Podcast Sources

What are podcasts?

The word ‘podcast’ is the bastard offspring of broadcasting and iPod. Podcasts are a series of digital media files, either audio or video (aka vodcasts), that are downloaded automatically by subscription to a feed. Podcasts can be accessed over the web with most types of media playing software. They can be made with free software and hosted by free online services.

You don’t need an iPod to use podcasts!

Excited? Then try a database search of the worlds best EM, ER, ED podcasts with the searchable Online PODCAST Database

Podcasts and Vodcasts updated weekly

• Totally free EM ICU lectures:
  • EMCrit with Scott Weingart [iTunes] [Twitter]
  • ERCast with Rob Orman [iTunes] [Twitter]
  • EMRAP TV with Mel Herbert [EMRAP] [Twitter]
  • EMRAP EE with Rob Rogers [iTunes] [Twitter]
  • EMPem with Colin Parker [iTunes] [Twitter]
  • PEM ED with Andy Sloas [iTunes]
  • EM Basic with Steve Carroll [iTunes] [Twitter]
  • SMART EM [iTunes]
  • Ultrasound Podcast with Mike and Matt [iTunes] [Twitter]
  • Medicina d’urgenza present RadioUrgenza [iTunes] [Twitter]
  • Annals of Emergency Medicine [iTunes]
  • Free EM talks and Podcasts from Joe Lex
• Sites with Subscription required - “Free” lectures listed in the Podcast directory
  • EM Core Content
  • Emergency Medicine Cases with Anton Helman
  • Critical care Perspectives in Emergency Medicine

Upside

• Most podcasts are in audio format, which is great for auditory learners (probably about 30% of us), although there are also a plenty of vodcasts for visual learners too.
• Users can listen to podcasts “on the go” with a portable device – anytime, anywhere – which maximizes time efficiency.
• Many podcasts have free subscriptions.
• Podcasts can be made with free software.
• It is easy to subscribe to podcasts using a feed, or alternatively using iTunes.

Downside

• Podcasts can vary in sound and video quality depending on the “amateurism/professionalism” of the podcast creator.
• Sadly not all podcasts are free.
• Media file downloads may require substantial bandwidth.
• Podcasts lack “two-way” interaction and audience participation.
• Once released and downloaded a podcast ‘episode’ can’t be modified or improved upon.

Emergency Medicine Lectures and Teaching

EM:RAP
Aussie export Dr Mel Herbert‘s superb educational audio series, EM:RAP, needs no introduction. This series is the archetype for multimedia education. Get your institution to subscribe.
To those of you without a subscription, don’t despair — EMRAP.TV is free, as is the exceptional EMRAP Educators Edition led by emergency medicine educator extraordinaire Dr Rob Rogers, as well as some of the episodes from EMRAP Critical Care Edition, Emergency Medicine Core Content, and USC Essentials.
Also, the free lecture videos from the ‘All LA Conference‘, while not in podcast format, are well worth checking out and downloading.

• ERCast
  • ERCast is a superbly produced and free-to-all emergency medicine podcast presented by ER physician Dr Rob Orman from Portland, Oregon. Excellent interviews and reviews of EM issues that are packed with pearls. Highly recommended.

• Emergency Medicine Cases
  • Led by Dr Anton Helman, Emergency Medicine Cases is Toronto, Canada’s entry into the world class emergency medicine podcast stakes. Ten times a year, two of Canada’s leading experts in emergency medicine are faced with an emergency medicine case. They discuss clinical pearls, important management issues and the current clinical literature around the cases.

• Joe Lex’s open source emergency medicine podcast collection
  • We first learned of emergency medicine legend Dr Joe Lex’s great collection of free emergency medicine talks from Academic Life in Emergency Medicine. Now Joe Lex has his own website, the appropriately named Free Emergency Medicine Talks. This is a truly great resource.

• ACEP podcasts
  • The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) ‘Focus On‘ series of informative audio podcasts provides high quality concise reviews of core emergency medicine topics. ACEP-EMedHome.com has a host of video lectures and podcasts that are accessible with a paid subscription. These include: Amal Mattu’s monthly EMCast, audio podcasts from the ACEP annual Scientific Assembly, as well as online EM lectures from the CME center.

• empem.org
  • empem.org provides an ongoing comprehensive review of the evidence and issues in paediatric emergency medicine. It is presented by emergency physician Dr Colin Parker and colleagues at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, Western Australia.

