Live Podcasting as an Educational Intervention in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology: Controlled Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: Podcasts are increasingly used in health professions education; however, most formats are asynchronous and noninteractive. Didactically grounded, synchronous implementations in dental curricula are scarce.

Objective: This study aims to design, implement, and evaluate a synchronous, case-based live podcast (LP) as a didactic teaching format in dentomaxillofacial radiology.

Methods: In a controlled cohort study with 2 third-year cohorts (N=41), the intervention group (IG; n=21, 51%) received weekly case-based LP sessions in addition to standard teaching, while the control group (CG; n=20, 49%) received standard teaching only. Acceptability was evaluated 6 months postcourse using the 27-item student evaluation questionnaire and open-text responses. Knowledge was assessed immediately after the course with a 21-item radiology knowledge test, and after 6 months, with a 15-item interdisciplinary clinical application test.

Results: The primary outcome was student-reported acceptability of the LP format. It was rated highly by students in the Student Evaluation Questionnaire (mean out of 10: structure 9.76, interactivity 9.62, interdisciplinary relevance 9.55). Qualitative feedback was assessed highlighting motivation, authenticity, and discussion quality. In the radiology knowledge test, no group differences were observed (IG: n=21, 51% vs CG: n=20, 49%; P=.37). In the interdisciplinary clinical application test, the IG outperformed the CG in restorative dentistry (median 5, IQR 4-5 vs median 4, IQR 3-5; P=.02; r=0.38) and in item-level analysis (15/21, 71% vs 40%; P=.04; φ=0.64).

Conclusions: The LP format represents a feasible, scalable, and low-threshold approach to fostering clinical reasoning in dental curricula, particularly at the transition to clinical training. While radiology-specific theoretical competencies did not differ between the groups, students consistently rated the LP as more engaging and motivating compared to standard lectures.

Keywords: case-based learning; clinical reasoning; dental education; digital learning; health professions education; interdisciplinary teaching; podcast; student engagement; synchronous learning.