PHOENIX -- iPods -- they're everywhere. And now you can hear more than just music in them. Patients can get the latest health information right at their fingertips -- anytime, anywhere.

This is a new idea in medicine: Using iPods and the Internet to educate patients.

Dr. Grayson Wheatley, a cardiovascular surgeon at the Arizona Heart Institute, is the first to give his patients iPods. Patients can hear and see information about diet, exercise and the heart.

"One of the biggest complaints in medicine is patients don't get enough time with their doctors, and the iPod can be an extension of time that they get with their doctors," Wheatley said.

Programs also explain balloon angioplasty and stenting, and show doctors performing a bypass.

"They can watch it several times, and they can get a true understanding of exactly some of the complex things that we're doing," Wheatley said.

Patient Phil Calderone is a believer.

"Doctors tend to you know, be really technical about it, and this helped me get a little better understanding of what he's talking about," he said.

Calderone would rather spend his days with his grandson than with his doctor. Now he can watch the information on his computer or download it into his iPod.

"It helps me understand how to take care of myself in the future. I want to be around when he graduates college," Calderone said.

The Arizona Heart Institute in Phoenix is the first medical institute to use iPod vodcasting for patients. Check it out at http://www.cvmd.org.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Marisa Maggio-Harelson
Arizona Heart Institute
2632 N. 20th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85006
(800) 345-4278
mharleson@vasaz.com