JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Podcasts are increasingly used as flexible learning resources in medical education, but evidence regarding their educational effectiveness remains limited. NephrOdio is a freely accessible, curriculum-based nephrology podcast developed by the French College of Nephrology Academics and designed to complement conventional undergraduate nephrology teaching. Since its launch in 2023, the podcast has accumulated more than 700,000 downloads.

Objective:

To evaluate the use, perceived educational value, and association between NephrOdio use and nephrology examination performance among French undergraduate medical students.

Methods:

We conducted a multicenter cross-sectional study among undergraduate medical students from 16 French medical schools. Data on podcast use, educational perceptions, and academic performance were collected through a national survey. Nephrology examination performance was compared between NephrOdio users and non-users, and according to cumulative podcast exposure. Analyses were conducted in a pooled national cohort using self-reported examination scores and in an institutional validation cohort from Rouen University using objectively retrieved examination scores.

Results:

Among 758 students who completed the survey, 627 reported an available nephrology examination score. NephrOdio was the third most frequently used educational resource for nephrology, after the national textbook and examination question banks. Among users, 82% rated its overall educational value at 4 or 5 on a 5 point Likert scale, and 94% would recommend it to another medical student. NephrOdio users achieved higher nephrology examination scores than non-users (13.94 ± 0.09 vs. 12.72 ± 0.31, P< .001). Higher cumulative podcast exposure was associated with progressively higher examination performance. The association between podcast use and nephrology examination performance was also observed in the institutional validation cohort using objectively retrieved examination scores.

Conclusions:

NephrOdio was widely adopted by French medical students and was associated with high perceived educational value and better nephrology examination performance. The consistency of the association across self-reported and objectively retrieved academic outcomes supports the potential value of curriculum-based podcasts as complementary resources for undergraduate medical education. These findings suggest that structured, freely accessible podcasts may provide a scalable approach to supporting nephrology learning.