A New Approach to Reaching the Digital Native Healthcare Professional
Podcasts and their use in medical education is a fast-growing medium to deliver content to healthcare professionals in a way that is more convenient and accessible to the learner than ever before. This trend is especially true for the ‘Digital Native’ healthcare professional who is seeking new approaches to their continuing professional development that align with their preferences for digital learning.
In this review article, we seek to better understand the needs of the young healthcare professional as it pertains to their continuing medical education and to make the case that podcast medical education can meet the unique requirements of this important group of medical professionals.
Who are Digital Natives?
Digital natives are defined as young people born into or raised in a digital world, and typically include Millennials and Generation Z. The term was introduced by Marc Prensky in his 2001 Horizon article entitled, ‘Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.’ Prensky’s thesis states that young people “think and process information fundamentally differently…making them native speakers of the digit...
