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Cardiorespiratory Medicine (course written by Dr Russell Mitten; tutor to be advised
2008 is sadly the last year that Dr Russell Mitten will be tutoring the course. He's been with the PGF since 1991 and it’s been a fantastic success.
Introduction
 Thank
you for your interest in the Cardiorespiratory Medicine Program.
This Distance Education course aims to expand your knowledge of
Cardiology and Respiratory disease. These two areas are so closely
linked that it is natural that we should study them jointly. In particular,
the vexed question of whether a case is cardiac, or respiratory, or a
combination of both, will be one of the major focuses for the year.
Participants will first build a sound platform of clinical and diagnostic
skills, and will then apply this to a full range of real clinical problems,
from nasal and upper respiratory through
to cardiac, pulmonary, pleural and
mediastinal.
Russell has a strong background in diagnostic
imaging, and decades of experience in
dealing with clinical cardiorespiratory
disease. He will share his enthusiasm for
this area with you, so that you too will be
able to adopt that 'stand back and let me
at it' attitude. By completing this course,
you can become a more confident and
competent veterinarian.
Key
Benefits:
The course is aimed at practitioners
with an interest in and a desire to
upgrade their skills in cardiorespiratory
medicine.
- Learn how to obtain maximum
information from clinical
examinations, particularly in deciding:
'Which is it: cardiac or respiratory?'
- Upgrade your skills in interpreting chest radiographs.
- Learn to interpret ECG’s, particularly those troublesome
arrhythmias.
- Improve your understanding of echocardiography and thoracic
ultrasound, and experience its use in a wide variety of cardiac and
respiratory disease processes.
- Gain experience in the selection and interpretation of respiratory
diagnostic tests.
- Gain a clear overview of medical therapy of a full range of
respiratory and cardiac diseases.
- Become confident in tackling difficult cases by doing monthly
case studies, which are critically evaluated.
Studying
Cardiology
Methodology
- You
will receive ten modules; the first 1 - 5 delivered in February, and the last 6 - 10 delivered in July, to your nominated address. These modules
will contain most of the information required to complete the course. You may
find it useful to consult the recommended reading list for any additional information
required.
- The
modules will contain notes, readings and other materials that you will work through.
There will be regular assignments that you must complete and return to the PGF.
Your tutor will assess these assignments and return them with valuable feedback.
There are no traditional examinations or assessments for this subject.
- You
may elect to submit assignments via the email or post.
- An
email List Serv has been created for this course, allowing you to interact with
other students and your tutors on a regular basis. All students are encouraged
to discuss interesting or complex cases with the group, and share their expertise
with others.
- It
is anticipated that you will need to spend around 8-10 hours per week studying
the course material. You must be able to dedicate this amount of time to get the
most out of the program.
- There
will be two live workshops held during the year at a location most suitable to
all course participants. They will give you the opportunity to meet the tutor
and other course participants and also to raise any questions about the course
content. These workshops are a valuable element of the course, however they are
not compulsory.
- On
completion of all ten modules, you will receive a certificate of completion from
the Post Graduate Foundation that recognises your achievement.
- As a Member of the PGF you can access the key animal health databases, CAB Abstracts and MEDLINE, that may assist you throughout the year. Access is through the Post Graduate Foundation website.
You will need to apply for a username and password to access the restricted pages of the website, and then you will need to contact Andrea Nolan for the database password.
- The
Distance Education team is available to assist you with all aspects of the program,
including assistance with administrative issues, technical support and locating
reference material.
Timetable
for Modules
| Modules |
You
will receive modules in: |
Modules
to be received from
you by Post Graduate
Foundation for assessment |
| Module 1 |
1st
week of February |
End
of February |
| Module
2 |
1st
week of February |
End of
March |
| Module
3 |
1st
week of February |
End of
April |
| Module
4 |
1st
week of February |
End of May |
| Module 5 |
1st
week of February |
End
of June |
| Module
6 |
1st week of
July |
End of
July |
| Module
7 |
1st week of
July |
End of
August |
| Module
8 |
1st week of
July |
End
of September |
| Module
9 |
1st week of
July |
End
of October |
| Module
10 |
1st week of
July |
End
of November |
Content
of Modules
| Month |
Topics |
| February |
Introduction
to the cardiovascular system
Physical examination and auscultation
Cardiovascular
physiology
Heart function in health and disease
Clinical approach to the
patient with cardiovascular disease |
| March |
Cardiovascular
radiology
Principles of echocardiography
Principles of angiography
Principles of manometry |
| April |
Electrocardiography
- basics, mensuration, analysing arrhythmias |
| May |
Cardiovascular
therapeutics (1)
Congenital defects (1) |
| June |
Cardiovascular
therapeutics (2)
Congenital defects (2) |
| July |
Acquired
valvular and endocardial disease: endocarditis and endocardiosis |
| August |
Canine
myocardial disease |
| September |
Feline
myocardial disease |
| October |
Dirofilariasis |
| November |
Pericardial
disease
Miscellaneous topics
Hypertension |
Reading List
1.
