Characteristics of Drug-Related Podcasts and This Medium's Potential as a Pharmacy Education Tool

Objective. To analyze the publication frequency and characteristics of drug-related podcasts and describe the role of pharmacists in creating content for this audio-based educational medium. Methods. Podcasts that potentially included drug-related educational information were identified based on four podcast categories that were publicly available as of June 2016. Podcasts were screened by two reviewers to determine whether they contained at least five episodes with drug-related content and a minimum of 10 audio episodes. Metrics related to the podcast, audio episodes, and names of the content authors were collected and a descriptive analysis was conducted. Results. Of the 960 podcasts screened, 125 met the study criteria and were included in the descriptive analysis. These drug-related podcasts produced a median of two episodes per month and each episode lasted an average of 27 minutes. The most common professions represented by podcast hosts and guests were physicians (83.2%), followed by nurses and nurse practitioners (11.2%) and pharmacists (10.4%). Podcast content varied widely, with critical care and emergency medicine being the most common (18.4%), followed by general medicine (14.4%) and complementary and alternative medicine (13.6%). Conclusion. Drug-related podcasts are numerous and easily accessible; however, the quality and accuracy of their content cannot be easily determined as episodes do not consistently cite references. Pharmacists appear to be underrepresented in developing this particular genre of educational content, pharmacy educators should consider producing and disseminating educational material through podcasts for students and practitioners.