Evolution of social media: review of the role of podcasts in gynaecology

Podcasts for the Delivery of Medical Education and Remote Learning

Podcasts are increasingly being recognized as an effective platform to facilitate the continuous professional development (CPD) of health care professionals (HCPs). Compared with face-to-face meetings and other more traditional forms of CPD, podcasts allow for flexible learning and are less expensive to develop. Podcasts are at the cutting edge of digital education and can be an important element of a pharmaceutical company’s multichannel communications plan to improve HCP engagement and CPD in specific therapy areas. However, developing a successful podcast can have significant challenges. In this viewpoint paper, we provide our perspectives on medical podcasts as a medium for educating HCPs in the digital age. We describe our experience in developing an HIV-focused podcast for Australian HCPs, creating a series that has now expanded to other therapy areas in several countries. Practical considerations and unique challenges associated with industry-sponsored podcasts are outlined. Overall, we believe that the process of developing a podcast can be a challenging but rewarding experience, and CPD delivered via podcasting should be more routinely considered by pharmaceutical companies.

Podcast acceptance for pedagogy: the levels and significant influences

There is limited empirical evidence arguing against accepting and using podcasts for educational purposes. This may in part, explain the recent surge in the acceptance of podcasts for pedagogy, alongside the COVID-19 pandemic. Both students and lecturers have been greatly affected by this pandemic which may explain the uptake in the use of podcasts. However, few studies have explored podcast use for pedagogy and thus, there is limited empirical backing. This study investigated pedagogy and considered podcast performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating condition, cultural, social, and political beliefs factors in Nigerian universities. This research introduced cross-sectional quantitative methods, which utilised a questionnaire, gathering data from three Federal Universities in Nigeria. The formulated hypothesis was rejected using multiple regression and a total of eight hundred and twenty-nine questionnaires were gathered from Nigerian university lecturers. The data was analysed and the results showed a low-level outcome with regards to podcast acceptance for pedagogy in Nigeria Federal Universities.