Development and Implementation of an Emergency Medicine Podcast for Medical Students: EMIGcast

Abstract

Podcasts, episodic digital audio recordings downloaded through web syndication or streamed online, have been shown to be an effective instructional method in undergraduate health professions education, and are increasingly used for self-directed learning.1-6 Emergency medicine (EM) has embraced podcasting: over 80% of EM residents report listening to podcasts and a substantial number identify podcasts as the most valuable use of their educational time.4 Despite proven efficacy in undergraduate medical education and remarkable popularity with EM residents and attendings, there remain few EM podcasts targeted to medical students.5 Given that podcast effectiveness correlates with how well content matches the listener needs, a podcast specific to EM-bound medical students may optimally engage this target audience.