Integrating the Physical Examination of The Respiratory System With Hand-Held Devices

Educators have repeatedly commented on the poor physical examination (PE) skills that students display during clerkship rotations, and since the 1970s, there have been calls to replace the traditional head-to-toe examination by other teaching approaches. The need to update the teaching of the PE is further indicated by the availability of hand-held devices. In this monograph we propose an approach to teaching the respiratory PE that consists of (a) teaching by purpose of the PE and by its clinical context (b) restricting the number of PE maneuvers by discerning between "essential", "important" and "optional" PE signs, and (c) combining the instruction of the PE with the use of hand-held devices.