• Departmental emergency medicine podcasts
  • Emergency Department Lecture Series is a continuing medical education series from the Department of Emergency Medicine, Albany Medical Center, Albany, New York.
  • University of Iowa Department of Emergency Medicine is another departmentally produced podcast.
  • Emergency in the Shed - Emergency Nursing Lecture series on iTunes from the Gold Coast Hospital

Critical Care

EMCrit Podcast
Dr Scott Weingart is a brilliant critical care-focused Emergency Physician who presents the EMCrit Podcast. He provides an ongoing discussion of the practice of ED critical care with goal of bringing ‘Upstairs Care, Downstairs’. This cutting edge podcast is supported by a comprehensive website and a blog stacked with useful resources. I don’t know why, but for some reason I really liked EMCrit Podcast 14.5 — A bit more on EGDT .

• ICU Rounds
  Burns guru Dr Jeffrey Guy presents a very comprehensive podcast series called the ICU Rounds. This excellent podcast covers general critical care topics with a burns and trauma emphasis.

• Society of Critical Care Medicine
  The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) has a few different free iCritical care podcasts that may interest emergency physicians, particularly those with a critical care bent.

Toxicology

Chicago Toxcast
Medical toxicologist Dr Mark Mycyk’s monthly ‘Chicago Toxcast‘ of ‘anything and everything tox-worthy’ is a jewel of a medical podcast. It is quirky and entertaining as well as informative and interactive. Highly recommended to all ‘tox fiends’ out there.

Prehospital and Retrieval Medicine

• Pharmacology and Trauma
  Impressive and prolific podcaster Dr Jeffrey Guy has two podcasts relevant to pre-hospital medicine: Pharmacology for the Pre-hospital Professional and Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support.

Other specialties

• A Gobbet O’ Pus and More Mark Crislip
  A Gobbet O’ Pus consists of musings, rants and insights of the always entertaining and enlightening megalomaniacal ‘Pus Whisperer’ Dr Mark Crislip. Infectiously brilliant stuff. His Quackcast and Persiflager’s Infectious Diseases Puscast are also great.

Evidence-based Updates

Keeping Up with Emergency Medicine
Keeping Up with Emergency Medicine reviews recent additions to the emergency medicine literature (in only 15 minutes a fortnight!). It is hosted by Dr Clay Smith and Dr Jim Fiechtl from Vanderbilt Emergency Medicine and is becoming an indispensable emergency medicine resource. Registration is free (and hopefully will remain so) and allows access to supporting documents, but you can just subscribe to the audio with iTunes. Purest gold.

• Emergency Medicine Abstracts
  Like EM:RAP the full edition of the classic Emergency Medicine Abstracts series requires a paid subscription. However the EM:RAP team have put together a free concise summary version that is well worth checking out (EMA iTunes link). This is another great resource for learning about emerging research and evidence related to emergency medicine.

• POEM of the Week
  POEM of the week is a podcast from Essential Evidence Plus. It provides a brief weekly discussion of ‘patient-orientated evidence that matters’ focusing on general medicine topics, some of which cross into emergency medicine territory.

Medical Journals

Emergency medicine journals
The Annals of Emergency Medicine podcast provides an excellent and easily digestible summary of the key articles in each monthly edition of the leading journal in emergency medicine.

• Major medical journals
  The New England Journal of Medicine, British Medical Journal and The Lancet all have their own podcasts featuring article summaries and interviews.
  The Cochrane Library also has audio summaries of selected systematic reviews.
• Medscape
  Medscape has specialty-related podcasts featuring interviews, summaries and expert commentary. Check out the Emergency Medicine and Critical Care podcasts.

TED

• TED Talks
  OK, TED isn’t really about emergency medicine or intensive care. However, it is probably the best thing on the Web, and you’d have to be a fool not to subscribe to the TED podcast (TED iTunes link). Don’t be a fool, let TED blow your mind wide open!

If you use iTunes, most of these podcasts can be found and freely subscribed to by searching the iTunes store. If you know of any other quality emergency medicine podcasts please let us know by commenting on this post or via twitter (@precordialthump or @sandnsurf).

Other links

• BMJ Career focus 2008;336:29-30 – Medical podcasts the future of continuing professional development?
• Boulos M, Moramba I, Wheeler S. Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education. BMC Med Educ 2006; 6: 41.
• Medpod101.com
• Medworm search for ‘emergency medicine’ podcasts
• Mel Herbert – Emergency Medicine Education 2.0 video talk
• Open Medicine Blog – An introduction to podcasts in medicine
• UBC podcasts and videocasts
• Ves Dimov‘s Clinical Cases and Images Blog – Top 5 medical podcasts I listen to
• Wikipedia: podcast