Enhancing Psychiatry Education through Podcasting: Learning from the Listener Experience

Objective Podcasts have recently been introduced into psychiatry education, despite limited evidence evaluating podcasting in medical education. PsychEd is an educational, publicly available podcast targeting junior learners in psychiatry. This study characterized PsychEd’s listeners and the podcast’s role in their education. Methods The study involved a mixed-methods survey, followed by semi-structured phone interviews with respondents. There were 97 survey responders in total, of whom 9 participated in a telephone interview. Survey responses were coded as interval data and analyzed descriptively using statistical software. Interviews were transcribed and coded for emergent themes using a grounded theory model. Results PsychEd listeners represented an interprofessional audience, with 46 respondents (48%) being physicians or physicians in training, and 34 (35%) being allied mental health professionals. All respondents (100%) rated the podcast as “helpful” or “very helpful” for general knowledge. Listeners were attracted to PsychEd for the auditory learning format, the opportunity to review existing knowledge, the focus on core topics, the Canadian expertise, and the presentation of “clinical pearls.” Respondents highlighted valuable qualities of a psychiatry podcast: conversational, case-based, narrative approach, longer episodes (i.e., 30–60 minutes) as compared to other medical specialties, and a clinical focus. Furthermore, they identified podcasts as an opportunity for shared interprofessional curricula. Conclusion This study is the first to examine the motivations and experiences of listeners of a psychiatry educational podcast. The findings support existing literature on the benefits of podcasts in medical education. Future studies should explore the impact of podcasts on learning and behaviors.