Turn Your Lectures into Podcasts: Study While You Commute

Every medical student knows the feeling: there are not enough hours in the day. Between lectures, studying, and attempting to maintain some semblance of a life, time becomes your most precious resource. But what if you could reclaim the hours you spend commuting, exercising, or doing chores? Audio learning makes it possible.

The Case for Audio Learning in Medical School

Audio learning is not new—physicians have used audio resources for decades. But for medical students, it remains underutilized. Here is why it deserves a place in your study arsenal:

Reclaim Lost Time

The average medical student spends 5-10 hours per week on activities where audio learning is possible: commuting, exercising, cooking, cleaning, walking between buildings. That is 20-40 hours per month of potential study time.

Reinforce Through Repetition

Hearing information in a different format strengthens memory traces. If you have read about a topic and then listen to it explained, you are encoding it through multiple pathways.

Reduce Screen Fatigue

After hours of staring at slides, textbooks, and question banks, your eyes need a break. Audio learning lets you continue studying while resting your visual system.

Learn Passively

Not all studying needs to be intense focus. Audio learning during low-cognitive-demand activities provides passive exposure that builds familiarity with material.

Traditional Audio Resources

Several established resources offer audio content for medical students:

• Goljan Audio: Classic pathology lectures, still valuable despite their age
• Boards and Beyond: Video lectures that work as audio-only
• Medical podcasts: Curbsiders, Clinical Problem Solvers, and specialty-specific shows
• Lecture recordings: Many schools provide these, though quality varies

The Problem with Generic Audio

While these resources are valuable, they share a common limitation: they are not your material. They do not cover exactly what your professors emphasized or the specific content on your exams. For course-specific studying, you need audio from your actual lectures.

Creating Your Own Audio Content

There are several approaches to turning your lecture content into audio:

Option 1: Record Yourself

Read your notes aloud and record them. This has the added benefit of active recall as you process the material.

Pros: Free, forces you to engage with material

Cons: Time-consuming, audio quality may be poor

Option 2: Text-to-Speech Software

Use software to convert written notes into audio. Modern text-to-speech has improved dramatically.

Pros: Faster than recording yourself

Cons: Robotic voice can be fatiguing, requires formatted text input

Option 3: AI-Powered Platforms

Modern platforms like MedSchool Companion use AI to transform your lecture slides and notes into natural-sounding audio podcasts. You upload your materials, and the platform generates high-quality audio that covers your specific content.

Pros: Natural voices, automatically processes complex formats like slides

Cons: Requires subscription

Best Practices for Audio Learning

To get the most from audio learning, follow these guidelines:

Use It for Review, Not Primary Learning

Audio works best for reinforcement. Read or watch the material first, then use audio to review and solidify.

Match Content to Activity

Save complex, detail-heavy content for low-distraction activities. During intense exercise or complex driving, stick to broader overview content.

Active Listening Techniques

• Pause and quiz yourself periodically
• Repeat key facts aloud
• Visualize concepts as you listen
• Take voice memos of questions that arise

Organize Your Audio Library

Create playlists by topic or exam. Being able to quickly find the right content makes you more likely to use it.

Integrating Audio into Your Study Schedule

Here is how audio learning might fit into a typical day:

• Morning commute: Review yesterday's lecture content
• Gym session: Listen to overview of today's topic
• Cooking dinner: Pharmacology review
• Evening walk: Tomorrow's lecture preview

Measuring Effectiveness

How do you know if audio learning is working for you?

• Track quiz performance on topics you have audio-reviewed versus those you have not
• Notice if you can recall information more easily during exams
• Pay attention to whether you are referencing audio content in study groups

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Relying solely on audio: It supplements but does not replace other study methods
• Zoning out: If you are not processing the content, you are wasting time
• Wrong activity pairing: Do not try to learn complex pathways while doing something that requires attention
• Skipping review of flagged content: If something did not stick during audio, return to it actively

Getting Started

If you are new to audio learning, start small:

1. Pick one lecture from this week
2. Create or generate audio content for it
3. Listen during your next commute or workout
4. Notice how it affects your retention

Platforms like MedSchool Companion make this easy—upload your slides, and audio is generated automatically. No technical skills required.

The Compound Effect

Five hours of audio learning per week may not seem like much. But over a semester, that is 75+ additional hours of exposure to your course material. Over four years of medical school, you are talking about hundreds of hours of learning that would otherwise be lost.

Time is your scarcest resource in medical school. Audio learning lets you use more of it.