Effectiveness of ChatGPT-4o in developing continuing professional development plans for graduate radiographers: a descriptive study

PURPOSE: This study evaluates the use of ChatGPT-4o in creating tailored continuing professional development (CPD) plans for radiography students, addressing the challenge of aligning CPD with Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia (MRPBA) requirements. We hypothesized that ChatGPT-4o could support students in CPD planning while meeting regulatory standards.

METHODS: A descriptive, experimental design was used to generate 3 unique CPD plans using ChatGPT-4o, each tailored to hypothetical graduate radiographers in varied clinical settings. Each plan followed MRPBA guidelines, focusing on computed tomography specialization by the second year. Three MRPBA-registered academics assessed the plans using criteria of appropriateness, timeliness, relevance, reflection, and completeness from October 2024 to November 2024. Ratings underwent analysis using the Friedman test and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) to measure consistency among evaluators.

RESULTS: ChatGPT-4o generated CPD plans generally adhered to regulatory standards across scenarios. The Friedman test indicated no significant differences among raters (P=0.420, 0.761, and 0.807 for each scenario), suggesting consistent scores within scenarios. However, ICC values were low (-0.96, 0.41, and 0.058 for scenarios 1, 2, and 3), revealing variability among raters, particularly in timeliness and completeness criteria, suggesting limitations in the ChatGPT-4o's ability to address individualized and context-specific needs.

CONCLUSION: ChatGPT-4o demonstrates the potential to ease the cognitive demands of CPD planning, offering structured support in CPD development. However, human oversight remains essential to ensure plans are contextually relevant and deeply reflective. Future research should focus on enhancing artificial intelligence's personalization for CPD evaluation, highlighting ChatGPT-4o's potential and limitations as a tool in professional education.