Physical Examination Techniques

Start with examination methods

For an overview, begin with the flashcards on physical examination techniques. They connect inspection with observation, palpation with touch, percussion with tapping and auscultation with using a stethoscope. The deck also lists mensuration and manipulation.

Then open the mind map Assessment Techniques and Safety in the Clinical Setting. It covers inspection, palpation and percussion. Its palpation branch includes light, deep and bimanual palpation, alongside checks for swelling, size and pain. The map gives you a way to see these terms together after working through the flashcards.

Explore individual techniques

The percussion mind map focuses on sounds produced when the outside of the body is struck. The auscultation mind map focuses on listening to sounds of the body. Use these maps alongside the overview to look more closely at the techniques named in the flashcards.

The Physical examination mind map offers a broader view of the purposes of a physical examination. Another mind map on assessment techniques and safety includes handwashing, percussion and detecting the location of a mass.

Use the quiz with the maps

The quiz includes questions on the floating ice sign, acolic stool in mechanical jaundice and percussion sound in lung infarction. After taking it, return to the percussion map to study the technique in more detail. The quiz and maps offer different ways to work with the material: questions present clinical findings, while maps organize information about examination methods.

Find the topic in the unit

Physical Examination Techniques is part of the Physical Examination unit in Internal medicine, pathology and clinical semiology. The Examination skills flashcards add questions on findings such as clubbing, Korotkov sounds and assessment of the JVP. Choose a map or flashcard deck to continue studying the topic.