Introducing a short-medium format, paediatric surgical podcast into the formal teaching resources of a medical school

Podcasts are a popular form of extracurricular education. They provide a range of benefits for listeners including an opportunity for learning whilst mobile. We aimed to assess the interest of medical students in a podcast series as a part of their formal paediatric surgery teaching resources; to determine the optimal format for such a podcast and, following their introduction, if they were considered to have a beneficial effect on student learning. We conducted focus groups with medical students to explore interest in a podcast series and to determine the optimal format. Our findings guided production and introduction of 5 short-format podcast episodes as an adjunct to available formal learning resources. We ran student focus groups to evaluate the podcasts until data saturation was reached. Transcripts were analysed through thematic analysis by two researchers, who used the constant comparison process to produce a coding framework, through which they identified relevant themes. Medical students utilised outsourced medical podcasts as an adjunct to formal medical school curricula. All students supported the introduction of a podcast series into formal teaching resources to extend paediatric surgical teaching. The preferred medical podcast format was a short, conversational style podcast that begins with a clinical case and ends with a summary. The introduction of podcasts increased student engagement in, and understanding of, podcast topics. Medical students enthusiastically embraced paediatric surgical podcasts in their curriculum. The addition of short-medium format podcasts enhances learning and engagement. Medical schools should utilize the teaching benefits that podcasts offer.