Hot Topic Podcasts as a Learning Tool for Pharmacists

Abstract

Specific Aims: To assess the perceived value and accessibility of podcasts as an educational tool for practicing pharmacists. Subjects: Participants were recruited from the pool of approximately 1300 pharmacist preceptors registered with the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy. In order to receive the retrospective pre-post podcast questionnaire, the pharmacist must listen to one or both of the podcasts. Methods: This interventional study used data obtained from a retrospective pre-post podcast questionnaire. The links for the podcasts and questionnaire were provided to participants via email. Main Results: Questionnaires were completed by 8 females (72.7%) and 3 males (27.2%). Most participants were between the ages of 23-34 (54.5%), practiced in ambulatory care (50%) and either had never listened to a podcast (27.2%) or listened once a month (27.2%). Overall, there was a statistically significant difference (p< 0.05) in participants feeling knowledgeable in the topic areas discussed in the podcast(s) after listening to the podcast(s); however, there was no statistically significant difference for podcasts being perceived as a useful educational tool, useful for staying up to date on current literature, or useful in keeping people engaged in learning. Conclusion: Listening to one or more educational podcasts did increase pharmacists perceived knowledge on the topics discussed, but did not cause a change in perceived value of podcasts as an educational tool that is engaging and useful for staying up to date on current literature. This may be due to the participants' baseline favorable view of podcasts.