FOAMed – Free Online Access Medical Education
This includes blogs, tweets (especially tweet chats and tweetorials) and podcasts. Over the past 3 years I became fascinated with podcasts. Originally, I listened to non-medical podcasts – Freakonomics, Lexicon Valley, Revisionist History and the Knowledge Project. I listened to a few medical podcasts, but too many were boring.
Over the past 2 years, medical podcasting has emerged as a viable way for me to do my personal continuing education. Until recently, I did not get any CME points, but really did not care. For me continuing education is a reward in itself.
In October of 2016, an upstart podcast “The Curbsiders” asked me to be their guest. We recorded two podcasts and that started a wonderful relationship that continues today.
The editor of the Annals of Internal Medicine, Christine Laine asked me to consider either doing a blog or a podcast based on the Journal. We discussed various possibilities and finally decided to develop a podcast. Our idea involved highlighting articles from the Annals of Internal Medicine. We settled on doing interviews with either authors or other experts to place the article into clinical context. As I write this post, we have published 10 podcasts and I have recorded another 5. We release 2 each month.
The podcast – Annals on Call – has covered a variety of topics. We discuss the articles, but often go beyond the articles. In deciding on a format, I listened to many podcasts. I personally find the interview style most interesting. We do not edit the conversations, because (in my opinion) this could detract from the nuance of the discussion.
I love these podcasts. Preparing for each podcast is a wonderful educational experience. I almost always learn much more from the conversations.
But I love a variety of other medical podcasts. In addition to mine and the aforementioned Curbsiders, I regularly listen to Bedside Rounds, The Clinical Problem Solvers, Emergency Medicine News, and recently Core IM.
The variety of these podcasts have helped me expand my medical knowledge in my 43rd post-graduate year. Internal medicine remains an extremely dynamic field. In 2018 (and I am certain 2019), podcasts add greatly to my daily medical education. Listening to various podcasts often drives me to the literature. Points that I learn have helped me provide better patient care and better student/resident education.
Podcasts fit my personal lifestyle. I spend an hour or two in my car each day – going to work, going to exercise or other various destinations. I spend much of that time usefully listening to these interesting podcasts.
So this post is my suggestion to readers that listening to podcasts can help one add to their medical education.
If you listen to our podcast, please provide some feedback. I want to make Annals On Call a “must listen” that expands your knowledge.
