Teaching prudent antibiotic use on the go: a descriptive report on development, utilization and listener satisfaction of an educational podcast format for medical students and young professionals.

BACKGROUND: An important component in fostering the responsible use of antibiotics is training of new and future prescribers in this interdisciplinary topic. Because podcasts are playing an increasing role in medical education, we aimed to develop and evaluate a podcast format with practice and guideline-oriented learning content on antibiotic therapy for medical students and young medical professionals. METHODS: We developed the concept for the podcast with the direct involvement of medical students and medical experts with teaching experience. We used video conferencing when recording the episodes in order to have quick, easy, and nationwide access to the experts involved. We released an episode every 2 to 4 weeks on the popular podcast platforms. The podcast was promoted through mailing lists, social and print media, and at conferences. The evaluation of episodes was based on user data provided by the platforms and an anonymous feedback questionnaire linked to each episode in the podcast notes. RESULTS: Between December 2021 and December 2022 19 episodes of InfectEd: der Antibiotika-Podcast were released. The mean duration of an episode was 91 min. By March 9, 2023, a total of 38,829 downloads and streams had been recorded. The majority of users listened to the podcast on a mobile device. The average playing time per episode was 65%. The feedback questionnaire was completed 135 times. 60.7% of respondents were female, 38.5% male. The majority of respondents were in their twenties and thirties (66.7%). 31.1% were medical students, 25.9% were residents, and 25.2% were specialists. Listeners were asked to rate episodes on a scale from 1 to 6, where 1 was "very good" and 6 was "insufficient." Ratings did not differ significantly between female and male respondents or between medical students and others. 118 respondents (87.4%) reported an increase in knowledge. Free-text feedback frequently emphasized clinical and also exam relevance. CONCLUSION: Our podcast format, developed with a user-centered approach, was broadly distributed and has been well accepted by both medical students and physicians alike. It provides a large number of learners with low-threshold access to current, guideline-orientated content and could be a useful supplement to conventional teaching formats.

'There's no waiting list, just press play': listeners' experiences of mental-health-related podcasts.

INTRODUCTION: The activity of podcasting has increased exponentially but little is known about the qualitative listener experiences of podcasts related to mental health. The aim of this study was to understand what listeners of mental health podcasts obtain from this medium. Participants were asked questions relating to mental health literacy, stigma and help-seeking behaviour. METHODS: The study gathered data, via an online survey (n=722). This article reports on the responses to open-ended questions: 'What do you take away from listening to mental health-related podcasts? What do you learn about yourself (or a loved one)? What do you find most useful about listening to mental health-related podcasts?' Inductive thematic analysis was utilised. RESULTS: Thematic analysis produced five core themes: accessibility, mental health literacy, potential pitfalls, reassurance and lived experiences. Accessibility of material and discussions featuring professionals and people with lived experience were reported key highlights. CONCLUSION: Results indicate that podcasts influence the development of mental health literacy, reduce stigma and increase help-seeking. Given the challenges with service access in underserved populations, there is a potential role for the use of podcasts in rural regions.

["L'étudiant expert", a podcast for student nurses]. / "L'étudiant expert", un podcast à destination des étudiants infirmiers.

For the past three years, the Institut de formation interhospitalier Théodore-Simon (Ifits) has been embarking on a magnificent adventure to meet its student nurses, collecting their words and testimonials in a series of podcasts, the main aim of which is to shed as much light as possible on the reality of nursing studies. This article retraces the genesis of the project and demonstrates the added value of this tool for future professionals and trainers alike.

Development of Podcasts in a Hospital Setting: A User-Centered Approach.

Patient information plays a pivotal role in preparing individuals for hospital visits and empowering them to actively participate in decision-making processes regarding their healthcare. However, many patients face challenges related to reading comprehension. In response, podcasts have become a popular, user-friendly medium for sharing essential and easily understandable information in an engaging format.The aim of the present project was to use a user-centered approach to develop podcasts providing patient information prior to hospital visits. We aimed to describe the steps of the development in detail with the purpose of inspiring podcast development in the future.In Phase 1 we conducted interviews with patients and focus groups with clinicians based on the "empathy map" method, with the purpose of exploring patients' needs on which to subsequently build the podcasts' content and format. In Phase 2 we produced and refined the podcasts on the basis of feedback from clinician- and patients representatives.Our results indicated the importance of clear and concise language, personalization of communication, and content alignment with patients' needs. Our project resulted in a description of each step of the development that can be used as inspiration for others who wish to take a user-centered approach to podcast development.

