Following is a list of top 10 online ECG courses
I have researched the internet as well as used my own experience to make a list of top 10 online ECG learning courses.
Why is it important to learn ECG courses?
An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is a quick test to check the heartbeat. It records the electrical signals in the heart. Test results can help diagnose heart attacks and irregular heartbeats, called arrhythmias.
ECG machines can be found in medical offices, hospitals, operating rooms and ambulances. Some personal devices, such as smartwatches, can do simple ECGs. Ask your healthcare professional if this is an option for you.
An electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG) is done to check the heartbeat. It shows how fast or how slow the heart is beating. ECG test results can help your care team diagnose:
- Irregular heartbeats, called arrhythmias.
- A previous heart attack.
- The cause of chest pain. For example, it may show signs of blocked or narrowed heart arteries.
ECG also may be done to learn how well a pacemaker and heart disease treatments are working. All these events can be learnt through ECG courses.
You may need an ECG if you have:
- Chest pain.
- Dizziness, lightheadedness or confusion.
- Pounding, skipping or fluttering heartbeat.
- Fast pulse.
- Shortness of breath.
- Weakness or fatigue.
- Reduced ability to exercise.
If you have a family history of heart disease, you may need an electrocardiogram to screen for heart disease, even if you don’t have symptoms. The American Heart Association says ECG screening may be considered for those at low risk of heart disease in general, even if there are no symptoms. Most heart doctors consider an ECG as a basic tool to screen for heart disease, although its use needs to be individualized.
If symptoms tend to come and go, a regular ECG may not find a change in the heartbeat. Your healthcare team may suggest wearing an ECG monitor at home. There are several types of portable ECGs.
- An electrocardiogram (ECG) is a simple, non-invasive test that records the electrical activity of the heart.
- An ECG can help diagnose certain heart conditions, including abnormal heart rhythms and coronary heart disease (heart attack and angina).
- A doctor may recommend an ECG if you are experiencing symptoms like chest pain, breathlessness, dizziness, fainting or a feeling of your heart racing, fluttering, thumping or pounding in your chest (palpitations).
- An ECG can also help monitor how treatments for a heart condition, like medicines or implantable cardiac devices, are working.
To understand all these pathologies or normal events, one must undergo ECG training through ECG courses.
What will you learn in ECG couses?
- After completing this collection you should:
- Understand basic cardiac anatomy and physiology
- Be aware of the practicalities of recording an ECG trace
- Have a solid system for interpreting ECGs
- Be able to recognise problems of rate and rhythm, including bradycardia, tachycardia and atrial fibrillations
- Be able to recognise myocardial infarction
- Be familiar with diagnostic testing following an abnormal ECG
- Know about cardiac muscle disease and congenital heart disease
Medmastery- First amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
Medmastery is pretty impressive among ECG courses. The learning platform has accrued a bunch of prestigious awards over the last few years on the back of their simple didactic presentation and use of world-renowned educators. “We only teach you what’s really relevant and leave out the rest.”
Medmastery has full CME accreditation with ACCME and UEMS, and offers three separate ECG courses designed to take students from amateur level through to total mastery. The course structure is logical and the content concise getting to the core of essential knowledge rather than padding with superfluous material. Medmastery states its courses are designed to not overwhelm students but rather equip them with the ‘20% of skills that will help to solve over 80% of cases‘ – no mean feat.
Many of the learning platforms reviewed focus on knowledge-acquisition, whereas Medmastery seems to be more about building solid foundation skills and promoting and wide-based knowledge platform. Check out the ECG Yellow Belt; ECG Blue Belt and ECG Black Belt Courses on a free trial membership and get the first chapter of every course for free.
ECG Weekly- Second amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
ECG Weekly is a case based ECG educational tool aimed to provide regular, useful, contextual in-line learning in a a video-based format. The educational team is led the inimitable Amal Mattu, tenured professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine; and Ali Farzad emergency physician at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
The weekly ECG cases are augmented by video explanations or ‘ECG Workouts’ with the key teaching points and references in easily digestible bullet-point format, available to review and download. A large portion of the content is available in FOAMed format, and access to the full site is very affordable at a mere $1 a week and includes access to cardiology literature reviews.
ECG Academy- Third amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
The ECG Academy is another great resource for anyone looking to up their ECG game with a growing list of medical/nursing and PA schools subscribed to the resource. “Learn To Read Electrocardiograms – By Watching Video Tutorials.”
ECG Academy was created by Dr. Nicholas Tullo, a cardiac electrophysiologist with a passion for teaching and has been reviewed previously on LITFL. Courses have been designed for all levels of learner from cardiology technicians to fellows. The site offers three levels of courses, incrementally increasing the learners knowledge base and allowing them to progress to the next learning tier.
