A discussion about everyday health topics and life as a doctor.

I'm doctor practicing in Anaesthetics or Anaesthesiology for our friends in the USA.
My podcast is about everyday health topics from a doctor's perspectives as well as discussing topics that can be controversial within healthcare. I also talk about the different challenges faced by medical students and doctors in everyday life.
My listeners are everyone who would like to learn more about certain aspects of medicine. This ranges from non-medics who wish to learn more about a certain topic or what the day in the life of a doctor entails to medical students/first year doctors who may find it useful to hear about different specialties and challenges that more senior clinicians face.

I started A Doctor's View in 2019 and it has slowly grown. It began when I found I was often asked the same questions by lots of people such as what do you think of this? What happens when you go for an operation? Or why did you choose this specialty? It seemed like there was definitely an audience so I decided to answer all these questions in a podcast. I then thought I would add my own opinion about topics no one had asked me about but ones I thought were important in the hope others might find it entertaining or useful. It took about 1 month to decide on my first few episodes and finally record them.
I am always happy so long as at least one person finds it useful.

Finding time to make a podcasts is the most difficult part for me. In between on-calls, night shifts, exams and of course everyday life activities, it can be a real struggle. I no longer push myself to make sure that an episode is out every week. I now wait until I have a good topic that I know I can talk about easily. This makes producing the episode so much shorter.
I find the recording the easy bit. The editing however can be a bit more challenging, especially if it is an interview. I do enjoy the process but editing a one hour interview can sometimes take several hours so I have to plan for that in advance. I have learnt how to record and edit by myself which has been a very enjoyable process.

I didn't start a podcast for money. This is evident as I have not made a penny from it. I would consider a sponsor if the right one came up but until then I am very happy to continue to produce episodes for no financial gain. I have made a lot of connections and friendships and receiving emails from people from different parts of the world telling me that they found a certain episode useful is a wonderful feeling that keeps me going.

My process is a relatively simple one. A good dynamic microphone, a simple USB interface and Garageband which is the free recording software on a Mac. Editing is also a relatively simple process; I try to make sure that my recording is as good as it can be to save on the editing time. I prefer to interview people face-to-face using a couple of microphones and a portable recorder when I can. If not, I have to use Zoom or similar.

I find using the correct title and keywords helps a lot. Word of mouth has been very useful and I have started using instagram to help direct people to episodes.

My advice would be to start with what you have. Find a topic you are passionate about. Make a rough script with an outline, find a quiet room and record into your mobile phone holding the phone close to your mouth. Import it into your computer and see what you think. Lots of podcast hosting sites offer free trial plans which allow you to publish to Apple Podcasts, Spotify etc. So you can gauge whether or not you are enjoying the podcasting process. Don't spend money on gear only to find that it's not for you.
YouTube is a fantastic resource. Buzzsprout is a fantastic podcasting host and they have lots of tutorials on how to begin on their website.

Visit my website at www.adoctorsview.uk . I also have a YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE1IssXMOuEvsxoZwyFg6EQ and instagram is @adoctorsview