This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.
Podcasts are increasingly being recognized as an effective platform to facilitate the continuous professional development (CPD) of health care professionals (HCPs). Compared with face-to-face meetings and other more traditional forms of CPD, podcasts allow for flexible learning and are less expensive to develop. Podcasts are at the cutting edge of digital education and can be an important element of a pharmaceutical company’s multichannel communications plan to improve HCP engagement and CPD in specific therapy areas. However, developing a successful podcast can have significant challenges. In this viewpoint paper, we provide our perspectives on medical podcasts as a medium for educating HCPs in the digital age. We describe our experience in developing an HIV-focused podcast for Australian HCPs, creating a series that has now expanded to other therapy areas in several countries. Practical considerations and unique challenges associated with industry-sponsored podcasts are outlined. Overall, we believe that the process of developing a podcast can be a challenging but rewarding experience, and CPD delivered via podcasting should be more routinely considered by pharmaceutical companies.
Podcasts have gained in popularity during the mid-2000s and are now widely available on the internet and on various on-demand channels [
This rise in the popularity of podcasts among the medical community is probably due to several factors. Podcasts allow for rapid dissemination of up-to-date data [
Medical podcasts can be grouped into two broad categories: industry-sponsored and general medical podcasts. Industry-sponsored podcasts are developed by (or in collaboration with) pharmaceutical companies, are typically developed exclusively for the continuing professional development (CPD) of HCPs, and focus on a particular therapy area or product. General medical podcasts are often developed by individuals or medical societies for a wider audience (eg, medical students or the general public, as well as HCPs) and cover a wide range of topics [
We noted that there were very few digitally based CPD resources available circa 2018 for Australian HCPs who care for people living with HIV. In response, we launched
Overview of the
In this paper, based on our own experience with the
To develop high-quality and engaging medical podcasts, a few basic elements are implicit. In short, these include the recruitment of a suitably qualified host with medical training and therapy area experience, ideally with medical journalism experience. Equally, interviewees should be regional or international experts in their field and be able to discuss contemporary topics concisely. Podcasts should be “bite-sized,” with recommended lengths of 10-20 minutes [
In our experience, development of industry-sponsored podcasts often present other unique challenges and considerations, which we describe in further detail below.
Podcast episodes need to be hosted on an appropriate digital platform for access by listeners [
A challenge encountered with industry-sponsored podcasts is ensuring that the discussions related to medications or clinical practice are in line with the approved indication for that region, fair, balanced, and consistent with local and regional guidelines governing communication with HCPs. For example, guests might describe treatments that are not approved in the country where the podcast is released, or they might discuss data from studies of unlicensed uses for approved agents; thus, content could be deemed promotional or noncompliant with local guidelines [
The
In some countries, discussion or promotion of prescription medicines is only permitted among HCPs. As such, industry-sponsored podcast topics may only be appropriate for an HCP audience (eg, content that could be perceived as promotion of a pharmaceutical product to a non-HCP audience). To ensure that only HCPs could access the content, we created a registration webpage that allowed us to verify a user’s HCP status via their medical/professional registration numbers, or enabled the HCP to self-verify their status, depending on local regulatory requirements. Once a user’s HCP status is verified, they are sent detailed instructions on how to download the podcasting app, create a personal podcast account, and access episodes via the app or a web browser. A summary of the user registration process we used is shown in
Podcast registration flow for Australian HCPs accessing
The credibility of industry-sponsored podcasts can be enhanced through accreditation by a professional body (a medical society or college), thereby allowing HCPs to use the podcasts for CPD. Medical practitioners registered with the Medical Board of Australia, for example, need to complete a minimum number of CPD hours that are relevant to their practice [
Recruiting an appropriate and sizable audience can be challenging. Promoting general medical podcasts typically involves the use of social media platforms (eg, blogs, Facebook, and Twitter) [
Regularly measuring the uptake of podcasts by HCPs is essential for evaluating the performance of a podcast and can be an indicator of the success of the strategies used to attract listeners. The number of downloads is one of the most frequently used digital performance metrics [
Another important consideration is that download metrics provided by GDPR-compliant hosting platforms contain anonymized user identifications. This makes it difficult to profile podcast users by HCP type (eg, proportion of physicians vs nurses), which may be of specific interest to the sponsor. Additional qualitative measures of success may therefore add value. For example, short surveys can be included in electronic mailouts or conducted via face-to-face interviews with the target audience [
There is a growing interest from the pharmaceutical industry to invest in digital innovation, such as podcasts, to increase awareness of diseases, clinical practice updates, and available therapies. At present, most medical podcasts have been created by individuals and academic societies rather than pharmaceutical companies. Medical podcasts are an important medium for delivering specific and targeted CPD to HCPs and could be considered more routinely by the pharmaceutical industry as part of multichannel communication plans to improve HCP engagement and education. However, very little published information is available on the considerations and challenges associated with creating industry-sponsored podcasts.
In our opinion, one key challenge is the limitation around granular metrics data on industry-sponsored podcasts, making it difficult to demonstrate a return on investment. Close collaboration with industry partners will be needed to define the target audience and to help ensure that meaningful metrics are collected. The inclusion of qualitative measures (eg, user surveys) is also recommended to determine if podcast uptake is associated with changes in clinical practice.
The requirement for users to register and be verified as HCPs before being able to access the podcasts may also be a significant “digital barrier” to the uptake of industry-sponsored podcasts. We suspect that multistep registration processes (
Overcoming these barriers could help increase the use of this flexible and versatile educational platform among the medical community. Indeed, recent innovations have highlighted that podcasting will be an important medium for educating HCPs in the future. For example, several Adis-affiliated journals allow the publication of peer-reviewed podcast articles on clinically-relevant topics (eg, conference data, treatment innovations, and expert opinions on drugs and disease therapies) [
Podcasting is a novel method for delivering medical education and can be a suitable alternative to traditional face-to-face and print-based education and incorporated into CPD programs. Careful planning is needed to ensure the success of industry-sponsored podcasts. With further uptake and optimization of this form of medical education, industry-sponsored podcasts may play an important role in shaping change in clinical practice and improving patient care in the future.
continuing professional development
General Data Protection Regulation
health care professional
We thank the members of the
JN is an employee of Gilead Sciences. JB, SI, AL, and KS are employees of Oxford PharmaGenesis, which has received funding to support development of the