Health profession students’ perceptions of ChatGPT in healthcare and education: insights from a mixed-methods study

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the perceptions of health profession students regarding ChatGPT use and the potential impact of integrating ChatGPT in healthcare and education. Background: Artificial Intelligence is increasingly utilized in medical education and clinical profession training. However, since its introduction, ChatGPT remains relatively unexplored in terms of health profession students' acceptance of its use in education and practice. Design: This study employed a mixed-methods approach, using a web-based survey. Methods: The study involved a convenience sample recruited through various methods, including Faculty of Medicine announcements, social media, and snowball sampling, during the second semester (March to June 2023). Data were collected using a structured questionnaire with closed-ended questions and three open-ended questions. The final sample comprised 217 undergraduate health profession students, including 73 (33.6%) nursing students, 65 (30.0%) medical students, and 79 (36.4%) occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech therapy students. Results: Among the surveyed students, 86.2% were familiar with ChatGPT, with generally positive perceptions as reflected by a mean score of 4.04 (SD = 0.62) on a scale of 1 to 5. Positive feedback was particularly noted with respect to ChatGPT's role in information retrieval and summarization. The qualitative data revealed three main themes: experiences with ChatGPT, its impact on the quality of healthcare, and its integration into the curriculum. The findings highlight benefits such as serving as a convenient tool for accessing information, reducing human errors, and fostering innovative learning approaches. However, they also underscore areas of concern, including ethical considerations, challenges in fostering critical thinking, and issues related to verification. The absence of significant differences between the different fields of study indicates consistent perceptions across nursing, medicine, and other health profession students. Conclusions: Our findings underscore the necessity for continuous refinement to enhance ChatGPT's accuracy, reliability, and alignment with the diverse educational needs of health professions. These insights not only deepen our understanding of student perceptions of ChatGPT in healthcare education but also have significant implications for the future integration of AI in health profession practice. The study emphasizes the importance of a careful balance between leveraging the benefits of AI tools and addressing ethical and pedagogical concerns.