Academic Professional: Enhancing Practitioner Skills through Podcast-Based Interprofessional Education

Safe, patient-centered, and cost-effective care requires effective collaboration within interprofessional teams. As education programs for health care professionals are often siloed, providing students with limited interprofessional education (IPE) opportunities, podcasts offer a novel approach to facilitate IPE, allowing for asynchronous conversations with interprofessional colleagues. This blog will discuss how practitioners can leverage podcasts to enhance their skills and encourage further research based on the findings from the research article titled "Leveraging Podcasts to Introduce Medical Students to the Broader Community of Health Care Professionals."

Implementing Podcast-Based IPE

The study developed four podcasts featuring various health care professionals for 135 preclinical medical students. These podcasts were coupled with an hour-long interactive session with the interviewees conducted via videoconference. The curriculum explored the distinct education paths, roles, and responsibilities of various health care disciplines. Strategies for communicating effectively with and learning from interprofessional team members were emphasized.

Key Findings

The study reported significant findings that practitioners can implement to improve their skills:

• 100% of students who completed the post-curriculum survey reported that the podcasts enhanced their learning.
• 98% of students stated that the follow-up live session further enhanced their learning.
• Students learned strategies for engaging in productive interprofessional conversations, the importance of leveraging the distinct roles and responsibilities of diverse health professionals, the value of learning from other health professionals, and the use of respectful language.

How Practitioners Can Implement These Findings

Practitioners can take the following steps to implement the findings from this study:

1. Incorporate Podcasts into Professional Development: Create or utilize existing podcasts that feature interviews with professionals from various health care disciplines. This can provide practitioners with insights into the roles and responsibilities of different team members.
2. Facilitate Interactive Sessions: Follow up podcast listening with interactive sessions where practitioners can engage in discussions with the featured professionals. This can help in reinforcing the learning and provide opportunities for real-time questions and answers.
3. Promote Continuous Learning: Encourage practitioners to continuously seek out and engage with IPE resources, including podcasts, webinars, and interactive sessions. This can foster a culture of continuous learning and collaboration.

Encouraging Further Research

While the study demonstrated the effectiveness of podcasts in enhancing interprofessional education, further research is needed to explore the long-term impact of such educational modalities on clinical practice. Practitioners are encouraged to:

• Conduct studies to assess the impact of podcast-based IPE on clinical outcomes.
• Explore the use of other multimedia tools in interprofessional education.
• Share findings and best practices with the broader medical and educational communities.

Conclusion

Leveraging podcasts for interprofessional education represents an innovative approach to enhancing learning and collaboration among health care professionals. By implementing the findings from this study, practitioners can improve their skills and contribute to the advancement of interprofessional education.

To read the original research paper, please follow this link: Leveraging Podcasts to Introduce Medical Students to the Broader Community of Health Care Professionals.