Enhancing Medical Education Access in Spanish through Free Access Short-Form Videos: A Proof of Concept

Introduction: In Latin America, a region of 668 million inhabitants where only 2% speak English, access to high-quality medical education resources is limited by language barriers, costs, and geographical constraints. This study presents Medby, a free social media-based account designed to address this critical gap by providing evidence-based, Spanish-language medical content to Spanish-speaking healthcare professionals.

Methods: A multi-platform social media strategy to disseminate medical knowledge was developed and implemented. Its main form of content was short educational videos (1-3 min) focused on clinical classical and malignant hematology aimed to provide continuing medical education for health professionals in Spanish-speaking countries. Video scripts were developed by medical professionals with knowledge of evidence-based medicine, and results were presented using the PICOT format (patient, intervention, comparison, outcome, time). All scripts were centrally edited by a team of 4 hematologists and clinical investigators. Videos were recorded professionally, edited, and distributed across social media platforms designed for Instagram, but also shared on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. We analyzed platform metrics including follower growth, engagement rates, impressions, and demographic data.

Results: Medby launched in October 2023, and a total of 166 educational scripts were developed and transformed into short-form videos. The content covered a wide range of hematology topics, focusing on areas of clinical relevance and emerging therapies and their applicability in Latin America. The distribution of topics was as follows: hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (n=42, 25.3%), hematologic malignancies (n=31, 18.7%), novel therapies (n=23, 13.9%), and medical education and professional development (n=21, 12.7%). Other important areas included health economics and access to care (n=10, 6%), clinical trial design and methodology (n=10, 6%), hematology conferences and event announcements (n=10, 6%), coagulation disorders (n=7, 4.2%), and supportive care (n=6, 3.6%), 3.6% (n=6) of the covered other topics. Our Content strategy maintained an average of 1.1 daily posts on Facebook and 1.18 on Instagram.

Medby has since achieved significant reach across multiple platforms. Instagram has amassed 36,620 followers, 44.05 million impressions, and an average daily reach of 157,301 accounts, viewers had a median age of 34 years. On Facebook, the account currently has 4,685 followers with 5.62 million impressions and a median viewer age of 45 years. The X account has 4,677 followers and 644.86K impressions. The audience spans Spanish-speaking countries worldwide, with most followers in Mexico (22%), Argentina (13%), Colombia (11.6%), and Venezuela (13%).

Conclusion: This study demonstrates the large potential of social media platforms in democratizing access to evidence-based medical education, particularly in resource-limited settings. With over 36,000 followers and millions of impressions in less than a year, Medby effectively addresses a critical gap by providing free Spanish-language hematology education covering a range of topics that are attractive to young audiences online. The success of this model suggests its scalability to other medical specialties, offering a promising solution to overcome linguistic and geographical barriers in global medical education.