The therapeutic interview is one of the cornerstones of psychiatric practice. When practitioners are skilled in the art of interviewing, patients are allowed to share their narratives and explore their emotions, while the clinician can diagnose and treat more effectively. Discussions with colleagues can be used to share knowledge and experience. As part of a student project undertaken in Summer 2021, two students were tasked with producing a series of educational podcasts to be used for psychiatric training. Both students chose to complete several interviews with professionals in psychiatry. In this study, they will reflect on the efficacy of interviews as a learning tool, their experiences of podcast interviewing, and the transferable skills that they learned.

To reflect on the use of interviews within podcasts and how this can be transferred to practice.

Based on the literature review, medical students conducted interviews with specialist clinicians in order to gain information around patient treatment. They then reflected on this experience.

The practice of interviewing allowed for the development of a range of skills. It improved communication with senior professionals, provided a deeper knowledge of different psychiatric fields, and developed the written skills needed for the creation of engaging questions.

Interviews are a useful tool in educational podcasts and producing these helped medical students gain specialist insight and learning into different medical fields not thoroughly covered in the undergraduate curriculum. Producing the podcasts helped to develop the key skill of interviewing and communicating with more senior colleagues.

No significant relationships.

Psychiatric conditions can be both a symptom and a consequence of physical disease. Although understanding of this is important for health care delivery, coverage of the relationship between physical and psychiatric illness in undergraduate medical education is sparse. This relationship is particularly pertinent in neurological disorders, where psychiatric symptomatology is commonplace. As part of a student project, the author was tasked with developing accessible teaching materials to increase interest and understanding among medical students, using podcasts.

The aim was to develop podcasts which explored the relationship between psychiatric and neurological illness, for use in undergraduate psychiatric training.

Literature reviews were performed on podcasting in medical education to identify the optimal methods of production to maximise educational value, and on topics covered in podcasts to inform the interview questions. Experts in the relevant areas were contacted for recorded interviews, later used to create podcasts.

Four interviews were conducted between the author and consultant neurologists specialising in the specific neurological condition. A podcast was produced for each of the following topics: depression in multiple sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia in motor neurone disease, Lewy body dementia, and dissociative seizures.

Psychiatric and physical illness are often intertwined. As the prevalence of psychiatric illness rises, it is becoming increasingly important that this connection is recognised, in order to improve patient experiences and outcomes. Novel teaching modalities, such as podcasts, can provide additional ways to support medical education on this important topic.

No significant relationships.

There has been a rapidly increasing rate of students disclosing specific learning difficulties in higher education- in 2016 dyslexic students accounted for up to 5% of the student population.(Ryder D, Norwich B.)

It is important that provisions for alternative learners are developed in order to increase accessibility to medicine. Podcasts are an inexpensive, accessible and convenient method to both deliver education and interest pieces to a new generation of learners. This poster aims to explore the idea of harnessing the technology available to us to create an accessible, enjoyable platform to improve the experience of students with learning difficulties.

A literature search reviewing the past and present provisions for students with learning difficulties was conducted using a range of databases covering educational, scientific and medical backgrounds. 315 papers were found across the databases, each analysed for relevance and 25 were selected as appropriate.

identified 5 key themes; the lack of awareness and importance of education, the power of audio learning, the practicalities of podcasts, adjustments to examinations specifically and finally additional provisions which accompany audio learning to create an all-inclusive educational experience. Altogether suggesting podcasts have an improved outcome for students with learning difficulties.

It has been evidenced understanding is key to maximising learning potential and highlighted need to increase awareness of dyslexic needs in higher education institutions, generate audio centred provisions in conjunction to traditional materials and be aware of alternative provisions to cater for the spectrum of dyslexic needs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted a need for engaging online resources to enrich psychiatry training for undergraduate medical students. Podcasting is a well-established digital communication platform utilised daily in a myriad of capacities, including education. A group of medical students were tasked with creating their own educational podcasts covering specific aspects of psychiatry.

Each pair was set a sub-topic of psychiatry and utilised software to produce educational resources. The objective of this project was to reflect upon production as well as explore the efficacy of podcasting as a tool within undergraduate training.

The medical students conducted research and contacted experts within the field to contribute to their podcasts. The majority of the students then conducted reviews of the literature surrounding podcasting within medical education, which informed the production of their own podcasts. From this, it was discussed how this project could impact future practice, and indicated that podcasts may become crucial asynchronous learning tools in medical education.

Literature review and first-hand experience of podcast production enabled the students to appreciate the advantages of podcasting and the potential for its widespread future applications. Their wider reading revealed that podcast-using study participants outperformed or matched their peers in assessments, and overwhelmingly enjoyed using podcasts over traditional teaching methods.

The use of podcasting can complement traditional psychiatry training and appeal to a generation of digital natives that prefer this learning style. Podcast production is also an excellent revision method, highlighting the advantages of peer-to-peer education in both learning and increasing engagement with psychiatry.

No significant relationships.