Sunday, May 29, 2011

Learning anywhere: Podcasts to the rescue.

by Dr. Eduardo Mayorga

There are many situations in which you might have the feeling you are wasting your time, but at the same time you can't avoid them, such as when you're standing in a line, commuting to work by car or on public transportation, at the doctor's waiting room, at airports. There are also times where even if you do not feel you're wasting your time, as when you jog, workout or ride your bike, you might feel guilty because you have a lot of topics you need or want to update on, but still, you are using this time to exercise.

In all these situations, podcasts can help. If you are not familiar with podcasts you may want to watch the following video.


There are many programs that you can use to search for and organize your podcasts. As mentioned in the video, the one I like best is Itunes.  If you don't have it already installed in you computer, you may download it clicking here.

Open Itunes. At the top click on "Podcasts"


At the top right search box type "ophthalmology"



Then, at the left menu, click on "Podcasts" again



You will be presented with a number of podcasts on ophthalmology.



If you click on the number of the podcast you will start listening to it. If you click on the third column,  "Podcast", you will be taken to the page of the podcast's author.

One of my favorites is Dr. Joshua Young's "As seen from here". Joshua is a great interviewer. He makes the practical questions you would like to do.


When you get to the author's page, on the left, you will get the opportunity to subscribe to the author's podcasts. 



If you do so, the most recent podcast will download and from then on, every time a new podcast is published, it will download to you computer. From there you will be able to copy it to any mobile device. Mobile devices with internet connection will many times allow you to download podcasts directly to your device.

If you know of any good ophthalmology podcasts, please use the comment form to let us know about them.