Chin Alvin, Helman Anton, Chan Teresa M
Department of Medicine, Division of Emergency Medicine, McMaster University.
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto.
Cureus. 2017 Dec 9;9(12):e1930. doi: 10.7759/cureus.1930.
Introduction Podcasts 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. Methods Students 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. Results Forty-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. Conclusion This 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.
引言 播客作为一种免费开放获取医学教育（FOAM）的媒介越来越受欢迎。然而，很少有研究探讨这些课外音频播客在本科医学教育中的应用。我们旨在研究加拿大一所大学的本科医学生与课外播客互动时的知识保留情况、使用条件和偏好。方法 麦克马斯特大学本科医学项目的学生自愿参与本研究。专门为该研究制作了两个播客，并向参与者发送在线测试和调查问卷，以收集有关播客用户偏好的数据。此外，我们记录了播客曝光前后主题测试分数的变化。结果 42名学生被招募到本研究中。完成评估的参与者显示出学习效果。在大多数对时长有偏好的参与者中，更喜欢30分钟或更短的播客。参与者在听播客时参与的前三项活动是开车（46%）、做家务（26%）和锻炼（23%）。大量未完整完成研究的参与者指出，时间不足和播客长度是完成研究的前两大障碍。结论 这是首批研究加拿大本科医学生群体课外播客使用数据和偏好的研究之一。这些信息可能有助于教育工作者和FOAM制作人优化医学教育的工具。
