Return to Main Menu

‘Cast of hundreds: iPod users tune to MUSC by Cindy Abole Public Relations What’s black or white and loved by the millions of people who own it?   It’s no secret that users of Apple’s iPod love their personal hand-held device when it comes to music, movies and other programming.   Psychiatry's Dr. Linda Austin, left, and Betsy Reves, production engineer, are part of a seven-member team that supports podcasting services at MUSC. Health consumers now have a choice for obtaining reliable health information on the Internet through MUSChealth.com's audio and video podcasts. The award-winning program is sponsored by Business Development and Marketing Services and the College of Medicine. Today, iPod use has expanded since the advent of podcasting and the ability to download audio files from the Internet. A podcast is a digital media file that can be broadcast via the Internet and downloaded to computers or personal media devices such as iPods and MP3 players. The value of podcasting and its uses has especially increased as a collaborative learning tool.   At MUSChealth.com, audio podcasts provide an  innovative methods of communicating information while fulfilling a public service to meet the needs of South Carolina residents through live Internet radio programming. Last February, Dave Bennett, director of MUSC’s Web Resource Center, Business Development and Marketing Services, explored the idea of providing health information as digital media files available via the Internet.   Bennett’s idea came in response to a November 2006 report by the Pew Charitable Trust’s Internet & American Life Project that revealed how more Americans are relying on the Internet as their top source for health news and science information. This fact, combined with the popularity of iPods and MP3 players, underscores the value of today’s new technologies and innovations available to improve personal communication. Eight million users and growing As many as 8 million users listen or download podcasts and audio programs for personal use.   Since February, Bennett’s team has created more than 240 locally-produced podcasts covering as many as 33 broad health topics, from aging and autism to weight loss and women’s health. Just recently, they added the ability for users to subscribe to new podcasts via e-mail. The e-mail links registered users to podcasts from the MUSChealth.com podcast library.   For Bennett and his staff, creating and broadcasting podcasts was a perfect complement to MUSC’s clinical enterprise and its ongoing efforts to educate the public. MUSChealth.com’s podcasts focus on a variety of consumer health content and other topics, a monthly health e-newsletter and Kohl’s Take a Minute for Kids programming.   “This is a great opportunity for us,” said Bennett, who’s been with MUSC since 2003. “It’s a great way to communicate information and brings medicine and health information to a level that consumers of all ages can understand.” Establishing a team To help create credible, professional quality podcasts, the team needed dedicated workspace. They converted an office in Business Development and Marketing Services to create a full-time audio production studio equipped with hardware tools, editing software, boom mikes and acoustically sound walls. They also hired programming staff, including Betsy Reves, production engineer, and Linda Austin, M.D., psychiatrist, author and nationally-known syndicated radio host. Austin, who is associate dean for Communication Development and professor of psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was former host of the National Public Radio program, “What’s On Your Mind?”   Austin’s role is to prepare and interview guests about specific health topics and clinical services in brief, five-minute segments. After each session, Reves reviews segments of each episode and cleans out unnecessary noise including involuntary fillers such as a person’s “umms” and “errs.”   The file is posted on MUSC’s web server.      “We want to provide information that’s both short and sweet and presented in easy digestible bites,” said Austin. “Our goal is to create a podcast that sounds more like an easy conversation between people rather than a lecture.”   Within just five months, tens of thousands of individuals from more than 155 countries have listened to or downloaded MUSC’s podcasts. In fact, MUSC’s podcast series related to hospice care  has been top ranked in popularity by iTunes and has been listened to by thousands of people. The impact of prospective patients listening to podcasts is only now being realized. The medical center is beginning to see new patients based on what they have heard through an MUSC online podcast, according to Bennett. Speaking to the masses Aside from the Heart & Vascular Center, many clinical services including the Department of Otolaryngology, Storm Eye Institute and Digestive Disease Center (DDC) have jumped on the podcasting bandwagon. So far, six DDC physicians and surgeons have contributed to the 16 locally-produced podcasts—all relating to digestive health. Currently, the podcast library features 27 segments addressing topics from Crohn’s disease and a colonoscopy review to treating heartburn/acid reflux.   “Health podcasting is a fantastic tool because it builds bridges to better communication between patients and physicians,” said Mark H. DeLegge, M.D., professor of medicine and DDC director. “It’s also a great way for patients and referral physicians to get to know more about a disease from a specialist or authority who’s trained and experienced in talking about it.”   In late July, Bennett and his team received the 2007 Worldwide Web Health silver award. The team includes Bennett, Austin, Reves, Kim Haynes, Sujit Kar, Charlene Xie and Christine Gaynor. The award, which was featured in the hospital/health care systems category, was presented by the Health Informational Resource Center, a national clearinghouse for providing health content on the Web. MUSC was recognized among more than 1,000 national entries, including Mayo Clinic and The Cleveland Clinic.   In coming months, Bennett plans to redesign the Web site to make it more user-friendly, expand podcast programming to include more clinical departments and services, support physician-directed interviews and other goals.   Visit http://www.muschealth.com/podcast/index.htm.    Specialist uses iPod for enhanced learning, communicating Gastroenterologist Mark DeLegge, M.D., is a self-described iPod fan.   Like most people, he uses an iPod to upload and manage his favorite country-western tunes. He also uses it to download podcasts to hear updates on endoscopic procedures and cases or listen to the latest articles in a professional gastrointestinal journal—all on his own time.    Lately, one can find DeLegge in his office or car—quiet and with the same focused expression on his face—as he quietly shuffles through paperwork at his desk or guiding his car down a bend in the road.      DeLegge, like millions of Americans, uses his iPod both for relaxation and to enhance his learning by staying current in his medical specialty.      “An iPod or portable media player is something that everyone possesses that works using one basic format,” said DeLegge. “Podcasts are a good, practical way of communicating specific information to larger audiences that’s both fun and informal. For MUSC to host podcasting programs shows a commitment to this technology and our future as health care providers.”   DeLegge, like most health care practitioners, is aware that communication issues can arise between patients and physicians. But aside from some e-mail, phone calls and direct contact, physicians and health care professionals are challenged in conveying information that helps a patient understand his/her own diagnosis, disease or medical procedure. Podcasting, to DeLegge, is one novel method that can help physicians bridge the education gap while improving patient care.   “As more physicians learn, see and experience the value of podcasts, they realize its potential as a powerful, personalized method of communicating to audiences,” DeLegge said. “There’s an added value to hearing the voice of a real physician. It’s what we, as physicians, do everyday with our patients.” Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.