MammaCare is dedicated to training every hand that examines a woman, including her own. Since 1974 MammaCare has been the standard for performing and teaching clinical and personal breast examination. MammaCare has launched two new online courses: “Essentials of Breast Examination” for undergraduate nursing students and “Introduction to Clinical Breast Exam Standards and Practice” for graduate nursing students that teaches the fundamentals of this life-saving skill. These two breast exam distance-learning courses offered by MammaCare were developed specifically to address off-campus clinical education needs.
MammaCare’s most advanced teaching and skill training tool, the “Clinical Breast Exam Simulator,” is available for on-campus students using a computer. The tool comes with four breast models and the Google Chrome browser.
MammaCare E-Learning Courses
The undergraduate course “Essentials of Breast Examination” introduces students to standard breast examination techniques. Each student receives a tactually-accurate MammaCare breast model synchronized with hands-on palpation exercises. Knowledge-based content and instructional videos guide students through the course. Adding to the educational process, instructors can access student’s quiz grades at any time.
“I liked the hands-on approach and the very informative instruction, that will not only help me as a provider, but also as a woman.” – University of New Mexico student
The graduate nursing course, “Introduction to Clinical Breast Exam (CBE) Standards and Practice,” includes two MammaCare breast models that teach advanced palpation skills, one is transparent and another is opaque. The course guides students’ hands in learning to feel the difference between normal, healthy breast tissue and small suspicious lumps using the transparent breast model then practice with proper palpation and search techniques on the opaque model. Physical assessment modules and advanced palpation skills prepare the student for performance of clinical breast examination with future patients.
“This course was excellent! I loved the quizzes throughout to assess knowledge. I LOVED the two simulation models. It was so helpful to have a model that was translucent to practice on and one that was opaque to assess my skills. I would recommend this to every new women’s health practitioner!” – Vanderbilt University student
MammaCare CBE Simulator-Trainer
Since 2012 the MammaCare CBE Simulator-Trainer has been deployed in colleges of nursing and medicine and it remains the gold standard for clinical breast exam training worldwide. The MammaCare CBE Simulator-Trainer is a portable, hands-on, self-administered computer-guided breast exam trainer that produces and validates student’s essential clinical skills required to detect small suspected tumors while decreasing false positives. The technology monitors exam sensitivity and specificity during practice on progressively more complex breast models. A digital “clinical instructor” guides students through the training modules, assessing progress and providing corrective feedback in real time.
Simulator-Trainer features include correct palpation and visual inspection techniques that help students to visually and tactually identify the presence and feeling of suspicious tumors at different levels of pressure. The correct search pattern and breast tissue perimeters are also learned while progressing through each of the four training modules. The system continuously analyzes student progress and encourages repetition when required to meet built-in performance standards. The course results in evidence based breast exam skills that meet recognized standards of sensitivity and specificity.
“Love the simulator program. It was super helpful in determining the difference between lumps and nodularities, as well as ensuring I was actually covering all of the breast tissue.” – University of San Francisco student
More About MammaCare
The MammaCare Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to training every hand that examines a woman, including her own. The MammaCare Method is the recognized standard for performing and teaching clinical and personal breast examination. MammaCare provides clinical certification services and high-fidelity simulation-based training.
Learn More About MammaCare’s University Courses
References:
Corbelli, J., Bonnema, R., Rubio, D., Comer, D., & McNeil, M. (2014). An Effective Multimodal Curriculum to Teach Internal Medicine Residents Evidence-Based Breast Health. Journal of graduate medical education, 6(4), 721–725. https://doi.org/10.4300/JGME-D-14-00257.1
