Using podcasts to deliver pediatric educational content: Development and reach of PediaCast CME

The ID Digital Institute: Building a digital education toolset and community

Organic digital education (ODE) includes online medical education content that can take various forms, such as blogs, social media, videos, podcasts, or infographics. Multimedia ODE platforms have unique benefits and have quickly become an essential part of medical education. Modern medical educators with competency in digital teaching modalities can leverage these for teaching as well as career development and dissemination of scientific research. The ID Digital Institute is a digital education program with a curriculum designed to equip infectious diseases (ID) professionals with the skills to appraise, create, curate, and integrate ODE into their teaching and career. We share the structure, content, and lessons learned from the ID Digital Institute program. We also illustrate how digital education skills can present unique opportunities to align with current and future transplant and immunocompromised host infectious diseases education efforts.

An Evaluation of Emergency Medicine Core Content Covered by Podcasts

INTRODUCTION

Podcasts are used broadly for learning in emergency medicine (EM); however, there is concern about the potential for knowledge gaps for learners who rely on podcasts for their learning. The extent to which EM podcasts cover the core curriculum of EM is not known; thus, we sought to quantify the extent to which podcasts represent the core content of our specialty.

METHODS

We performed a retrospective review of all EM podcast episodes published in 2019. All podcasts were given credit for the content they covered as it related to the 2016 American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) Model of Clinical Practice in Emergency Medicine (EM Model). The primary outcome was a description of how podcasts represented the ABEM EM Model content topics compared to the topic representation of the ABEM Qualifying Exam.

RESULTS

We included 54 unique EM podcast programs and 1,193 podcast episodes. They covered 2,965 total EM Model core content topics. The topics most covered were "other" (which includes interpersonal skills and professionalism), procedures, and signs and symptoms. Musculoskeletal, hematology, and environmental each accounted for less than 1% of all topics covered. Almost three-quarters of podcast episodes covered other core competencies of the practice of EM.

CONCLUSION

Podcasts had a broad yet imbalanced coverage of the ABEM EM Model core content subtopics in 2019, with a notable coverage of other core competencies of the practice of EM. Learners, educators, and scholars should be mindful of these gaps and focus future work on exploring how podcasts should best be used in EM education.

Pediatric Emergency Medicine Podcasts: Current Status

Background: Podcasting has become a primary delivery model for medical content among various specialties. Although this model is still growing, it has become an essential tool for many learners, educators, and institutions. Because of this rapid growth, there is an unknown availability of podcasts for each specialty.

Objectives: This paper aimed to evaluate the podcasts currently available in the subspecialty of pediatric emergency medicine (PEM).

Methods: The investigators sought to evaluate the prevalence of PEM podcasts from the end-user's (medical students, residents, etc.) perspective. This was completed by performing a simple internet search using the term “podcasts in pediatric emergency medicine.” Using Google Search, the first 50 results were analyzed.

Results: For PEM, there were only eight podcasts found, five of which were active.

Conclusion: PEM podcasts in comparison to other specialties are currently underrepresented and lacking in this important resource. The authors call on PEM physicians, educators, and organizations to consider creating content in this educational space.

Health Care Professional and Caregiver Attitudes Toward and Usage of Medical Podcasting: Questionnaire Study

BACKGROUND

Podcasts are used increasingly in medicine. There is growing research into the role of podcasts in medical education, but the use of podcasting as a tool for pediatric parent/caregiver health education is largely unexplored. As parents/caregivers seek medical information online, an understanding of parental preferences is needed.

OBJECTIVE

We sought to explore health care professional and parent/caregiver awareness and views on podcasting as a health education tool.

METHODS

This survey study was conducted and distributed via in-person collection from parents/caregivers (≥18 years old) in the waiting room of an academic pediatric primary care clinic, targeted social media promotion, and professional listservs for health care professionals in pediatrics. Statistical analysis included chi-square tests of independence between categorical variables.

