Heart Songs at ACC.10: A Multimedia Learning Experience

Next, attendees to Video Heart Sounds on an iPod Touch as they look at corresponding poster boards containing didactic information on each sound. A computer-based post-test will document any improvement in participants’ skills.

The workshop allows ACC.10 attendees to chose from two sessions: one covers five common heart murmurs, including aortic stenosis, aortic regurgitation, mitral stenosis, mitral regurgitation, and innocent systolic murmer; the other session covers more advanced sounds, including bicuspid aortic valve, mitral prolapse, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, atrial septal defect, and patent ductus arteriosus.

Tailored to the learning of each participant’s need for repetition, each session takes about 30 minutes to complete but is self-paced and can start at any time.

The ACC is also offering the brand new Basic 2-D echo training program in the Learning Lab. Available on the iPod Touch, the video program includes basic 2-D echo images with an emphasis on normal left ventricular function. The approximately 20-minute program includes pre- and post-tests to measure participants’ improvement.

Offering participants 7.5 hours of CME/CE credits, this video experience is brand new to the scientific sessions and hopes to advance upon studies that have shown that the range of repetition needed to acquire certain auditory skills can vary four fold. The unique, visually engaging way to learn cardiac auscultation aims to help participants improve upon their auditory recognition skills through a computer-provided introduction that explains the rationale for the program.