Improving Learning and Interprofessional Team Dynamics with Continuing Education on the Go: Preliminary Analysis of the Kidney Commute Professional Education Podcast Outcomes

Background: Launched by the National Kidney Foundation in 2022, the Kidney Commute Podcast seeks to enhance the work of the interprofessional kidney care team by providing connection through education and serving as an innovative opportunity to fulfill continuing education (CE) requirements. Led by an interprofessional planning committee, episodes are intentionally designed to be inclusive of differing professional perspectives within nephrology practice and always include a patient perspective. Episodes are jointly accredited for the entire interprofessional care team, eligible for 0.5-1 hours (depending on episode length) of CE credit for up to two years after initial release date. Methods: To earn CE credit for a podcast episode, learners must complete a pre-test, post-test, and evaluation. The episode evaluation collects self-reported data about the impact of the episode content on changes to an individual learner’s practice and interprofessional team dynamics. Results: Evaluation data were analyzed across 15 episodes published between January 2022 and April 2023, as the two-year evaluation period for these episodes had closed. A total of 6,706 evaluations were submitted by learners, resulting in a cumulative 4621 hours of CE credit claimed. When asked about the impact of the podcast episode on improvements in the individual learner, 85% reported improving their knowledge, 55% reported improved understanding of their role, 49% reported improving their skills, and 39% reported improved understanding of their expertise. When asked about the impact on the learner’s interprofessional team dynamics, learners reported improvements to: patient care (69%), communication and collaboration (64%), understanding of each other’s roles within the team (42%), team processes (41%), decision making processes (32%), and no expected improvements (5%). Conclusion: Analysis of self-reported learner data shows that the Kidney Commute podcast is an effective and convenient educational format to earn CE credit, enhance learners’ knowledge about specific nephrology topics, as well as positively impact interprofessional team dynamics. Future opportunities include further diversifying perspectives among the planning and faculty teams and exploration of a wider range of topics that cross professional domains within kidney care.