Introduction: Many institutions use simulation 'events' to instruct cardiac auscultation. Research shows that these 'one and done' events limit repetition, are costly and do not incorporate learning science techniques, such as spaced learning and retrieval practice. The Littmann Learning™ mobile app, which has unlimited access to a large library of real patient heart sounds, is a cost-effective tool that we considered could be leveraged by educators to provide this training.Methods: This was a quasi-experimental pre-and post-design consisting of an intervention group (PA22) and a non-equivalent comparator group (PA21). The intervention group used a novel mobile app cardiac auscultation curriculum (MACAC), while the comparator group received standard didactic instruction. One-way analyses of variance were used to analyse the data.Results: A total of 174 PA students participated in the study. There was a significant (p < 0.001) difference in knowledge and auscultation scores between those who did and did not complete the MACAC. PA22 didactic year knowledge scores were 4.11 and 2.96 points higher than PA21 didactic and clinical year knowledge scores (p < 0.001, d = 1.61 and p < 0.001, d = 1.32), respectively. On average, PA22 didactic year auscultation scores were 0.83 points higher than PA21 clinical year scores (p < 0.001, d = 0.6).
Conclusion:Results indicate that students in their didactic year achieved proficiency in clinically identifying heart sounds, despite not having access to a mannequin simulator and not having an opportunity to identify these sounds bedside. Overall, a MACAC may be an effective method to teach cardiac auscultation to medical learners. 1 | INTRODUCTION Valvular heart disease (VHD) is a major contributor to loss of physical function, quality of life, and longevity. 1 The epidemiology of VHD varies substantially around the world, with a predominance of functional and degenerative disease in high-income countries and a predominance of rheumatic heart disease in low-income and middle-income countries. 1 Although VHD can be diagnosed at any age, prevalence of VHD increases with age. Factors such as the underuse of cardiac auscultation and a low skill base for auscultation among providers contribute to late diagnosis of VHD. 2
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