Podcasting Towards Togetherness: Utilizing Podcasts to Improve Departmental Camaraderie and Well-being

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Introduction: Physician burnout is on the rise, and this is of particular concern in emergency medicine. Burnout is associated with medical errors, adverse events, poor professionalism, and litigation. A sense of community can build engagement and mitigate workplace stressors on well-being. Emergency physicians may have trouble connecting due to the nature of shift-work and various practice settings. Communication technology, and particularly podcasting, has the potential to help overcome these barriers and positively impact relatedness and well-being. Approach: We developed an inward-facing podcast, “The ER Break Room” within the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Florida. Through the podcast, we aimed to enhance wellness by facilitating a sense of community within our department. Each podcast episode broadcasts departmental initiatives and events, celebrates accomplishments, and highlights individual faculty and staff through in-depth interviews. We assessed faculty and staff perceptions of the first two years of the podcast as part of a quality improvement effort to ensure that the podcast aligns with faculty well-being priorities. Discussion: Development of “The ER Break Room” required a cost of $15 monthly and no formal podcasting infrastructure or experience. Over two years and 15 episodes, “The ER Break Room” has had 1,487 plays. Of 63 departmental faculty and staff, 21 (33%) provided feedback on the podcast. Responses highlighted two primary perceived benefits of “The ER Break Room”: 1) facilitating a sense of community belonging, and 2) staying up to date on department updates. Conclusion: Inward-facing podcasts that promote togetherness and facilitate communication are feasible to produce with low cost and no prior podcasting experience. We continue to expand the podcast with the inclusion of new themes and efforts to broaden our reach within the department. Future work will focus on assessing the impact of this initiative on well-being.

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