.os == 'Linux'
+    - if: runner.os == 'Linux' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       name: Install itk pre-release (Linux only)
       run: |
         python -m pip install --pre -U itk
       shell: bash
     - name: Install the complete dependencies
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         python -m pip install --user --upgrade pip wheel tomli
         python monai/config/print_dependencies.py build-system | xargs pip install --no-build-isolation
@@ -220,6 +270,7 @@ jobs:
         python -m pip list
       shell: bash
     - name: Run compiled (${{ runner.os }})
+      if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       run: |
         python -m pip uninstall -y monai
         BUILD_MONAI=1 python -m pip install --no-build-isolation -e .  # compile the cpp extensions
@@ -227,12 +278,12 @@ jobs:
         nvidia-smi || true
         python monai/config/check_env.py --env --monai
       shell: bash
-    - if: runner.os != 'macOS'
+    - if: runner.os != 'macOS' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       name: Run full tests
       run: |
         python -m unittest -v
       shell: bash
-    - if: runner.os == 'macOS'
+    - if: runner.os == 'macOS' && needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
       name: Run min tests
       run: |
         # TODO: enable large range of macOS tests which don't take a very long time
@@ -252,6 +303,8 @@ jobs:
     # ``.github/workflows/pythonapp-hyena-gpu.yml``.
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     timeout-minutes: 30
+    needs: test_skip
+    if: needs.test_skip.outputs.skip == 0
     steps:
     - name: Clean unused tools
       run: |
diff --git a/docs/source/utils.rst b/docs/source/utils.rst
index 958d27337e..ef4bcc3670 100644
--- a/docs/source/utils.rst
+++ b/docs/source/utils.rst
@@ -85,3 +85,8 @@ Safe Evaluation
 ---------------
 .. automodule:: monai.utils.safeeval
   :members:
+
+Compare Sources
+---------------
+.. automodule:: monai.utils.compare_sources
+  :members:
diff --git a/monai/utils/__init__.py b/monai/utils/__init__.py
index 944f34aab7..f844789cd7 100644
--- a/monai/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/monai/utils/__init__.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 from __future__ import annotations
 
+from .compare_sources import SKIP_EXTS, files_considered_equal, sources_equal
 from .component_store import ComponentStore
 from .decorators import MethodReplacer, RestartGenerator
 from .deprecate_utils import DeprecatedError, deprecated, deprecated_arg, deprecated_arg_default
diff --git a/monai/utils/compare_sources.py b/monai/utils/compare_sources.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f0e8bd9e41
--- /dev/null
+++ b/monai/utils/compare_sources.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+# Copyright (c) MONAI Consortium
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+"""
+This module is used in Github Actions to determine if a Python source file has been modified in a PR.
+"""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import ast
+import os
+import sys
+from os.path import splitext
+
+PathLike = str | os.PathLike  # needs to be duplicated here to avoid importing anything from MONAI inside actions
+
+SKIP_EXTS = (".md", ".rst")
+
+
+class RemoveDocstrings(ast.NodeTransformer):
+    """
+    Strips docstrings from source files so that they aren't used for comparing ASTs.
+    """
+
+    def visit(self, node: ast.AST) -> ast.AST:
+        try:
+            # remove docstrings from the files
+            if ast.get_docstring(node) is not None:
+                del node.body[0]
+        except TypeError:
+            pass
+        return super().visit(node)
+
+
+def sources_equal(src1: str, src2: str) -> bool:
+    """
+    Compare Python source texts at the AST level without docstrings or comments. If two texts are equal except for
+    changes to docstrings or comments, they will be considered equal by this function. Any other changes will appear
+    as differences in the AST representations, which are compared inefficiently by comparing tree string dumps.
+
+    Args:
+        src1: first Python source text.
+        src2: second Python source text.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if the texts `src1` and `src2` are equal with docstrings and comments removed, False otherwise.
+    """
+    remdoc = RemoveDocstrings()
+
+    m1 = ast.parse(src1)
+    m2 = ast.parse(src2)
+    remdoc.visit(m1)
+    remdoc.visit(m2)
+
+    list1 = list(ast.walk(m1))
+    list2 = list(ast.walk(m2))
+
+    if len(list1) != len(list2) or any(type(n1) is not type(n2) for n1, n2 in zip(list1, list2)):
+        return False
+
+    return ast.dump(m1) == ast.dump(m2)
+
+
+def files_considered_equal(file1: PathLike, file2: PathLike) -> bool:
+    """
+    Returns True if the files are considered equal, that is they are doc files or differ only in docstrings or comments.
+
+    Args:
+        file1: first file path to compare.
