| Introduction |
| It is likely that you have received a considerable amount of clinical cardiological teaching throughout your course, although it is appreciated that the amount varies between individuals. By this stage we expect that you have the following competencies: |
- the ability to produce a competent differential diagnosis of chest pain and in particular those features which make it likely that this is due to myocardial ischaemia
- an understanding of the pathophysiology of atheriosclerosis
- the ability to recognize and understand the pathophysiology of heart failure
- the ability to recognize and understand cardiac arrhythmias
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| The great advantage of an integrated course is that, in year 6, a whole variety of strands of information should fall into place and form a coherent whole. This is an ideal preparation for becoming a F1. During year 6, you are expected to develop and extend core competencies (such as those listed above) as well as acquire new knowledge and skills about the diagnosis and management of cardiac patients in a variety of the year 6 attachments including: |
- in Accident & Emergency where you will gain further experience of the management of acute coronary syndromes, appropriate use of drugs to treat these including appropriate indications and contra-indications. Obviously, it is important that these individuals are followed through into coronary care units and into General Practice where much of the rehabilitation and long-term interactions with the patients occur
- in General Practice where you will have the opportunity to put cardiac disease in family life settings, where there will be an opportunity to discuss the impact on quality of life
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| Cardiology forms a major part of the final examination, and in the year 6 course the skills and important competencies will be reviewed and opportunities will be provided to see a variety of patients with conditions which are commonly presented in finals. |
| Suggested reading |
'Clinical Cardiology – an illustrated text.' Eds George C Sutton and Kanu Chatterjee ISBN 1 8 5009 127 7 |