Publications

JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association, 2007
The Virtual Cardiac Patient: A Multimedia Guide to Heart Sounds and Murmurs by Jonathan Keroes and David Lieberman

Excerpt: Cardiac auscultation is a fundamental yet exceedingly difficult-to-master clinical skill. Acquisition of auscultatory skills has declined steadily over the last several decades, a phenomenon attributed to several factors, including less patient contact in the hospital, availability of high-tech gadgetry (echocardiogram with Doppler, cardiac magnetic resonance, cardiac computed tomography), and scarcity of competent clinical instruction. Strategies to teach this important diagnostic modality using the time-honored methods of repetition and practice include audio recordings, multimedia CD-ROMs, books used in tandem with these resources, and mannequins. Nothing, however, can replace patient contact—the thrill of listening to an actual person and making a clinical diagnosis—or the gratification of teaching this skill to younger physicians. M. Saleem Seyal, MD, Reviewer, River Cities Cardiology, Jeffersonville, Ind
Visit JAMA web site for the full text of this article.

University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine
Basic Clinical Skills Learning Resources

Excerpt: The Virtual Cardiac Patient: A Multimedia Guide to Heart Sounds and Murmurs [CD-Rom], Jonathan Keroes, MD and David Lieberman; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005, 1 CD-Rom, Win/Mac. SUMMARY: This multimedia CD-ROM is a tool for developing cardiac auscultation skills. It contains computer simulations of 28 abnormal heart sounds along with visual representations of the sounds (phonocardiograms), electrocardiograms and pressure tracings for each condition, and animated cartoons showing the anatomic and Doppler flow abnormalities. Users can listen to each auditory heart sound while viewing graphic material that helps identify the abnormality. On-screen controls allow users to selectively listen to portions of the heart sound cycle-S1, S2, systole, or diastole. Abnormalities include: angina pectoris, aortic regurgitation, aortic stenosis, mitral regurgitation, mitral stenosis, mitral valve prolapse, pericarditis, primary pulmonary hypertension, teratololgy of Fallot, ventricular septal defect and more. UMKC MultiMedia News

World Health Organization, 2006: Basic Sources in English for a Medical Faculty Library

Virtual Cardiac Patient has been recommended by the World Health Organization for inclusion in Medical Libraries. The complete WHO document is available for downloading via the link below. Because downloading is slow on the WHO website, we suggest using a new browser Tab or Window to download the document. PDF document

JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association, 2003
Learning Lung Sounds: Interactive Multimedia Course

Excerpt: R. L. H. Murphy and M. A. Murphy, authors. An assortment of pulmonary physicians at various levels of expertise and computer literacy tested Learning Lung Sounds from Stethographics, Inc for this review. The product is delivered on a self launching CD-ROM. Once the CD is placed in the drive, the product launches automatically to a home page with easy and intuitive navigation. No downloads or installations were required on the five different computers it was tested on, which were sound card enabled, Pentium 3 PCs with Windows 95, 98, Me, XP, 2000, and NT. The instructions are clear but minimal and could provide more depth for different types of student user on how to derive maximal benefit from the CD. The course is clearly divided into four sections: "Introduction," "Common Lung Sounds," "Sound Patterns," and "Cases." Full JAMA Article

Press Release: Grand Opening of www.easyauscultation.com

Boston, MA --- 23-July-2010 --- Easy Auscultation (www.easyauscultation.com) has launched its stethoscope training web site. Over 65 heart and lung sound lessons are available, with additional lessons being developed. These 65 multimedia lessons represent the most comprehensive set of online auscultation materials available today.

Most stethoscope training courses are limited to audio and short text. Easy Auscultation lessons include audio; textual descriptions; a virtual manikin; dynamic waveforms; and a unique cardiac animation. These features provide a rich, productive learning environment. All lessons are available on our web site without software installation. In addition to working with PC and MAC browsers, our lessons run on iPhones and iPads (without requiring a visit to the iTunes store). No other stethoscope training courses are available for all of these devices.

As part of its grand opening, EasyAuscultation.com is offering three free courses from July 22nd to August 15th. Please use the gift code: 98712365701325 Our experienced team of physicians and developers has created auscultation training courses for Lippincott, Littmann, Challenger, Cardionics and Prentice-Hall. Nearly 300,000 copies have been sold over the past six years. We are now publishing our auscultation training materials via the web, allowing immediate access by students, physicians, nurses and other medical professionals.

Other References

Washington University Medical School Library

Bright Surf Review

Thorac: Auscultation of the lung: past lessons, future possibilities

University of Cincinnati Clinical Residency Profile