ChatGPT: Friend or foe in medical writing? An example of how ChatGPT can be utilized in writing case reports

• Published in: Surgery in practice and science Vol. 14; p. 100185
• Main Authors: Ho, Wai Lone Jonathan, Koussayer, Bilal, Sujka, Joseph
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.09.2023; Elsevier
• Subjects: Artificial intelligence; Case report; ChatGPT; Hernia repair; Surgical education; Hernia repair; Case report; Research; ChatGPT; Artificial intelligence; Surgical education
• ISSN: 2666-2620; 2666-2620
• DOI: 10.1016/j.sipas.2023.100185

•ChatGPT can proofread and summarize medical reports without omitting key info.•The interactive nature of ChatGPT can lead to new medical insights.•ChatGPT can provide contextualized answers based on the conversation history.•ChatGPT provides false citations that cannot be located in any medical database.•There is a lack of clear guidelines regarding the usage of ChatGPT in research. ChatGPT is a chatbot built on a natural language processing model which can generate human-like responses to prompts given to it. Despite its lack of domain-specific training, ChatGPT has developed remarkable accuracy in interpreting clinical information. In this article, we aim to assess what role ChatGPT can serve in medical writing. We recruited a first-year medical student with no prior experience in writing case reports to write a case report on a complex surgery with the assistance of ChatGPT. After a thorough evaluation of its responses, we believe that ChatGPT is a powerful medical writing tool that can be used to generate summaries, proofread, and provide valuable medical insight. However, ChatGPT is not a substitute for a study author due to several significant limitations, and should instead be used in conjunction with the author during the writing process. As the impact of natural language processing models such as ChatGPT grows, we suggest that guidelines be established on how to better utilize this technology to improve clinical research rather than outright prohibiting its usage.