RESULTS

In total, 125 health care professionals and 126 caregivers completed the survey. Of those surveyed, 81% (101/125) of health care professionals and 55% (69/126) of parents/caregivers listened to podcasts (P<.001). Health care professionals and parents/caregivers listed the same top 3 quality indicators for medical podcasts. Podcast listeners were more likely to have higher incomes and use professional websites for information. The survey elicited a variety of reasons for podcast nonengagement.

CONCLUSIONS

Health care professionals appear to be more engaged in medical education podcasts than parents/caregivers. However, similar factors were valued when evaluating the quality of a pediatric podcast: accuracy, transparency, and credibility. Professional websites may be one avenue to increase podcast uptake. More needs to be done to explore the use of podcasts and digital media for medical information.

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.

Social Media Use for Health Purposes: Systematic Review

Background

Social media has been widely used for health-related purposes, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous reviews have summarized social media uses for a specific health purpose such as health interventions, health campaigns, medical education, and disease outbreak surveillance. The most recent comprehensive review of social media uses for health purposes, however, was conducted in 2013. A systematic review that covers various health purposes is needed to reveal the new usages and research gaps that emerge in recent years.

Objective

This study aimed to provide a systematic review of social media uses for health purposes that have been identified in previous studies.

Methods

The researchers searched for peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2006 and 2020 in 12 databases covering medicine, public health, and social science. After coding the articles in terms of publication year, journal area, country, method, social media platform, and social media use for health purposes, the researchers provided a review of social media use for health purposes identified in these articles.

Results

This study summarized 10 social media uses for various health purposes by health institutions, health researchers and practitioners, and the public.

Conclusions

Social media can be used for various health purposes. Several new usages have emerged since 2013 including advancing health research and practice, social mobilization, and facilitating offline health-related services and events. Research gaps exist regarding advancing strategic use of social media based on audience segmentation, evaluating the impact of social media in health interventions, understanding the impact of health identity development, and addressing privacy concerns.

Twelve tips for creating a medical education podcast

Podcasts and other asynchronous remote learning pedagogies have become increasingly utilized in undergraduate and graduate medical education. They offer a convenient and accessible form of education for personalized learning and have been developed across multiple disciplines of medicine. This paper discusses the current literature on medical education podcasts, offers practical examples of existing free podcast content, and offers guidance on planning, designing, and executing the creation of a new educational podcast. It discusses best practices for the engagement of learners and logistical considerations for recording and hosting the material. These Twelve Tips hope to empower educators to utilize resources across the world to offer the highest quality opportunities for learners of all levels.

Paediatric Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM): behaviours, trends and implications

INTRODUCTION

Free Open Access Meducation (FOAM) describes online resources assisting learning in medicine. Little is known about users or their behaviours.

METHODS

Using Google Analytics for a popular FOAM site (www.paedatricfoam.com), we explored user demographics and patterns of behaviour. We analysed these further with descriptive and statistical tests using SPSS (version 26). Data are presented as mean (SD).

RESULTS

There were 181.44 (75.16) mean daily users accessing the site throughout a 4-month period during 2018/2019. 68.9% of users were female; 44% were 25-34 years; 57.3% used a mobile device. The mean session duration was 73.55 (9.41) seconds, with more time spent per session and a greater number of pages per session observed in users accessing the site from a desktop or tablet as opposed to a mobile phone. 84.3% of mobile users left the site after viewing a single page. Referral source was also associated with device used (p<0.001). Age was not related to user behaviours (p>0.05).

DISCUSSION

FOAM is a rapidly developing form of medical education, with large user numbers seen for a site just 2 years old. The site is being used by many beyond its intended readership. Rather than accessing multiple pages from a desktop, users have varied online behaviours, with the majority viewing a single page on a mobile phone, referred by social media or Google.

CONCLUSIONS

Google Analytics can powerfully display usage of medical websites but has important limitations if statistical exploration is required. FOAM users are a heterogenous group, and thus content should be designed with this in mind. Further research must be prioritised focussing on the scope, curriculum coverage, accuracy of information and the effectiveness of FOAM as an educational resource.