Abstract 13800: The CardioNerds Case Report Series: The Role of Asynchronous Medical Education in Cardiovascular Training

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic created numerous challenges for graduate medical education, including defining the role of asynchronous virtual education in general cardiovascular (CV) fellowship training. The CardioNerds podcast introduced the CardioNerds Case Report (CNCR) series to provide continued high-quality cardiovascular education during the pandemic. Moving forward, the role and value of asynchronous education, and specifically medical podcasts, remain unknown. Methods: The CNCR series included a wide range of case-based episodes involving cardiology fellows, content experts, and program leadership from participating programs. Every accredited general cardiology fellowship program in the United States was invited. A survey assessing attitudes on a likert scale towards cased-based cardiology podcasts and medical podcasts was administered to all participating programs. Results: 44 cardiology fellowship programs participated in the CNCR series representing 137 fellows and 59 program directors and leaders (PDs). At this time, 76% of fellows and 63% of program directors have responded. 90% of both fellows and PDs agreed that the CNCR series was an effective way to teach core CV concepts and 74% of fellows felt that contributing to the CNCR series improved their clinical reasoning skills. 70% of PDs and 94% of fellows felt that medical podcasts in general added to their knowledge base. Fellows were more likely to strongly agree that medical podcasts changed their clinical practice compared to PDs (46% vs 8%, p = 0.02). Conclusion: Medical podcasts are becoming increasingly popular in cardiovascular education and training. Specifically, the CNCR platform has been well received by fellowship programs and has potentially influenced clinical practice. CV training programs and professional societies should invest in ensuring high quality medical podcasts are incorporated into CV training moving forward to supplement traditional CV education.