Everyone Is Listening: Podcasts as an Innovative Educational Approach in Graduate Level Education.

BACKGROUND: Over the past decade, graduate level nursing education has transitioned from synchronous, classroom-based models to hybrid, asynchronous models. This change has increased the amount of screen-time for graduate learners and generated the problem of screen-fatigue. To reduce screen-based learning time, faculty transitioned a didactic critical care course to a podcast-based educational format. METHOD: This pilot study used a pre-course and post-course survey to evaluate the efficacy of podcasts in delivering course content, meeting course objectives, and understanding learners' perceptions of podcasts in education. RESULTS: Pre-course and post-course survey data demonstrated that podcasts successfully met course objectives and provided content that was equally or more engaging than screen-based lectures. CONCLUSION: Podcasts can be successfully incorporated into a didactic course as a content delivery modality and are an innovative strategy for engaging adult learners in an asynchronous, distance-friendly format while continuing to meet educational objectives. [J Nurs Educ. 2024;63(5):335-337.].

A Randomized Trial Assessing the Effect of Exercise on Residents' Podcast Knowledge Acquisition and Retention.

PURPOSE: Podcasts are commonly used by residents as part of their learning, with many listening concomitantly with other activities (e.g., driving and exercise). The effects of exercise on learning are controversial, with some suggesting potential benefit and others suggesting impaired learning. This study examined whether exercise influences knowledge acquisition and retention among resident physicians listening to a podcast while exercising versus those with undistracted listening. METHOD: This multicenter, randomized, crossover trial assessed emergency medicine residents across 5 U.S. institutions from September 2022 to January 2023. Residents were randomized to a group that listened to one 30-minute podcast while seated or a group that listened to a 30-minute podcast while engaging in 30 minutes of continuous aerobic exercise, with stratification by site and postgraduate year. Within 30 minutes of completing the podcast, they completed a 20-question multiple-choice test. They subsequently crossed over to the other intervention and listened to a different 30-minute podcast followed by another 20-question test. Each podcast focused on emergency medicine-relevant journal articles that had not been covered in journal club or curriculum at any sites. Residents also completed a 40-question delayed recall test with separate questions on both podcasts at 30 days. RESULTS: Ninety-six residents were recruited for the study, with 95 (99.0%) completing the initial recall portion and 92 (97.0%) completing the delayed recall tests. No statistically significant differences were found between the exercise and seated cohorts on initial recall (74.4% vs 76.3%; d = -0.12; 95% CI, -0.33 to 0.08; P = .12) or delayed recall (52.3% vs 52.5%; d = -0.01; 95% CI, -0.22 to -0.19; P = .46). CONCLUSIONS: Exercising while listening to podcasts did not appear to meaningfully affect knowledge acquisition or retention at 30 days when compared with listening while seated and undistracted.

JUNTOS Radio: a podcast created in collaboration with Spanish-speaking healthcare providers, Juntos Center for Advancing Latino Health, and a medical librarian.

Spanish speaking healthcare providers, JUNTOS Center for Advancing Latino Health, and a medical librarian partnered to create a podcast on essential health topics relevant to the Latinx community. The podcasts were recorded in Spanish and included Spanish supplementary consumer health information from credible resources such as MedlinePlus en Espanol. The podcasts covered important topics about COVID-19 such as vaccines, clinical trials, and social distancing. It also includes other relevant topics that are affecting the Latinx community.

When to Attend a Webinar?

OBJECTIVE: To determine the most appropriate delay to start a webinar. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on weekly general staff scientific webinars held by the Institute of Human Virology (IHV), University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. 35 observations were made at arbitrary chosen times of three consecutive IHV webinars. After standardizing the number of participants, a 4th-degree polynomial fit was applied to the data. A cost function was defined as the sum of the time wasted for those who attended the webinar early and the lost for those who attend with delay. The cost function was minimized to compute the most appropriate delay to start the webinar. RESULTS: The model could explain almost 95% of the observed variance in the number of participants. Normally, half of the participants attended the meeting at the webinar set starting time. The cost was a minimum if the webinar was delayed for about 3 minutes. CONCLUSION: It seems that the most appropriate time for starting the IHV general staff meetings is around 3 minutes after the webinar set starting time.