Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39913914›Full record

ArticleJMIR research protocols2025

ChatGPT-4 Performance on German Continuing Medical Education-Friend or Foe (Trick or Treat)? Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Christian Burisch, Abhav Bellary, Frank Breuckmann, Jan Ehlers, Serge C Thal, Timur Sellmann, Daniel Gödde

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JMIR research protocols, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Christian Burisch *State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Regional Government Düsseldorf, Leibniz-Gymnasium, Essen, Germany.ORCID 0009-0009-9710-7827
Abhav Bellary *Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.ORCID 0009-0004-8349-3468
Frank BreuckmannDepartment of Cardiology, Pneumology, Neurology and Intensive Care Medicine, Klinik Kitzinger Land, Kitzingen, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-7245-8000
Jan EhlersDepartment of Didactics and Education Research in the Health Sector, Faculty of Health, Witten/Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-6306-4173
Serge C ThalDepartment of Anesthesiology, HELIOS University Hospital, Wuppertal, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1222-8729
Timur Sellmann *Department of Anaesthesiology I, Witten-Herdecke University, Witten, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-1471-6806
Daniel Gödde *Department of Pathology and Molecular Pathology, HELIOS University Hospital Wuppertal, University Witten/Herdecke, Witten, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-8430-1411

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe increasing development and spread of artificial and assistive intelligence is opening up new areas of application not only in applied medicine but also in related fields such as continuing medical education (CME), which is part of the mandatory training program for medical doctors in Germany. This study aimed to determine whether medical laypersons can successfully conduct training courses specifically for physicians with the help of a large language model (LLM) such as ChatGPT-4. This study aims to qualitatively and quantitatively investigate the impact of using artificial intelligence (AI; specifically ChatGPT) on the acquisition of credit points in German postgraduate medical education.

objectiveUsing this approach, we wanted to test further possible applications of AI in the postgraduate medical education setting and obtain results for practical use. Depending on the results, the potential influence of LLMs such as ChatGPT-4 on CME will be discussed, for example, as part of a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis.

methodsWe designed a randomized controlled trial, in which adult high school students attempt to solve CME tests across six medical specialties in three study arms in total with 18 CME training courses per study arm under different interventional conditions with varying amounts of permitted use of ChatGPT-4. Sample size calculation was performed including guess probability (20% correct answers, SD=40%; confidence level of 1-α=.95/α=.05; test power of 1-β=.95; P<.05). The study was registered at open scientific framework.

resultsAs of October 2024, the acquisition of data and students to participate in the trial is ongoing. Upon analysis of our acquired data, we predict our findings to be ready for publication as soon as early 2025.

conclusionsWe aim to prove that the advances in AI, especially LLMs such as ChatGPT-4 have considerable effects on medical laypersons' ability to successfully pass CME tests. The implications that this holds on how the concept of continuous medical education requires reevaluation are yet to be contemplated.

trial registrationOSF Registries 10.17605/OSF.IO/MZNUF; https://osf.io/mznuf. INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/63887.

Indexed as

Artificial IntelligenceEducation, Medical, ContinuingEducational MeasurementGenerative Artificial IntelligenceGermanyHumansRandomized Controlled Trials as Topicartificial intelligenceChatGPTcontinuing medical educationlarge language modelpostgraduate educationself-assessment program

Identifiers

PMID39913914
PMCPMC11843049

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.