An electronic survey of preferred podcast format and content requirements among trainee emergency medicine specialists in four Southern African universities

Introduction: Global usage of educational Emergency Medicine (EM) podcasts is popular and ever-increasing. This study aims to explore the desired content, format and delivery characteristics of a potential educational, context-specific Southern African EM podcast, by investigating current podcast usages, trends and preferences among Southern African EM registrars of varying seniority. Methods: We developed an electronic survey - using a combination of existing literature, context-specific specialist-training guidance, and input from local experts – exploring preferred podcast characteristics among EM registrars from four Southern African universities. Results: The study's response rate was 75%, with 24 of the 39 respondents being junior registrars. Ninety-four percent (94%) of respondents used EM podcasts as an educational medium: 64% predominantly using podcasts to supplement a personal EM study program. The primary mode of accessing podcasts was via personal mobile devices (84%). Additionally, respondents preferred a shorter podcast duration (5–15 min), favoured multimedia podcasts (56%) and showed an apparent aversion toward recorded faculty lectures (5%). Eighty-two percent (82%) of respondents preferred context-specific podcast content, with popular topics including toxicology (95%), cardiovascular emergencies (79%) and medico-legal matters (74%). Just-in-Time learning proved an unpopular learning strategy in our study population, despite its substantial educational value. Conclusion: Podcast-usage proved to be near-ubiquitous among the studied Southern African EM registrars. Quintessentially, future context-specific podcast design should cater for mobile device-use, shorter duration podcasts, more video content, context-specific topics, and content optimised for both Just-in-Time learning.