Impact of a Residency-Run Emergency Medicine Podcast Summary on Learning Retention and Engagement.
- 1Maimonides Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Brooklyn, New York.
- 2MGH Institute of Health Professions, Mass General Brigham, Department of Health Professions Education, Boston, Massachusetts.
Abstract
Introduction
Podcasts have become a widely used educational tool in emergency medicine. In this study, a podcast was used as the intervention. This podcast consisted of a brief audio summary of weekly in-person conference content produced by residents and faculty. We assessed whether a resident-led, curriculum-based podcast summary improved knowledge retention and learner engagement compared to a standard written summary format.Methods
This mixed-methods prospective cohort study conducted at a single urban academic hospital included 54 emergency medicine residents and approximately 66 attending physicians. The study unfolded in three phases: eight weeks of standard written conference summaries (control); followed by eight weeks of written plus podcast conference summaries (intervention); and a four-week post-intervention period with surveys. The primary outcome was knowledge retention, measured by weekly postconference quiz scores comparing the written-summary phase (control) with the podcast phase. Secondary outcomes included learner satisfaction, podcast usage patterns (downloads and self-reported listening), and self-reported impact on clinical application of conference content. Data included quiz scores, survey responses, and podcast analytics. Statistical comparisons of quiz performance were made using paired t-tests. Thematic analysis of open-ended responses was performed using Braun and Clarke's framework.Results
Mean quiz scores were 73.1% (standard deviation [SD] 6.6) during the written phase and 73.7% (SD 14.4) during the podcast phase with no statistically significant difference in weekly quiz performance between conditions (paired t-test, P = .92). An exploratory linear trend analysis suggested a steeper week-to-week improvement during the podcast phase, but this post-hoc finding should be interpreted cautiously. Although the podcast did not improve knowledge retention compared with the existing written summary, learners reported high satisfaction, perceived reinforcement of key concepts, and convenient asynchronous access.Conclusion
In this mixed-methods study, a residency-run podcast summary did not improve quiz-based knowledge retention compared with an existing written conference summary. However, learners reported high satisfaction, perceived reinforcement of key concepts, and convenient asynchronous access.
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BibTeX
@article{reilly2026impact,
title = {{Impact of a Residency-Run Emergency Medicine Podcast Summary on Learning Retention and Engagement.}},
author = {Christopher Reilly and Bobbie Ann Adair White and Katherine Pattee and Hannah Blakely and Reuben Strayer and Sergey Motov and Antonios Likourezos and Rukhsana Hossain and Sarah Kabariti and Jefferson Drapkin},
journal = {The western journal of emergency medicine},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.5811/westjem.52913},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42900909},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Impact of a Residency-Run Emergency Medicine Podcast Summary on Learning Retention and Engagement.
AU - Christopher Reilly
AU - Bobbie Ann Adair White
AU - Katherine Pattee
AU - Hannah Blakely
AU - Reuben Strayer
AU - Sergey Motov
AU - Antonios Likourezos
AU - Rukhsana Hossain
AU - Sarah Kabariti
AU - Jefferson Drapkin
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/31
JO - The western journal of emergency medicine
DO - 10.5811/westjem.52913
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42900909
AB - Introduction Podcasts have become a widely used educational tool in emergency medicine. In this study, a podcast was used as the intervention. This podcast consisted of a brief audio summary of weekly in-person conference content produced by residents and faculty. We assessed whether a resident-led, curriculum-based podcast summary improved knowledge retention and learner engagement compared to a standard written summary format.Methods This mixed-methods prospective cohort study conducted at a single urban academic hospital included 54 emergency medicine residents and approximately 66 attending physicians. The study unfolded in three phases: eight weeks of standard written conference summaries (control); followed by eight weeks of written plus podcast conference summaries (intervention); and a four-week post-intervention period with surveys. The primary outcome was knowledge retention, measured by weekly postconference quiz scores comparing the written-summary phase (control) with the podcast phase. Secondary outcomes included learner satisfaction, podcast usage patterns (downloads and self-reported listening), and self-reported impact on clinical application of conference content. Data included quiz scores, survey responses, and podcast analytics. Statistical comparisons of quiz performance were made using paired t-tests. Thematic analysis of open-ended responses was performed using Braun and Clarke's framework.Results Mean quiz scores were 73.1% (standard deviation [SD] 6.6) during the written phase and 73.7% (SD 14.4) during the podcast phase with no statistically significant difference in weekly quiz performance between conditions (paired t-test, P = .92). An exploratory linear trend analysis suggested a steeper week-to-week improvement during the podcast phase, but this post-hoc finding should be interpreted cautiously. Although the podcast did not improve knowledge retention compared with the existing written summary, learners reported high satisfaction, perceived reinforcement of key concepts, and convenient asynchronous access.Conclusion In this mixed-methods study, a residency-run podcast summary did not improve quiz-based knowledge retention compared with an existing written conference summary. However, learners reported high satisfaction, perceived reinforcement of key concepts, and convenient asynchronous access.
SN - 1936-900X
SN - 1936-9018
ER -