Undergraduate Didactic Courses

UTMB Division of Cardiology provides the following undergraduate didactic courses^[1] in various aspects of cardiology.  All classes are taught by Cardiology staff.

This course is organized as follows:

Hour                 Subject

1                                       Format and conduct of the focused cardiovascular physical examination, observation of patient, vital signs and peripheral exam including head

   2                   Examination of neck and precordium

2                                       Introduction to Auscultation– Principles, diagramming and normal heart  sounds^{[2] ,[3]}

   4                   Heart sounds, variant and abnormal^{[2] ,[3]}

   5                   Murmurs and bruits^{[2] ,[3]}

   6                   Focused cardiovascular examination of chest and abdomen
                        including introduction to percussion

<Picture of Second year in OSCE >A two hour focused OSCE is given which include the following:

Time, Minutes               Subject

20                                                  History of patient surrogate

        20                         Examination of patient surrogate

20                                                  Pulses and impulses using an Auscultatory Training Aid, ATA^[4]

20                                                  Pressures – using simulated arms for systemic blood pressures and full scale graphics for jugular pulses and pressures

30                                                  Auscultation using 8 simulated and 4 recorded sounds for stethoscope
with carotid pulse reproduced by the ATA

Juniors: All students; in classes of 10-12, Introduction to patient auscultation with lecture, graphics, and internally generated syllabus and ATA. A pocket checklist is provided.

      Hour                      Subject

1                                                      Variant and abnormal heart sounds

2                                                      Murmurs and bruits

Senior – A one month elective on cardiology is offered most of the year (maximum 8/class) to prepare students for the spectrum of diagnostic and treatment problems in cardiology they are likely to encounter as interns.  This includes all of the above teaching adjuncts plus the Umed^® interactive videos, and patients.  Mini courses in EKG, clinical hemodynamics, and physical activity are taught by specialists as components of this course.