Newswise — iTunes users can now get the latest health care information by downloading free podcasts produced by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston by logging into iTunes U at www.uth.tmc.edu/itunesu. The UT Health Science Center iTunes U initiative is led by The University of Texas School of Health Information Sciences at Houston and the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences (CCTS).
"This is another tool people can use to keep up with the latest research in health care," said Adol Esquivel, M.D., The UT Health Science Center at Houston iTunes U program coordinator. "You can listen to health care updates while jogging or commuting." Many podcasts are available in Spanish and English.
PC Magazine defines a podcast "as an audio broadcast that has been converted to an MP3 file or other audio file format for playback in a digital music player. Although many podcasts are played in a regular computer, the original idea was to listen on a portable device; hence, the 'pod' name from 'iPod.' Although podcasts are mostly verbal, they may contain music, images and video."
iTunes U is a free service provided by Apple that allows health science center faculty and students to distribute educational audio and video content using Apple's iTunes Store infrastructure. iTunes U gives institutions like the UT Health Science Center, Duke University, Stanford University and others an opportunity to enhance their public education and community outreach efforts.
With free iTunes software, health care consumers can download podcasts of research updates from the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, which is working to fast track the application of scientific knowledge to patient care and community programs.
"I often get more out of listening to a researcher describe his work than reading an article," said Nancy Murray, Dr.P.H., co-director of the community engagement component of the CCTS and assistant professor of behavioral science at The University of Texas School of Public Health. "It makes the research real and you hear stories you don't see in the journal article."
The health science center's online consumer wellness magazine - HealthLeader " is now available on iTunes U. Karen Krakower, editor of HealthLeader and interim director of communications, said, "HealthLeader gets the good works of UT out to readers around the world, so to be able to give these stories a voice, in two languages, no less, serves so many more folks in need of grab-and-go health tools they can trust."
The health science center has both a public section for health care consumers and a private section for students and faculty members, where class information can be accessed. "If a medical student misses a class, he or she could log into iTunes U and download the lecture," Esquivel said. "Doctors can use iPods to keep up with research between patient visits."
"iTunes U is a great way for the public to access health information and to search for the information they need," said Cynthia Phelps, Ph.D., an assistant professor of health informatics at the UT School of Health Information Sciences at Houston.
Nancy Correa, a research coordinator in the CCTS community engagement component, said, "A lot of people may want to go to a lecture series but may not be able to attend. With iTunes U, you can download the lectures and listen at your convenience."
Correa added, "Busy moms rushing between jobs and carpools can listen to segments from HealthLeader and hear information on many health issues." Correa coordinates the podcasts for the CCTS.
CCTS is a collaboration among the health science center, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. It is funded with a five-year, $36 million Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
"You may have heard about 'bench to bedside.' We want to take this information from the bedside to the community and help people make the necessary lifestyle changes," Murray said.
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