Updated: 4/25/10
Entering into the lobby of Johns Hopkins Hospital Medical Campus, a visitor can see many people wearing headphones. Are they all listening to music or listening to the JHH’s Weekly Podcast discussing the top medical stories of the week? Who are these people: students or patients?
Since the early 2005, podcasts have been used to inform the masses about current trends and news events. Podcasts are audio or video files which can be placed on the Internet and downloaded to a computer or mobile devices like MP3 players and iPods. Initially Podcasts were in audio format but with the increase use of screened mobile devices, many people have been adding video components to enhance the audio presentation.
As discussed by Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, podcasts can be used to illustrate one of flattening forces in Globalization 3.0. One flattener, #9 in-forming, entails the idea of collective intelligence. Friedman defines in-forming as
“the ability to build and deploy our own personal supply chain…..
of information, knowledge and entertainment. In-forming is about
self-collaboration -becoming your own self-directed researcher, editor
and selector”[1]
Net Generation students habituated use the Internet for communication, entertainment and news events. Why not invest into content delivery systems, such as a Podcast, to augment learning styles? Well, many schools across the country, like Duke University, have been using Apple’s iPod for academic pursuits. Here are a few ideas on how mobile media devices can help students:
1. Convenience format for faculty and students to utilize for file storage
2. Provide independent access to digit content
3. Simple recording tools – classroom lectures, field notes, interviews
4. House Audio or electronic text books
5. Individualized custom learning system[1]
When you have a chance, listen to the Podcast created by Richard Lindstrom, Director, Academic Infrastructure Development at the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science. He describes a major shift in teaching students in medical schools. Mr. Lindstrom concludes based on his knowledge of the informatics, ‘the human mind just cannot hold all the information out there’. [3] Educators need to change from the ‘apprentice model’ -retaining fundamental knowledge of teaching medical students to the ‘analytical model’ – learning how to build a repository of knowledge and how to use critical thinking to best synthesized the data into information.
These modes of information delivery can be developed into Decision Support Systems or clinical stimulation applications. Medical schools can have more control over the content presented to impressionable students but creating a custom Podcasts. As Mr. Lindstrom stated, by creating clinical simulation events, a student can analyze and critically asset the correct method of handling a procedure by viewing a podcast, not in ad hoc world of a clinic training environment.
So, if Podcasts can be useful for medical students by amalgamating the content delivery system with traditional educational methods to teach subjects areas, then can not the same type of delivery arrangement be used to inform patients about their healthcare? Lucky for the members of the JHH Health System the technology is already in place. Located on http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/mediaii/podcasts.html, patients can access subject matter content ranging from how to treat the common cold to heart surgery. The podcast can be downloaded via iTunes for immediate viewing, delayed viewing or even repeated viewing.
Now, look again at the people using iPods. Can you tell if they are medical students or JHH patients?
[1] The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, p. 153.
[2] Emerging Technology Center by Diane J. Skba presented in Nursing Education Perspectives
[3] Richard Lindstrom, Director, Academic Infrastructure Development at the Charles Drew University of Medicine, http://www.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/InterviewPodcastRichardLindstr/203581.
Podcast example viewings:
Med student Podcast: Pregnant Robot Trains Students
Hopkins Podcasts for the week of April 23, 2010.
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