| Theme | Theme description | Percentage of total responders (n = 137) | Illustrative quotes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time constraints | Difficult to find time within busy schedule to listen to podcasts, and a preference for non-medical content during personal time | 36.5% |
'Finding the time to listen is still a challenge since this happens mostly during personal time.' GPST
'Tired at end of day, want to switch off and listen to something else rather than medicine in the car.' GPT 'Length, sometimes too long.' GPST |
| Lack of perceived retention | Poor knowledge retention owing to mismatched learning styles, lack of interactivity, and distractibility while listening | 25.5% |
'Some people learn better by visual/face to face. They are generally pre-recorded so no way to clarify/ask questions.' GPT
'Not sure how actively engaged you are as risk of passive listening.' GPT 'May be hard to concentrate if stressed or distracted.' GPT 'I find my recall of information is not as good from a podcast as it is from a presentation or from reading […]' GPST |
| Podcast credibility | Difficulty in identifying trustworthy podcasts amid the growing number of available sources, and uncertainty surrounding the evidence base of podcasts | 16.8% |
'Can be uncertain of source validity — when is a podcast fact versus opinion?' GPT
'Having a trustworthy site and a trustworthy podcast. What is the podcaster’s agenda?' GPT 'Risk of information not being evidence based — more difficult to fact check information if not reading a paper with references.' GPST |
| Accessibility and convenience issues | Unfamiliarity with podcast platforms, difficulty taking notes while multitasking, and challenges in navigating podcasts compared with text-based resources | 13.9% |
'If we have hearing problems, concentration problems or no access to spotify or headphones then I can imagine this would reduce accessibility.' GPT
'In addition it is much harder to skip irrelevant information or to locate particular information.' 'Difficult to take notes or "prove" learning.' GPT |
| Lack of relevance | Difficult to find podcasts relevant to specific educational needs, noting a limited variety of primary care podcasts and lack of UK or Scotland-specific content | 5.1% |
'Sometimes the ones available aren't relevant to my location.' GPST
'Very few Scottish-based podcasts for GPs and GP trainees.' GPST 'A few of the more popular podcast I have found are American which are not as useful as they have different managements / different units when talking about investigations […]' GPST |
GPT = GP Trainer; GPST = GP specialist trainee;