Integrating ChatGPT in Orthopedic Education for Medical Undergraduates: Randomized Controlled Trial

Background ChatGPT is a natural language processing model developed by OpenAI, which can be iteratively updated and optimized to accommodate the changing and complex requirements of human verbal communication. Objective The study aimed to evaluate ChatGPT’s accuracy in answering orthopedics-related multiple-choice questions (MCQs) and assess its short-term effects as a learning aid through a randomized controlled trial. In addition, long-term effects on student performance in other subjects were measured using final examination results. Methods We first evaluated ChatGPT’s accuracy in answering MCQs pertaining to orthopedics across various question formats. Then, 129 undergraduate medical students participated in a randomized controlled study in which the ChatGPT group used ChatGPT as a learning tool, while the control group was prohibited from using artificial intelligence software to support learning. Following a 2-week intervention, the 2 groups’ understanding of orthopedics was assessed by an orthopedics test, and variations in the 2 groups’ performance in other disciplines were noted through a follow-up at the end of the semester. Results ChatGPT-4.0 answered 1051 orthopedics-related MCQs with a 70.60% (742/1051) accuracy rate, including 71.8% (237/330) accuracy for A1 MCQs, 73.7% (330/448) accuracy for A2 MCQs, 70.2% (92/131) accuracy for A3/4 MCQs, and 58.5% (83/142) accuracy for case analysis MCQs. As of April 7, 2023, a total of 129 individuals participated in the experiment. However, 19 individuals withdrew from the experiment at various phases; thus, as of July 1, 2023, a total of 110 individuals accomplished the trial and completed all follow-up work. After we intervened in the learning style of the students in the short term, the ChatGPT group answered more questions correctly than the control group (ChatGPT group: mean 141.20, SD 26.68; control group: mean 130.80, SD 25.56; P=.04) in the orthopedics test, particularly on A1 (ChatGPT group: mean 46.57, SD 8.52; control group: mean 42.18, SD 9.43; P=.01), A2 (ChatGPT group: mean 60.59, SD 10.58; control group: mean 56.66, SD 9.91; P=.047), and A3/4 MCQs (ChatGPT group: mean 19.57, SD 5.48; control group: mean 16.46, SD 4.58; P=.002). At the end of the semester, we found that the ChatGPT group performed better on final examinations in surgery (ChatGPT group: mean 76.54, SD 9.79; control group: mean 72.54, SD 8.11; P=.02) and obstetrics and gynecology (ChatGPT group: mean 75.98, SD 8.94; control group: mean 72.54, SD 8.66; P=.04) than the control group. Conclusions ChatGPT answers orthopedics-related MCQs accurately, and students using it excel in both short-term and long-term assessments. Our findings strongly support ChatGPT’s integration into medical education, enhancing contemporary instructional methods. Trial Registration Chinese Clinical Trial Registry Chictr2300071774; https://www.chictr.org.cn/hvshowproject.html ?id=225740&v=1.0