"Podcasting’s essence is about creating content (audio or video–vodcasts) for an audience that wants to listen/watch when they want, where they want, and how they want."

Podcast is a collection of digital media files which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds. It can be played on portable media players and personal computers. The method by which the content is syndicated is termed podcasting. ‘Podcasting’ originates from a combination of ‘broadcasting’ and ‘iPod’, and refers to distributing content (audio and video) on MP3 players, hand- held devices and personal computers using Web feeds or syndication formats like RSS and Atom. The host or author of a podcast is called a podcaster(1-3).

Users can listen to podcasts and watch vodcasts on their computer (e.g., using Windows Media Player), or download to portable MP3/MP4 player or iPod and listen/watch anywhere on the move. That makes it a perfect tool of updating for the busy health professional. What makes a podcast different from a normal audio file hosted online is that you can subscribe, so it will automatically download to your computer whenever a new episode of a particular show is released. Some of the educational applications of podcasting and videocasting are listed:

Sidharth Kumar Sethi,
Fellow, Pediatric Nephrology,
All India Institute of Medical Sciences,
New Delhi 110 029, India.
Email: [email protected]