For the first time in its 144-year history, the American Neurological Association has created a podcast to share the voices and insights of its accomplished members with the public and each other. In response to member interest and the potential of this popular medium, the ANA will launch ANA Investigates on October 13, 2019 at its Annual Meeting in St. Louis. Episodes are produced by Jen Hurley, CHCP, CPHQ, the ANA’s Accreditation and Education Manager, and will be available for download on Apple Podcasts, with ANA members able to earn AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ through the ANA website’s OnDEC portal.
For an audio introduction to ANA Investigates, click here.
We sat down with the following members of the ANA’s Online Education Task Force to hear the story of the podcast’s development and learn what’s in store.
- Romer Geocadin, MD, Professor of Neurology, Anesthesiology-Critical Care, and Neurosurgery, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Chair, ANA Online Education Task Force
- Megan Richie, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, University of California San Francisco
- James Siegler, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Cooper Neurological Institute, Cooper University Hospital; Producer, BrainWaves
Q. What is the mission of the ANA’s Online Education Task Force, and why did you see a podcast as a priority now?
Dr. Geocadin: The goal was to take the excellent educational programs that the ANA offers and translate them into a medium that the current generation is using. We did a member needs assessment, and what came out strongly was that people wanted online education that was short, sweet, and easily understood, and a podcast came up repeatedly. So, after careful discussion, we decided that a podcast would be a cost-effective vehicle. We think it’s achievable, high-impact, and the members will remember it.
Dr. Siegler: We felt that a major academic society not having a podcast in the 21st century was a lot like a major academic society not having had a premiere peer-reviewed journal 20 years ago. It was definitely an unmet need.
Dr. Richie: I would add that we thought a lot about aspects that make the ANA special and the focus we have on cutting-edge research as propelled by outstanding academicians. The ANA houses this incredible repository of great neurologic minds and one thing that we could really offer was our take on important research issues — be it clinical or basic science education, global health issues, diversity and inclusion issues — as viewed through the mind of an ANA member or two, or three. We felt that a podcast was a nice way of allowing ANA members to hear the thought process and discussion around an important neurologic issue by other ANA members.
“ANA Investigates is by ANA members, for ANA members. Its content depends on the members and what they want to hear.” |
| — Romer Geocadin, MD; Chair, ANA Online Education Task Force |
Q. What will the format be?
Dr. Richie: The goal is to be at least 15 minutes per episode so that members who listen will be able to count it towards their CME. The format is still in flux, but we're shooting for a maximum of 30 minutes to keep the content short and digestible, so I expect that somewhere in the 20-minute range will be the length of the average episode.
Dr. Siegler: As it stands right now, there’s consensus that we should have one or two hosts who conduct the show and navigate the listener through an interview or a series of interviews with one to three experts in the field. There will be interplay between the host, the interviewer, and the interviewee or interviewees, so we expect 20 to 30 minutes of dynamic conversation.
Q. Who will be the initial hosts?
Dr. Richie: Adeline Goss, a, neurology resident at UCSF [Medical Center] and a former producer for NPR, will serve as the host, with Jim and I stepping in on some episodes. Adeline was also a reporter for public radio in Wyoming and West Africa, and has a lot of experience both with interviewing and producing really high-quality auditory content. As a resident, she is interested in journalism as it pertains to neurology and medicine in general, and is doing research on the topic.
We want her to serve as a unifying voice to connect our episodes with each other. Even if she's not conducting every interview, she may introduce and bookend the episodes and provide her own commentary depending on the episode and her availability.
“Assessing the credibility and validity of content in medical education podcasts is something that is sorely missing.” |
| — Jim Siegler, MD; Member, ANA Online Education Task Force |
Q. What sets ANA Investigates apart from other podcasts on neurology?
Dr. Geocadin: ANA Investigates is by ANA members, for ANA members. Its content depends on the members and what they want to hear. So there'll be multiple topics from cutting-edge science to the way we practice, packaged in ways that are relevant for our members. Imagine you wake up in the morning, you get in your car and you listen to the key things that have been vetted carefully by people who are well informed not only in the science but also on how the information is going to be delivered.
