Listen to your heart: a critical analysis of popular cardiology podcasts

Harish Kamalanathan; Lewis Hains; Stephen Bacchi; Stephen Bacchi; Wrivu N. Martin; Ammar Zaka; Flynn Slattery; Joshua G. Kovoor; Joshua G. Kovoor; Aashray K. Gupta; Aashray K. Gupta; Peter Psaltis; Peter Psaltis; Pramesh Kovoor

doi:10.3389/fmed.2024.1278449

Frontiers in Medicine (Jul 2024)

Listen to your heart: a critical analysis of popular cardiology podcasts

Harish Kamalanathan,
Lewis Hains,
Stephen Bacchi,
Stephen Bacchi,
Wrivu N. Martin,
Ammar Zaka,
Flynn Slattery,
Joshua G. Kovoor,
Joshua G. Kovoor,
Aashray K. Gupta,
Aashray K. Gupta,
Peter Psaltis,
Peter Psaltis,
Pramesh Kovoor

Affiliations

Harish Kamalanathan: Department of Cardiology, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, QLD, Australia
Lewis Hains: Department of Research, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Stephen Bacchi: College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Stephen Bacchi: Department of Research, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Wrivu N. Martin: College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia
Ammar Zaka: Department of Cardiology, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, QLD, Australia
Flynn Slattery: Department of Research, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Joshua G. Kovoor: Department of Research, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Joshua G. Kovoor: Department of Research, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Aashray K. Gupta: Department of Cardiology, Gold Coast University Hospital, Southport, QLD, Australia
Aashray K. Gupta: Department of Research, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Peter Psaltis: Department of Research, School of Medicine, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Peter Psaltis: Department of Research, Royal Adelaide Hospital, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Pramesh Kovoor: Department of Cardiology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2024.1278449
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11

Abstract

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PurposePodcasts are an increasingly popular medium for medical education in the field of cardiology. However, evidence suggests that the quality of the information presented can be variable. The aim of our study was to assess the quality of the most popular cardiology podcasts on existing podcast streaming services, using tools designed to grade online medical education.ResultsWe analyzed the five most recent episodes from 28 different popular cardiology podcasts as of 20th of September, 2022 using the validated rMETRIQ and JAMA scoring tools. The median podcast length was 20 min and most episodes were hosted by professors, subspecialty discussants or consultant physicians (87.14%). Although most episodes had only essential content (85%), only a small proportion of episodes provided detailed references (12.9%), explicitly identified conflicts of interest (30.7%), described a review process (13.6%), or provided a robust discussion of the podcast's content (13.6%). We observed no consistent relationship between episode length, seniority of host or seniority of guest speaker with rMETRIQ or JAMA scores.ConclusionsCardiology podcasts are a valuable remote learning tool for clinicians. However, the reliability, relevance, and transparency of information provided on cardiology podcasts varies widely. Streamlined standards for evaluation are needed to improve podcast quality.

Published in Frontiers in Medicine

ISSN: 2296-858X (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Medicine: Medicine (General)
Website: http://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine

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