RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT: An Evaluation of Emergency Medicine Core Content Covered by Podcasts
“how much EM core content is covered by EM educational podcasts? Are there any gaps in podcast coverage…”
Background
Emergency Medicine (EM) resident trainees utilize EM podcasts as part of their EM education. Some podcasts are designed to cover EM core content, and others tackle more nuanced topics such as multi-specialty debates, equity in medicine, and procedural skills. There is some debate regarding EM educational podcasts and how they should or could fit into EM resident education.
This study asks the question: how much EM core content is covered by EM educational podcasts? Are there any gaps in podcast coverage of EM core content (as determined by the American Board of EM qualifying exam), and if so, what are they?
Hypothesis
EM podcasts will have gaps in the coverage of EM core content.
Project Description
The show notes from all posts made in 2019 from 54 different podcast websites were evaluated in a retrospective review. The podcasts were given credit for covering an EM core content topic as defined by the 2016 ABEM EM clinical model. The proportional representation of coverage of clinical content by podcasts as compared to the ABEM Qualifying exam specifications was calculated.
Project Findings
54 total podcast websites yielded 1193 distinct podcast episodes in 2019. These podcasts broadly covered EM core content but there were some categories that were proportionally overrepresented “signs and symptoms,” “other,” and “procedures,” and the categories that were proportionally underrepresented were “abdominal/GI,” “trauma,” “respiratory,” and “cardiovascular.”
Conclusions and Future Directions
2019 EM educational podcasts did a pretty good job of covering all EM core content, albeit with some imbalances. Residents should be aware of these imbalances and gaps and recognize that relying on podcasts alone may not comprehensively prepare them for the ABEM qualifying exam. This study helped to answer the question regarding what exactly is being covered by EM educational podcasts.
The next questions could be: “how can podcasts be used to deliver content in a way that is superior to traditional learning methods?” “Should podcasts need to cover EM content comprehensively or should they instead be tailored to specific topics?”
Link to Article
https://escholarship.org/content/qt5x49c6cg/qt5x49c6cg.pdf?t=robtsx
Author: Gabriel Padilla, MD, is a current third-year emergency medicine resident at Brown Emergency Medicine.
Faculty Reviewer: Michelle Myles, MD, is an assistant professor and clinician educator at Brown Emergency Medicine.
Citation
Riddell J, Kobner S, Padilla G. An Evaluation of Emergency Medicine Core Content Covered by Podcasts. West J Emerg Med. 2023;24(1):15-22. Published 2023 Jan 11. doi: 10.5811/westjem.2022.11.57717