A Practical Tutorial for Creating and Sharing Student-Led Educational Podcasts in Medical Education: The PodBases...

Medical biochemistry and molecular genetics stand out as some of the most demanding courses for first-year medical students, who often require repeated exposure to complex pathways and molecular processes. To provide additional support in this early stage of training, we created PodBases, a peer-led educational podcast integrated into an academic mentoring program and made available through a widely accessible global audio-streaming platform. The goal was to offer brief, clinically oriented episodes that reinforced key concepts and complemented traditional teaching.

The initiative followed a defined workflow involving close collaboration between student tutors and faculty. Tutors prepared scripts aligned with the weekly course content, which were subsequently reviewed for accuracy. Recordings were made using smartphones and edited with freely accessible audio-editing tools and published on a podcast-hosting service. We documented the entire process to create a practical tutorial that facilitates replication in similar educational settings.

Between May 2023 and January 2026, 30 episodes were published, reaching 13,050 streams across 16 countries. Student feedback highlighted the usefulness of the podcast during commutes and study sessions. Mentors reported skill development in communication, simplification of content and teamwork.

PodBases demonstrates that student-generated podcasts can effectively complement traditional teaching by reinforcing core topics, supporting learner autonomy, enhancing comprehension and developing tutors' pedagogical skills. The experience suggests that peer-led digital resources can enhance comprehension while promoting engagement and professional growth in the foundational years of training.

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