Evaluating the performance of ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 on the Taiwan plastic surgery board examination

Background: Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) is a state-of-the-art large language model that has been evaluated across various medical fields, with mixed performance on licensing examinations. This study aimed to assess the performance of ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 in answering questions from the Taiwan Plastic Surgery Board Examination.

Methods: The study evaluated the performance of ChatGPT-3.5 and ChatGPT-4 on 1375 questions from the past 8 years of the Taiwan Plastic Surgery Board Examination, including 985 single-choice and 390 multiple-choice questions. We obtained the responses between June and July 2023, launching a new chat session for each question to eliminate memory retention bias.

Results: Overall, ChatGPT-4 outperformed ChatGPT-3.5, achieving a 59 % correct answer rate compared to 41 % for ChatGPT-3.5. ChatGPT-4 passed five out of eight yearly exams, whereas ChatGPT-3.5 failed all. On single-choice questions, ChatGPT-4 scored 66 % correct, compared to 48 % for ChatGPT-3.5. On multiple-choice, ChatGPT-4 achieved a 43 % correct rate, nearly double the 23 % of ChatGPT-3.5.

Conclusion: As ChatGPT evolves, its performance on the Taiwan Plastic Surgery Board Examination is expected to improve further. The study suggests potential reforms, such as incorporating more problem-based scenarios, leveraging ChatGPT to refine exam questions, and integrating AI-assisted learning into candidate preparation. These advancements could enhance the assessment of candidates' critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in the field of plastic surgery.