Auscultation is a hallmark of medical education – an essential practice that students entering the medical field learn and use for a lifetime. The Littmann™ Learning and Littmann™ University Apps, powered by eMurmur, help modernize the way students master the art of auscultation. The apps offer an on-the-go experience that enables students to test their understanding at any time, virtually anywhere there is Wi-Fi, in real-time.
Here are three reasons why the apps can benefit educators teaching auscultation.
#1: They enable remote and on-the-go learning
2020 ushered in the era of remote learning. As more colleges and universities offer programs with online components, teachers and students seek tools that can help them connect virtually and embrace on-the-go learning. The Littmann™ Apps help remove some of the barriers that can impede virtual training.
“I enjoy the simplicity of the app – the ability to stream to students and quickly switch between sounds,” says Nadine Gauthier, MD, Med, FRCPC, Division of Cardiology, University of Ottawa. “The app also allows me to assess my students in real-time and comment on their learning right away.”
#2: They solve for clinical variability
As virtual learning becomes more mainstream, clinical experience remains an integral part of medical education. Students pursuing a career in medicine will always need hands-on training. The Littmann™ Apps help solve for the variability that inevitably comes with caring for patients in real-time.
As Dr. Carol Rizer, Lead Faculty for Advanced Health Assessment at the University of Texas at Tyler, School of Nursing, observes: “It’s a challenge to teach heart murmurs if we’re not in the clinical arena. But even when students and instructors are in the arena, we’re waiting for a patient with a murmur.”
Research suggests that the best way for students to master the art of auscultation is to learn, test their knowledge, and continue practicing. The apps allow for this type of auditory repetition – vital for internalizing the difference between innocent and pathological murmurs – by making sounds readily available to students.
#3: They align with lesson planning
The Littmann™ Apps make it easy for educators to integrate auscultation into their plans.
“We have recently switched from mannequins to Littmann University for our cardiac auscultation teaching,” says Inger Olson, MD, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatric Cardiology at Stanford. “Littmann University offers our learners higher-quality audio, a more robust library of sounds, and an interactive learning environment. We now have the ability to host a teaching session anytime we want, rather than having to fit our schedule into time slots when resources are available.”
Making learning fun
In today’s virtual learning environment, tools and apps are here to help elevate the learning experience, auscultation included.
And who says learning can’t be fun?
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