Categorization Format for YouTube Medical Educational Videos: An Experience with Embryology

Abstract

Background: Users of YouTube videos face considerable difficulty in handling the rapidly growing uploaded material. Videos can fall into various genres, and a single video can possess a number of characteristics. Rationale- Customized selection of the most appropriate videos for learning, teaching or research is hard to achieve. Appropriate tagging of videos for different characteristics by the uploaders for helping audience in their selection warrant meticulously designed structured format for categorizing the videos based on multiple characteristics. But no complete structured format is available for such categorization. Material & Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 120 YouTube medical educational videos on Embryology selected through a multiphase systematic method using search terms chosen from selected focus areas of Embryology was done. This was aimed at identifying video characteristics of four functional natures: basic, academic, technical and esthetic. Using the ‘identified’ and related ‘identifiable’ characteristics, a “Proposed categorization format” was developed. Feedback on this document was obtained from five stakeholder groups i.e., anatomists, medical educationists, medical video creators, film/video/graphics experts and postgraduate students of Anatomy through a multiple-group discussion session. Results: Consensuses built on their opinions and lone voices were incorporated to develop the “Final version” of the format that possesses 38 Broad Characteristics, 179 Options, 59 Suboptions and fourteen Sub-suboptions. Conclusion: This format should be helpful in establishing a comprehensive database of medical educational videos on Embryology and with slight customization, on other anatomical subdivisions and other disciplines. But before that validation of the format by putting them into use should be justified.