Technology
DOI: 10.1308/147363515X14134529299826
Surgical podcasts:
ten of the best
Consultant surgeon Thomas Fysh reviews the
best surgical podcasts on the market.
ICU ROUNDS
Jeffrey Guy is a familiar name
among surgical trainees. His
long-standing podcast series
covers all aspects of intensive
care unit (ICU) and critical care from fluid bal-
ance, sepsis and pancreatitis through to bomb
and blast injuries and the use of blood products.
Guy qualifies his remarks and insights with
up-to-date research and frequently refers to
established guidelines and best treatment
protocols. Whereas many of these are inter-
nationally applicable (such as the Surviving
Sepsis campaign), others are particular to his
own establishment at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville. Nonetheless, the podcast is engaging
and, although home recorded, sounds profes-
sional and smoothly edited. This is a fantastic
resource for all surgeons, but particularly useful
for those revising for the FRCS and MRCS.
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DR PODCAST
The Dr Podcast series is
designed as a revision tool for
various Royal College mem-
bership-level examinations,
including general surgery. Unusually, they
are not free and cannot be accessed from
iTunes, but rather the Dr Podcast website.
A subscription containing all 180 podcasts
costs £150 but – given the cost of surgical
textbooks – this does not seem unreasonable
if the content is up to the task, which it is.
The episodes take the form of ‘the perfect
answer’, in which an interviewer asks a
question and a ‘candidate’ answers slowly and
flawlessly, covering the surgical curriculum at
MRCS level. These podcasts are of no interest
to anyone but the revising MRCS candidate.
Although they clearly have merit, the tech-
nique of learning a script in order to pass an
exam feels outdated and one gets the feeling
that the examiners would rather candidates
answered questions by drawing on their
own experiences and knowledge. That said, I
would have paid for the series.
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CANCER UPDATE SERIES
(BREAST SURGEON’S EDITION –
OTHERS ARE AVAILABLE)
For those interested in breast
surgery, Neil Love’s podcast
series is first class. He interviews well-known
names in breast cancer research in order to
establish how novel research can influence
practice. Typically, he will ask a panel of experts
to comment on the treatment of their own
patients and discuss how modern research
influences management.
This podcast series highlights the most
important and controversial topics in breast
cancer and provides an evidence-packed
experience, which is as valuable to the most
established academic as it is to the junior
trainee. It is professionally recorded and
linked to Research to Practice (RTP), Love’s
established medical education company
in Miami. RTP podcasts are also available,
including a prostate and colorectal series
for surgeons and 11 other podcasts covering
other oncological subspecialties. They are all
of similarly high quality.
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BRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY
Although the BJS monthly
podcast provides a brief syn-
opsis of the journal’s content,
it is not an adequate substitute
for subscription (and nor is it meant to
be). On occasion, the editors provide extra
interviews with authors and this is when
the podcast is most interesting. As is the
case with many of the established academic
journal podcasts, the editing, interviewing,
recording, music and flow feel amateurish
and the quality of the recorded interviews
is sometimes such that they are difficult to
hear. That said, it is quite short and certainly
provides the listener with the highlights of
the monthly BJS and a synopsis of the main
research findings.
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JBJS
The Journal of Bone and Joint
Surgery podcast is profes-
sionally produced and is an
abbreviated audio version of
the monthly journal. Several abstracts are
presented from the journal, which are then
elaborated upon by a chosen expert. Listeners
are also pointed towards e-learning resources,
including case-based discussions and video
tutorials provided by the JBJS. While the
narration is professional, the lack of inter-
views and discussion between professionals is
a shame; the expert monologues feel scripted
and are sometimes not particularly engaging.
Nonetheless, this is a useful resource for
orthopaedic surgeons and trainees.
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TRAUMA LOUPES
This monthly podcast from
the Journal of Trauma and
Acute Care Surgery takes the
form of the ‘guest review’. In
each short episode, invited guests talk about
an article of their choice. While some of
the contributors deliver their pieces in an
engaging way, they are usually read out and
feel stilted and laboured. I would favour an
alternative if time was limited.
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SURGINFECTION
Seamus McHugh’s podcast is
specific to surgical infection
prevention and this is perhaps
its strength. The episodes are
each less than ten minutes and usually consist
of a single review of a randomised control trial
by McHugh, a registrar in Cork, Ireland. The
podcast is an off-shoot of his e-learning re-
source, www.surginfection.com. They are home
recorded but of high quality and well edited.
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SURGERY 101
This podcast provides short
(20-minute) episodes covering
the main topics in general
surgery (eg appendicitis, peptic
ulcer disease, inflammatory bowel disease). They
are aimed at medical undergraduates but would
certainly be of interest to junior surgical trainees
too, as they cover the essentials of history, pres-
entation and management of common surgical
conditions. They do not cover very much in the
way of surgical guidelines or evidence and as
such are less valuable for those revising for higher
examinations or practising surgeons.
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Technology
THE HERNIA DISCOURSE
This podcast from Arthur
Gilbert, the founding
president of the American
Hernia Society, has much to
be said for it. The format is interview based
and covers all aspects of hernia surgery, up
to and including in-depth discussion of
minimally invasive techniques, the use of
biologic meshes, technical tips and the man-
agement of complications. Interviewees are
primarily from the American establishment,
but there are several contributions from the
international community. The interviews
feel natural and make for easy listening. The
series is let down by poor-quality telephone
lines and lengthy introductions, but the
content can be fascinating and may even
provoke surgeons to amend or alter their
own practice.
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PODCASTS FROM THE
COCHRANE LIBRARY
The Cochrane Library publishes
its monthly reports as 15-min-
ute ‘round-ups’. While this
podcast seems to be full of potential, not least
on account of the gravitas behind the Cochrane
establishment, it is let down by poor recording
and editing. Interviews are often incomprehen-
sible and sound levels are variable. Furthermore,
the reports are too often concerned with long
lists of statistics and details of meta-analyses,
which – although important in terms of the
written paper – do not make for an enjoyable
listening experience. This podcast would benefit
from a professional production team.
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Thomas Fysh is a consultant oncoplastic, breast
and general surgeon with The Medical Specialist
Group in Guernsey. The author declares no
conflict of interest or financial incentives.
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