Attending Physician's Attitudes Toward Podcasting as a Source of Medical Education: An Exploratory Study

INTRODUCTION

People are increasingly consuming information on-demand. Podcasting is a growing medium for education in an on-demand world. There is a paucity of data on podcasting as a means of continuing medical education (CME) for attending physicians.

METHODS

The authors performed an exploratory survey of a convenience sample of listeners to a Pediatric Hospital Medicine podcast to learn about their attitudes regarding podcasting. A 17-question survey consisting of demographic data, attitudinal questions, and qualitative questions was administered electronically in February 2018.

RESULTS

At the time of the survey, the 12 podcast episodes were downloaded 17,288 times, with 162 CME credits being issued. Of 129 respondents, 75.2% were attendings. The majority agreed the podcast was of "high educational value" and was of equal or better educational value as medical journals or national conferences. Qualitative content analysis revealed listeners valued the convenience of the podcast, and community-based hospitalists felt the podcast connected them to the broader hospitalist community.

DISCUSSION

Our respondents found podcasting to be a beneficial and convenient learning method. The ability to apply for CME credit was not a major motivation for listening. Further research is needed to investigate more objective outcomes and assess attitudes of a random sampling of physicians as opposed to a self-selected sample.

Therapeutic uses of the WebCam in child psychiatry

OBJECTIVE

The authors provide examples for the use of the WebCam as a therapeutic tool in child psychiatry, discussing cases to demonstrate the application of the WebCam, which is most often used in psychiatry training programs during resident supervision and for case presentations.

METHOD

Six cases illustrate the use of the WebCam in individual and family therapy.

RESULTS

The WebCam, used during individual sessions, can facilitate the development of prosocial skills. Comparing individual WebCam video sessions can help to evaluate the effectiveness of medication and progress in therapy.

CONCLUSION

The WebCam has proven to be useful in psycho-education, facilitating communication, and treating children and families. The applications of this technology may include cognitive-behavioral therapy, dialectical-behavioral, and group therapy.