A Survey of Emergency Medicine Residents’ Use of Educational Podcasts

Abstract

IntroductionEmergency medicine (EM) educational podcasts have become increasingly popular. Residents spend a greater percentage of their time listening to podcasts than they do using other educational materials. Despite this popularity, research into podcasting in the EM context is sparse. We aimed to determine EM residents’ consumption habits, optimal podcast preferences, and motivation for listening to EM podcasts.MethodsWe created a survey and emailed it to EM residents at all levels of training at 12 residencies across the United States from September 2015 to June 2016. In addition to demographics, the 20-question voluntary survey asked questions exploring three domains: habits, attention, and motivation. We used descriptive statistics to analyze results.ResultsOf the 605 residents invited to participate, 356 (n= 60.3%) completed the survey. The vast majority listen to podcasts at least once a month (88.8%). Two podcasts were the most popular by a wide margin, with 77.8% and 62.1% regularly listening to Emergency Medicine: Reviews and Perspectives (EM:RAP) and the EMCrit Podcast, respectively; 84.6% reported the ideal length of a podcast was less than 30 minutes. Residents reported their motivation to listen to EM podcasts was to “Keep up with current literature” (88.5%) and “Learn EM core content” (70.2%). Of those responding, 72.2% said podcasts change their clinical practice either “somewhat” or “very much.”ConclusionThe results of this survey study suggest most residents listen to podcasts at least once a month, prefer podcasts less than 30 minutes in length, have several motivations for choosing podcasts, and report that podcasts change their clinical practice.

Short-duration podcasts as a supplementary learning tool: perceptions of medical students and impact on assessment performance

“…However, general podcast listenership trends in the USA and UK has shown a shift towards smartphones after 2014 [ 58 , 59 ]. Keeping in line with this trend, the more recent studies in medical education also indicate that podcasts are mainly accessed through smartphones over computers [ 60 , 61 ] and our results corroborate with this observation.…”

Podcast Use in Undergraduate Medical Education

“…Much of the current research mainly investigates podcasts that incorporate a visual component but few have studied audio-only podcasts [ 2 , 4 - 5 , 7 ]. Numerous studies have examined the acceptability or feasibility of this modality for learning by various groups (predominantly in resident physician populations), however, limited studies have focused on the use of these tools for extracurricular learning, particularly in the undergraduate medical education setting [ 8 - 10 ].…”

“…With the increasing abundance of FOAM resources, learners are often using podcasts for learning in an extracurricular fashion – i.e., they are reading and learning on top of their curricular needs. A recent survey of emergency medicine (EM) residents showed that they used podcasts to keep up to date with the literature and to learn core content [ 8 ]. Similarly, podcasts and other FOAM have been reported by residents as being used in addition to their regular curriculum through training [ 3 , 8 ].…”

“…A recent survey of emergency medicine (EM) residents showed that they used podcasts to keep up to date with the literature and to learn core content [ 8 ]. Similarly, podcasts and other FOAM have been reported by residents as being used in addition to their regular curriculum through training [ 3 , 8 ]. Little research has examined the use of audio podcasts as a tool for extracurricular learning in undergraduate medical education.…”

Podcasting in Medicine: A Review of the Current Content by Specialty

“…Medical podcasts have greatly increased in number and popularity over the past 20 years [1]. From medical school lectures to continued medical education, podcasts are increasingly used for dissemination of medical knowledge [2][3][4]. Podcasts are digital audio files made available on 1 1 2 1 1 the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically [5].…”