Background/Purpose: Podcasts are an increasingly popular tool in medical education, shown to match or exceed traditional lectures in short term retention and learner satisfaction. Despite abundant high-quality rheumatology content, no structured podcast-based curriculum exists for internal medicine (IM) residents. This shortfall is noteworthy as rheumatology consistently emerges as one of the weakest areas of knowledge among IM residents. While podcasts are a flexible and engaging learning tool, passive listening alone may limit deeper understanding and long-term retention of key concepts. To address this, we developed a structured rheumatology curriculum that combines high-quality podcasts with active learning worksheets. This dual approach aims to foster greater engagement and enhance durable retention of rheumatology concepts among IM residents.

Methods: Curriculum development was guided by Kern’s Six-Step Approach (Figure 1). A targeted literature review conducted by one IM resident and one rheumatologist identified key rheumatology topics for IM residents based on four criteria: poor performance on standardized exams, low self-reported confidence among trainees, perceived importance by rheumatologists, and frequency of rheumatology consultations. These high-yield topics were queried in Listen Notes, a comprehensive podcast database. Podcasts affiliated with an academic institution and targeting a generalist physician audience were prioritized. Additional episodes were identified through manual screening of titles and show notes from reputable independent podcasts. Three IM residents independently assessed each episode using a modified, validated rubric “The Quality Checklist for Health Professions Blogs and Podcasts,” evaluating quality, accuracy, and educational relevance with a scoring system (Figure 2). Top episodes were selected based on average scores, score variability, succinctness, and alignment with the target audience. Using backward design, an accompanying online worksheet was developed to encourage active learning. This incorporated multiple-choice, short-answer, and fill-in-the-blank questions (Figure 3).

Results: Nine core topics were included in the final curriculum: gout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, spondyloarthritis, lupus, fibromyalgia, vasculitis, rheumatologic lab interpretation, and approach to joint pain. From an initial pool of 25 to 300 episodes per topic, 30 underwent evaluation using the rubric (Figure 2) and 12 were selected for inclusion in the study.

Conclusion: A structured, podcast-based rheumatology curriculum has been developed for IM residents, integrating high-quality curated episodes with active learning worksheets. This dual approach is designed to increase engagement and promote long-term retention of core rheumatology concepts. The curriculum is currently being piloted with IM residents, with plans for future refinement and expansion to other institutions.

Figure 1. Curriculum development guided by Kern’s Six-Step Approach.

Figure 2. “The Quality Checklist for Health Professions Blogs and Podcasts.” Modified from Colmers et al., The Winnower, 2015, 2:e144720.08769.

Figure 3. Example of an online quiz with embedded podcast episode.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/rheum2listen-leveraging-podcasts-to-teach-rheumatology-to-internal-medical-residents/