Abstract
IntroductionPodcasts have become increasingly popular as a medium for free open access medical education (FOAM). However, little research has examined the use of these extracurricular audio podcasts as tools in undergraduate medical education. We aimed to examine knowledge retention, usage conditions, and preferences of undergraduate medical students at a Canadian university interacting with extracurricular podcasts.MethodsStudents enrolled in the undergraduate medical program at McMaster University volunteered to participate in this study. Two podcasts were created specifically for the purposes of this study, and online tests and surveys were sent to participants to gather data regarding user preferences of podcasts. In addition, we recorded changes in topic test scores before and after podcast exposure.ResultsForty-two students were recruited to this study. Participants who completed the assessments demonstrated an effect of learning. Podcasts of 30 minutes or less were preferred in the majority of participants who had a preference in duration. The top three activities participants were engaged in while listening to the podcasts were driving (46%), completing chores (26%), and exercising (23%). A large number of participants who did not complete the study in its entirety cited a lack of time and podcast length to be the top two barriers to completion.ConclusionThis is one of the first studies to examine extracurricular podcast-usage data and preferences in a Canadian undergraduate medical student population. This information may help educators and FOAM producers to optimize educational tools for medical education.
Highlights
Podcasts have become increasingly popular as a medium for free open access medical education (FOAM)
This was a prospective study aimed towards assessing knowledge retention, usage conditions, and preferences of students interacting with two pre-determined podcasts
We demonstrated that students who completed our study had a significant and likely educationally-relevant improvement in knowledge after engaging with the extracurricular audio podcasts on both the topics of asthma and toxicology
Summary
We aimed to examine knowledge retention, usage conditions, and preferences of undergraduate medical students at a Canadian university interacting with extracurricular podcasts. We aimed to determine usage conditions, preferences, and level of retention of information from audio podcasts by medical students at a Canadian University. We aimed to evaluate the user preferences and habits of audio-only podcasts, commonly found in the FOAM world. Incorporating student podcast usage habits and preferences in creation of content One of the major aims of our study was to help guide content creators in tailoring podcasts to the intended audience
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