Textbook of Canine and Feline Cardiology*
Philip R Fox
Ed. Churchill Livingstone,
2nd Edition 1999
"This is an excellent text with many fine illustrations.
A major advance on 1st edition."
NB: this textbook is not likely to be available except through libraries.
2.
Small Animal Cardiovascular Medicine*
MD Kittleson and R Kienle
Mosby, 1998
"A first rate text, extremely
readable and practical."
*
The first two titles are excellent all-round texts. Others may be appropriate
to your specific needs
3.
Essentials of Canine and Feline Electrocardiography
Lawrence P Tilley
3rd Edition, Lea & Febiger, 1992
"The "bible" of ECG! Therapeutics section is becoming dated."
4. ECG Electrocardiography
for the Small Animal Practitioner - Made Easy Series
LP Tilley, NL
Burtnick
Teton NewMedia, 1999
"This practical handbook covers technical aspects and basic interpretation
in point form. It is useful, but gives inadequate detail for the standard expected
by Distance Education Cardiology course participants."
(Available
from the Post Graduate Foundation)
5.
Bolton's Handbook of Canine and Feline Electrocardiography
NJ Edwards
WB Saunders Co, 1987
"Less detailed, very readable, good practical exercise section."
6.
Textbook of Veterinary Internal Medicine
SK Ettinger and EC Feldman, Eds
5th Edition, 1999, WB
Saunders Co
"Excellent chapters on cardiovascular disease; less detail on therapy."
7.
Current Veterinary Therapy XIII
JD Bonagura, Ed
WB Saunders Co, 1999
"Good current chapters on therapy."
8.
Manual of Canine and Feline Cardiology
MS Miller & LP Tilley
2nd
Ed, 1995. WB Saunders Co
"Excellent text in point form, details are occasionally sparse, limited illustrations."
9. Canine
and Feline Cardiac Arrhythmias - Self Assessment
LP Tilley
Lea &
Febiger, 1992
"Companion to Tilley's "Essentials", provides a comprehensive
range of common and unusual ECG abnormalities."
10.
Cardiopulmonary Diseases of the Dog and Cat
M Martin and B Corcoran
Blackwell Science, 1997
"A good basic text."
11.
Colour Atlas of Veterinary Cardiology
P Darke, JD Bonagura and DF Kelly
Mosby-Wolfe, 1996
"Limited text, but magnificent colour pathology and
doppler. Costly!"
12.
Veterinary Diagnostic Ultrasound
TG Nyland and JS Mattoon
WB Saunders
Co, 2nd Ed, 2002
"Excellent ultrasound text, with very good echocardiography
section."
13.
Manual of Veterinary Echocardiography
June A Boon
Williams and Wilkins, 1998
"A comprehensive text, covering
small and large animals, fully illustrated - excellent!"
14.
Heart Cases on the Net!
"A collection of interesting cases assembled by Dr Mark Kittleson. The site
is at:
www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/cardio/cases/default.htm"
"Numbers
1 and 2 are excellent all-around texts. Others may be appropriate to your specific
needs."
Publications
can be purchased from:
http://www.amazon.com
PVP Publications,
PO Box 112, Seaforth NSW 2092 and
67 Peacock Street,
Seaforth NSW 2092
Tel & Fax: (02) 9948 4605 |
Technical requirements for online study
Technical requirements for online study WebCT is a software program developed in Canada which provides a platform and a set of web course teaching tools for online learning. As an introduction to the online learning environment The Post Graduate Foundation in Veterinary Science is using this platform to give you access to your course online. This medium will allow you to access your course and participate in online discussions with other participants and your tutor via a computer, a modem and a web browser, such as Netscape or Internet Explorer.
To optimise your use of WebCT for online learning we recommend the following specifications: http://www.pgf.edu.au/disted/index.cfm#technical
Register
for this Course
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you register, have you:
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a Member of the Post Graduate Foundation?
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