Another differentiating factor is that the ANA always strives to put rigor into its science and its activities. So, this podcast is being considered for publication in the journals of the ANA. A summary of the podcast will be subject to peer review, which means that there will be a scientific rigor. Depending on the topic, whichever is more suitable, they will be published in the Annals of Neurology or ACTN; we're still working it out with the editors. This brings forward a different level of quality control to the podcast, and there will be a summary with references that goes into well-respected journals.
Dr. Siegler: I would just add that assessing the credibility and validity of content in medical education podcasts is something that is sorely missing. We stressed the importance early on of peer review of our content. We’ll be leveraging the journal side of the ANA to supplement or complement the audio content.
Q. Do you expect the podcast to be of interest to audiences beyond the ANA?
Dr. Siegler: Podcasts are a mobile medium and it's free; so anyone can access it anywhere at any time from any device that is connected to the internet. We are targeting specifically members of the ANA and lifelong learners of neurology, but plenty of other people will be utilizing this content. Patients, patients’ families, caregivers — anybody who comes across this content — will reference it.
It also takes advantage of the shift in how we are educating trainees and providing continuous education to lifelong learners in medicine. I can cite some data that residents and academics spend more time listening to podcasts than they do reading textbooks and referencing the literature, so it's definitely a utilized medium and one that the ANA is looking forward to taking advantage of.
Dr. Geocadin: The other thing to emphasize is that in a world where everybody is busy, the podcast may actually serve to direct people's attention to what is cutting-edge, so they can delve into the literature more deeply depending on their interests. That's why we are working to get broad input from ANA leadership and membership as to what the topics ought to be.
“The most important thing is for guests to present their content and just to be the outstanding academic that they are.” |
| — Megan Richie, MD; Member, ANA Online Education Task Force |
Q. The first podcast, hosted by Dr. Richie, is entitled “Unbiased metagenomic next-generation sequencing for diagnosis of CNS infection/inflammatory conditions.” The second, hosted by Dr. Siegler, addresses “Implicit bias in the workplace and patient care.” What range of topics are you pursuing and how do you decide what to include?
Dr. Richie: In the early episodes, we have chosen topics that are approachable to each of us as interviewers so that we could become more familiar with the format and process of producing a podcast. Going forward, we really want a lot of different input from stakeholders in terms of what to cover. We’d like to consider guests who have a breadth and depth of experience in a novel or timely topic in neurology, be it clinical or basic science research, education, global health, or issues related to academic neurology from an institutional or quality improvement level. I think those broad categories are all applicable. It just needs to move the field forward from a place of expertise.
Dr. Geocadin: We’d also like to highlight the outstanding careers of ANA members in episodes that address “How I Did It,” in which we interview prominent members of the ANA to share their career paths in academic neurology and neuroscience. We are also planning to tap into the leaders of the Special Interest Group sessions from the 2019 Annual Meeting. We’ll look to continue discussions and explore issues that might not have been raised during the meeting.
Q. Can ANA members recommend themselves as the subject of a podcast?
Dr. Geocadin: Absolutely! Who is the best person to say you are doing something cool but yourself?
Q. Will the ANA coach someone who has never participated in a podcast previously?
Dr. Richie: Yes, we will do our best to give guests an orientation to being on a podcast. We will send them questions in advance so they are not coming in cold, and we have a tip sheet that helps focus on speaking clearly and getting your ideas across succinctly. But I think the format helps as well.
For my first episode, I interviewed a couple of neurologists on their research and got a lot of basic information about what they do. For the second part of that episode, Adeline Goss and I are going to review those answers and comment on them, giving our takeaways. So, the dynamism of that episode is really going to come from the discussion that Adeline and I have about their answers. Even if the guest is not feeling spontaneous that day, that's okay, we'll be able to help jazz up that episode for our listeners. The most important thing is for guests to present their content and just to be the outstanding academic that they are.