Aims

This one day course will allow you to triage small animal cardiac patients more efficiently by improving your clinical examination skills, helping you acquire representative BP measurements and diagnostic ECGs. Heidi will guide you during lectures through the practical techniques you need to perfect and with interactive case discussion, you will gain a huge amount from this highly applicable course.

Objectives

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Understand the structure and function of the heart and what goes wrong in heart failure
• Perfect your examination of the cardiac patient using 'hands-off' techniques -observing and understanding signs.
• Enhance your examination of the cardiac patient using 'hands-on' techniques - physical exam, including lung and heart auscultation.
• Acquire repeatable blood pressure measurements by choosing the right system and measurement techniques
• Record a good ECG trace and recognise common abnormalities.
• Obtain and read thoracic radiographs
• Explain the aim of echocardiography and assist in patient preparation for a scan
• Nurse the cardiac patient - Acute and chronic cardiac disease

Summary

This course includes notes, refreshments during the day and a buffet lunch.