Use of Harvey® the Cardiopulmonary Patient Simulator in Physician Assistant Training

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cardiopulmonary Simulation
• Diagnostic Skills Training

Background:

• Effective training in heart murmur detection is crucial for physician assistant (PA) students.
• Traditional classroom methods may have limitations in simulating real-world cardiac auscultation.
• The Harvey(R) Cardiopulmonary Patient Simulator offers a realistic training environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the effectiveness of the Harvey(R) simulator versus a classroom activity in improving PA students' confidence in detecting heart murmurs.
• To assess the impact of the learning sequence on diagnostic performance.

Main Methods:

• Two cohorts of PA students (n=67) participated in either a classroom heart sounds activity or the Harvey simulator first, followed by the other activity.
• Pre- and post-intervention surveys measured confidence in detecting abnormal heart sounds.
• A multiple-choice quiz assessed knowledge after the initial learning activity.

Main Results:

• Confidence in detecting abnormal heart sounds increased significantly after both activities compared to baseline.
• Following the initial activity, 85% of students in the classroom group reported confidence versus 53% in the simulator group.
• The classroom-first group achieved a higher mean quiz score (62%) than the simulator-first group (24%).

Conclusions:

• Both the Harvey simulator and classroom activity enhance student confidence in identifying abnormal heart sounds.
• A learning sequence involving the classroom activity prior to Harvey simulation leads to superior performance on a knowledge-based assessment.
• Continued integration of both teaching modalities is recommended for PA programs.