Innovations in External Education Episode 01: The Power of the Podcast Format of Medical Education

This series of the Elevate Podcast illuminates the path scientific communication takes from teaching to diagnosis to treating all the way to changing, prolonging, and saving patient lives. External Education of a growing variety of stakeholders in healthcare by the Medical Affairs Division of Pharma and Medical Device industry reflects the critical role Education in Medicine plays in our Age of Information. The podcast features critical discussions with leading educators across healthcare from the various perspectives of pharma / biotech sponsors, program organizers, attendees, and patients with a quest to explore some of the most novel, intriguing formats of Medical Education, following their approaches to learning in our digital age as well as their current gaps or success stories. The goal of the podcast is to make medical education simpler to access, more relevant to apply across healthcare organizations, and more continuous to inspire innovation and quality.

This is a first of a series of episodes that examines the podcast as one of the most effective emerging channels and formats of education in medicine. Our host, Tim Mikhelashvili, PharmD, Co-Founder and CEO of Amedea Pharma and Chair of the Mentorship Program at the Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS) speaks with Shelby Englert, Vice President of Education at the American Urological Association to learn why podcasts are powerful from a Professional Medical Society’s perspective. Shelby explains why its organization started its AUA University podcast, now with 165 episodes and the role it has played in building and growing its community of urologists in the association. She also describes how the AUA University podcast is structured, how it has evolved over time, and shares personal suggestions for elements of education most valuable and relevant to an audience in a podcast, providing specific examples that demonstrate the direct impact of the podcast on patient and physician behaviors as well as health outcomes. Listen to this episode because it not only centers on the ultimate impact of podcasts on the quality of medical education, but also discusses all the “supporting players” and “accessories” to the podcast required such as channels, technology, and timing of podcast communication to make a podcast successful and valuable in healthcare.