Hunting for Pearls: A Qualitative Analysis of the Reflections of Students Creating Psychiatric Podcasts

PURPOSE: This paper aims to explore medical student experiences of creating a peer-to-peer psychiatry educational podcast. METHODS: During psychiatry placement, ten year-4 University of Bristol medical students created peer-educational multi-episode podcasts on psychiatric topics. Following completion, they submitted reflective essays on their experiences. Qualitative thematic analysis of these essays was completed by two independent authors. Following data familiarisation, authors independently generated codes that were collated into relevant themes. Upon reaching thematic saturation, findings were collated, and member checking was carried out to confirm the validity of findings. RESULTS: Themes included effective preparation, choosing content, podcast production, enhancing learning, the weight of responsibility and creating educational support networks. All students found podcast creation to be beneficial for personal learning. CONCLUSION: Exploration of students’ experiences creating podcasts can support clearer guidance for medical podcast production, providing opportunities for educators to optimise podcast creation efficiency and educational effectiveness.