{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T01:06:49Z","timestamp":1760058409099,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":15,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,6]],"date-time":"2025-04-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743897600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Healthcare"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: General practitioners (GPs) should be able to initiate open conversations about death with their patients. It is hypothesized that a change in attitude regarding discussions of death with patients may be accomplished through doctors\u2019 training, particularly with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). This study aimed to evaluate whether OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT can simulate a medical communication scenario involving a GP consulting a patient who is dying at home. Methods: ChatGPT-4o was prompted to generate a medical communication scenario in which a GP consults with a patient dying at home. ChatGPT-4o was instructed to follow seven predefined steps from an evidence-based model for discussing dying with patients and their family caregivers. The output was assessed by comparing each step of the conversation to the model\u2019s recommendations. Results: ChatGPT-4o created a seven-step scenario based on the initial prompt and addressed almost all intended recommendations. However, two points were not addressed: ChatGPT-4o did not use terms like \u201cdying\u201d, \u201cpassing away\u201d, or \u201cdeath\u201d, although the concept was present from the beginning of the conversation with the patient. Additionally, cultural and religious backgrounds related to dying and death were not discussed. Conclusions: ChatGPT-4o can be used as a supportive tool for introducing GPs to the language and sequencing of speech acts that form a successful foundation for meaningful, sensitive conversations about dying, without requiring advanced technical resources and without placing any burden on real patients.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/healthcare13070835","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,10]],"date-time":"2025-04-10T10:47:41Z","timestamp":1744282061000},"page":"835","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Can ChatGPT Help General Practitioners Become Acquainted with Conversations About Dying? A Simulated Single-Case Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2849-5194","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Filipe","family":"Prazeres","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Beira Interior, 6200-506 Covilh\u00e3, Portugal"},{"name":"Family Health Unit Beira Ria, 3830-596 Gafanha da Nazar\u00e9, Portugal"},{"name":"RISE-Health, Department of Community Medicine, Information and Health Decision Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, 4200-450 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,6]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"421","DOI":"10.12968\/bjcn.2012.17.9.421","article-title":"Are GPs ready to talk about death and dying?","volume":"17","author":"Nyatanga","year":"2012","journal-title":"Br. J. Community Nurs."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"667","DOI":"10.1016\/0277-9536(84)90295-8","article-title":"Communication between general practitioners and patients dying at home","volume":"18","author":"Todd","year":"1984","journal-title":"Soc. Sci. Med."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Periyakoil, V.S., Neri, E., and Kraemer, H. (2015). No Easy Talk: A Mixed Methods Study of Doctor Reported Barriers to Conducting Effective End-of-Life Conversations with Diverse Patients. PLoS ONE, 10.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0122321"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1707","DOI":"10.1503\/cmaj.101201","article-title":"What people want at the end of life","volume":"182","author":"Kuhl","year":"2010","journal-title":"CMAJ"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"480","DOI":"10.1001\/archinternmed.2008.587","article-title":"Health care costs in the last week of life: Associations with end-of-life conversations","volume":"169","author":"Zhang","year":"2009","journal-title":"Arch. Intern. Med."},{"key":"ref_6","unstructured":"Cochrane, T., Narayan, V., Brown, C., MacCallum, K., Bone, E., Deneen, C., Vanderburg, R., and Hurren, B. (2023). Empathic communication training in healthcare using Virtual Patients. People, Partnerships and Pedagogies, ASCILITE Publications."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e794","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jpainsymman.2024.02.469","article-title":"SOPHIE: Testing a Virtual, Interactive, AI-Augmented End-of-Life Communication Training Tool (RP122)","volume":"67","author":"Haut","year":"2024","journal-title":"J. Pain Symptom Manag."},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1097\/ACM.0000000000005629","article-title":"From Bytes to Empathy: Can ChatGPT Teach Anesthesiologists How to Deliver Bad News?","volume":"99","author":"Phillips","year":"2024","journal-title":"Acad. Med. J. Assoc. Am. Med. Coll."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e65108","DOI":"10.2196\/65108","article-title":"ChatGPT\u2019s Performance on Portuguese Medical Examination Questions: Comparative Analysis of ChatGPT-3.5 Turbo and ChatGPT-4o Mini","volume":"11","author":"Prazeres","year":"2025","journal-title":"JMIR Med. Educ."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e48163","DOI":"10.2196\/48163","article-title":"The Advent of Generative Language Models in Medical Education","volume":"9","author":"Karabacak","year":"2023","journal-title":"JMIR Med. Educ."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"418","DOI":"10.25259\/IJPC_155_2023","article-title":"Can Artificial Intelligence aid communication? Considering the possibilities of GPT-3 in Palliative care","volume":"29","author":"Srivastava","year":"2023","journal-title":"Indian J. Palliat. Care"},{"key":"ref_12","first-page":"e38755","article-title":"Proof of Concept: Using ChatGPT to Teach Emergency Physicians How to Break Bad News","volume":"15","author":"Webb","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"100309","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pecinn.2024.100309","article-title":"How to talk about dying? 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Med."}],"container-title":["Healthcare"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9032\/13\/7\/835\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T17:11:13Z","timestamp":1760029873000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2227-9032\/13\/7\/835"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,6]]},"references-count":15,"journal-issue":{"issue":"7","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4]]}},"alternative-id":["healthcare13070835"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/healthcare13070835","relation":{},"ISSN":["2227-9032"],"issn-type":[{"type":"electronic","value":"2227-9032"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,6]]}}}