+        file2: second file path to compare.
+
+    Returns:
+        True if the files have the same extension, and either this extension is in `SKIP_EXTS`, or is ".py" with the
+        files having the same content according to `sources_equal`. If the extensions differ, or are both ".py" but the
+        file contents differ, returns False.
+    """
+    _, ext1 = splitext(str(file1))
+    _, ext2 = splitext(str(file2))
+
+    # if extensions aren't equal then definitely different (which shouldn't happen anyway)
+    if ext1 != ext2:
+        return False
+
+    # if extensions are an ignored type, ie. docs, don't compare at all
+    if ext1 in SKIP_EXTS:
+        return True
+
+    # if not Python source files, they aren't doc files at this point so assume different
+    if ext1 != ".py":
+        return False
+
+    # compare the actual parsed contents of the source files
+    with open(file1) as o1, open(file2) as o2:
+        return sources_equal(o1.read(), o2.read())
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    _, file1, file2 = sys.argv
+    sys.exit(0 if files_considered_equal(file1, file2) else 1)
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_compare_sources.py b/tests/utils/test_compare_sources.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2bbb8db0fc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/utils/test_compare_sources.py
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+# Copyright (c) MONAI Consortium
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import unittest
+from pathlib import Path
+from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
+
+from parameterized import parameterized
+
+from monai.utils import SKIP_EXTS, files_considered_equal, sources_equal
+
+text1 = """
+def foo(arg1, arg2):
+    '''
+    Compute the sum of arg1 and arg2 and return it.
+    '''
+    return arg1 + arg2
+"""
+
+text2 = """
+
+def foo(arg1, arg2):
+    '''
+    Add arg1 and arg2 together and return it.
+    '''
+    return arg1 + arg2
+
+"""
+
+text3 = "def foo(arg1, arg2):return arg1 + arg2"
+
+text4 = "def bar(arg1, arg2):return arg1 + arg2"
+
+text5 = """
+class Foo:
+    def method(self,arg1):
+        '''Returns arg1.'''
+        return arg1
+"""
+
+text6 = """
+'''
+This is a module containing only a docstring.
+'''
+"""
+
+text7 = """
+'''
+So is this but it's different.
+'''
+"""
+
+TEXT_EQUAL_PAIRS = [(text1, text2), (text1, text3), (text2, text3), (text6, text7), (text6, ""), ("", "")]
+
+TEXT_UNEQUAL_PAIRS = [(text1, text4), (text2, text4), (text3, text4), (text1, text5), (text1, "")]
+
+
+class TestSourcesEqual(unittest.TestCase):
+    @parameterized.expand(TEXT_EQUAL_PAIRS)
+    def test_equal_texts(self, t1, t2):
+        self.assertTrue(sources_equal(t1, t2))
+        self.assertTrue(sources_equal(t2, t1))
+
+    @parameterized.expand(TEXT_UNEQUAL_PAIRS)
+    def test_unequal_texts(self, t1, t2):
+        self.assertFalse(sources_equal(t1, t2))
+        self.assertFalse(sources_equal(t2, t1))
+
+
+class TestFilesEqual(unittest.TestCase):
+    def test_equal_exts(self):
+        """Test that two non-existent files with .py extensions result in an exception rather than False return."""
+        with self.assertRaises(FileNotFoundError):
+            files_considered_equal("/path/to/file1.py", "/path/to/somewhere/else/file2.py")
+
+    def test_unequal_exts(self):
+        """Test that two non-existent files with different extensions result in a False return."""
+        self.assertFalse(files_considered_equal("/path/to/file1.text", "/path/to/file1.py"))
+
+    @parameterized.expand(SKIP_EXTS)
+    def test_skip_docs(self, ext):
+        self.assertTrue(files_considered_equal("file1" + ext, "file2" + ext))
+
+    @parameterized.expand(TEXT_EQUAL_PAIRS)
+    def test_equal_text(self, t1, t2):
+        with TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+            p1 = Path(tmpdir, "t1.py")
+            p2 = Path(tmpdir, "t2.py")
+            p1.write_text(t1)
+            p2.write_text(t2)
+
+            self.assertTrue(files_considered_equal(p1, p2))
+
+    @parameterized.expand(TEXT_UNEQUAL_PAIRS)
+    def test_unequal_text(self, t1, t2):
+        with TemporaryDirectory() as tmpdir:
+            p1 = Path(tmpdir, "t1.py")
+            p2 = Path(tmpdir, "t2.py")
+            p1.write_text(t1)
+            p2.write_text(t2)
+
+            self.assertFalse(files_considered_equal(p1, p2))
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()