Step-by-step instructions to build your own AI assistant for healthcare writing, communication, and education.
If you’ve ever tried ChatGPT and felt frustrated by inconsistent results—or found yourself rewriting prompts over and over—you’re not alone. For healthcare professionals, researchers, and advocates, reliability matters: you need outputs that are accurate, professional, and aligned with ethical standards.
That’s where Custom GPTs come in. These are personalised versions of ChatGPT that you can design for very specific, repeatable healthcare tasks—such as drafting plain-language patient leaflets, summarising journal articles, preparing LinkedIn updates for your department, or turning a webinar transcript into teaching slides.
The benefit? Once you set one up, you no longer waste time tinkering with prompts. Your GPT already knows your requirements—style, structure, disclaimers, and audience—and produces consistent, trustworthy results every time. Best of all, you can build one in under an hour.
Here’s how.
Step 1 — Choose one narrow task (5 minutes)
Custom GPTs are most effective when they do one job well. Instead of trying to make a “digital assistant for everything,” pick a single use case you repeat often.
Healthcare examples:
- Summarise clinical guidelines into a 1-page plain-language handout for patients.
- Convert academic abstracts into accessible summaries for social media.
- Draft CPD or teaching materials from journal articles.
- Turn a conference session transcript into a structured LinkedIn post.
Step 2 — Gather your “source of truth” (5–10 minutes)
Collect the resources your GPT should follow, such as:
- Your organisation’s style guide.
- Examples of plain-language explanations you like.
- Compliance or privacy guidelines (e.g., including “this information is not medical advice” disclaimers).
- Evergreen references (like terminology guides or advocacy frameworks).
Step 3 — Create the shell (2 minutes)
In ChatGPT, go to Explore GPTs → Create. Use the Create tab to describe your assistant in plain language (the one-sentence task from Step 1). Then switch to the Configure tab to fine-tune the details.
Step 4 — Write clear instructions (10–15 minutes)
This step makes or breaks your Custom GPT. Spell out exactly what you want it to do, who it’s for, and how the outputs should look.
Include:
- Role: Define what the GPT is (“You are a health communication assistant who creates plain-language resources from research papers”).
- Goals: The outcomes you expect (“Summarise in one paragraph, extract three key points, add a disclaimer”).
- Inputs: What the GPT will usually receive (transcripts, journal articles, policy notes).
- Process: The steps to follow (extract → summarise → format).
- Voice & Tone: Audience (patients, clinicians, policymakers) and reading level (plain English, no jargon).
- Output Format: Be precise (“1-paragraph summary + 3 bullet points + disclaimer”).
- Boundaries: Clarify what not to do (e.g., “Do not give medical advice or fabricate references”).
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