Participant Institutions:    

                Medizinische Universitaet Wien (AU)

                Heinrich Heine Universitaet Duesseldorf (DE)

                Friedrich-Alexander-Universitaet Elrangen-Nuernberg (DE)

                Medizinische Universitaet Innsbruck (AU)

                Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete (GR)               

Total Duration: 10 days (weekends not included)

Dates: 11 -22 October 2010

Place: Medical School of Heraklion, Crete, Greece

Maximum number of participant students:  30 (5     from each participant Institution)

Language: English

Multimedia course: The course is based on modern digital stethoscope based reproduction of live cardiac auscultation recordings (not stimulator reproductions). High quality sound reproduction equipment is used, and all theoretical lectures are based on video demonstrations. The teacher by appropriate manipulation of heart sounds guarantees that all of the students understand and identify appropriately the abnormal sounds. Ultrasound images and videos greatly enhance the understanding of complex forms of congenital heart disease, and their associated auscultatory findings.

Interactive course The active participation of students is fundamental element of the course. Each student is asked to interpret the auscultatory findings of every recording, during the whole course and the further diagnostic workup of each "virtual" case.

Clinical skills of medical students and junior doctors in cardiac auscultation have been described as rather suboptimal. Although echocardiographic evaluation can almost always effectively rule out the presence of congenital heart disease in children, the initial pediatric cardiac evaluation is still based on cardiac auscultation.

Bedside teaching of pediatric cardiac auscultation is a challenging task, due to the increased heart rate, breathing and motion artifacts and the reduced tolerance and fear of young children to prolonged evaluation by consecutive medical students. Furthermore, the rarity of academically active pediatric cardiologists and the low prevalence of congenital heart disease among pediatric patients, underscore the need for alternative methods of pediatric cardiac auscultation teaching.

The development of electronic stethoscopes allows for digital storing and reproducing of cardiac sounds, thus overcoming the limitations of live auscultation in terms of limited availability of pediatric cardiology services and corresponding patients. Further advantages of digital phonocardiography as a teaching tool are: the teacher can select a certain time interval for reproduction, use high or low pass filters on the original sound frequency spectrum so as to demonstrate better the characteristics of the abnormal sound. The student can hear the recording and have an excellent time orientation on cardiac cycle, as the graphic display allows for a concomitant visualization of heart sounds and an electrocardiogram recording of the patient.

Based on the acquisition of clinical skills in cardiac auscultation, the future doctor can proceed with a complete cardiovascular physical evaluation, family and personal history information and state whether an indication for further diagnostic workup is indicated (ultrasound). The IP course provides medical students a logical stepwise approach to the final diagnosis, which emphasizes the need for justified use of modern diagnostic methods, based on a thorough clinical evaluation (from sound to ultrasound).