With over 60 hours of ECG education offered across all three tiers, learners have the option to start with the basics or shoot straight through to the most advanced level. In addition to the three ECG courses, Dr Tullo also provides weekly ChalkTalks which are 5-6 minute ‘how to‘ video tutorials based on a single rhythm strip or 12-lead ECG.
Participants can claim Category 2 CME points for completing the certificate, but at this time not the courses are not approved for Category 1 CME.
Pricing is flexible with options to complete a certificate for a fixed price or subscribe for continuous access to each course level. For those looking to get their feet a little wet first, the ECG Academy also offers a free basic subscription which gets you access to 3 hours of content and 10 ChalkTalks.
BMJ Learning- Fourth amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
Using a mixture of 3D animation, audio narrative, images, and detailed text, this ECG course by BMJ Learning is an interesting one. As you would expect from one of the world’s leading medical journals, BMJ Learning has all of its courses undergo a peer-review process and this course is no exception.
The course offers 16 modules of increasing difficulty (and intensity) with a huge amount of information crammed into the 14 hours and 30 minutes of the course. The course covers basic interpretation and abnormalities of clinical significance. There is also a reference list of key abnormalities with ECG examples and a (small) library of ECGs to practice.
BMJ Learning courses are accredited for CME/CPD by colleges, associations, and authorities from around the world but not with specific accredited ACCME/UEMS CME points.
ECG Waves- Fifth amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
This Clinical ECG Interpretation course is centered around the ECG interpretation book of Dr Araz Rawshani. It offers videos to supplement the textbook content. For a one-off cost of $100 (currently selling for $15), this is more of an online e-textbook purchase with video tutorials and ECG tests thrown in for free.
The content is comprehensive and you can check out some parts of the book or trial some ECG tests for free if you want to get a good look before you buy. This is a structured program and the difficulty builds up gradually compared to other books which oversimplify content in a bid to keep it print-friendly.
Simple Education- Sixth amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
Simple Education Essential Guide to electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation. 11-part comprehensive guide to ECG interpretation with over 3 hours of video content and course manual for download.
Taught by electrophysiologist Prof Richard Shilling and Cardiologist Dr Andrew Sharp, this course is designed to give doctors a solid background in ECG interpretation. With case examples and an MCQ quiz at the end, this course is for those looking for a quick entry to ECG interpretation with a little more depth than the Cardiotute course.
With only 3 stars out of 5 as voted by course-takers however, it may be good as an adjunct to your learning rather than your primary source of ECG training.
EMedHome – Advanced ECG Workshop- Seventh amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
The Premier ECG Workshop is an advanced course with over 7 hours of personal instruction by Dr. Amal Mattu, a renowned educationalist specialising in Emergency Medicine cardiology. The program aims to prime the user with the ability to interpret ECGs like an expert!
Course covers more advanced topics, subtle and sinister signs and diagnosis not to be missed. Topic covered include:
- Recognizing ACS
- Subtle ECG Manifestations of Cardiac Ischemia
- ECG Mimics of Cardiac Ischemia
- Diagnosing Dysrhythmias
- Bradydysrhythmias and AV Blocks
- Tachydysrhythmias
- Wide Complex Tachydysrhythmias: Myths and Pitfalls
- Syncope, Sudden Death, and the ECG
Corexcel- Eighth amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
- Corexcel offers a different option to the other courses reviewed here. Rather than following a set learning pathway, the platform monitors student progress and adapts based on your learning needs. This allows you to concentrate on ECG subject areas you may be having problems with, while focusing less on concepts you already understand.
- Though it doesn’t list the duration of the course, it is advertised as an introduction to ECG so we suspect it is more suited to students and early-career physicians. Certificates are generated once a student reaches a 95% average rating across all of the exercise categories.
GMCMEDICINE- Ninth amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
- GMCMedicine offers a free online ECG articles which are arranged in a systematic way for easy navigation.
- The user can choose the topic easily to read in an easy way. It is definitely an excellent platform to learn ECG with images and explanation of topics which are diagnosed by ECG such as arrhythmias, myocardial infarction and effects of drugs and electrolytes.
Medvarsity- Tenth amongst the top 10 online ECG courses
- I have placed Medvarsity at number 10 in online ECG courses.
- Medvarsity offers an online certificate course among ECG courses.
- Medvarsity describes itself as ‘India’s leading online medical certification and training company‘. Their 12-Lead ECG course provides 20 hours of learning content aimed at health professionals across the board. It is not subscription-based but rather, a course you pay for outright and must complete within 3 months of commencing.
- Though we didn’t get past the paywall, the curriculum shown on the site appears to be in line with the content provided by other institutions reviewed here. With an overall rating of 3.7 by Medvarsity users, the platform may be worth a look but it’s difficult to gauge the quality of the course without any previews available.
- The ability to quickly and accurately interpret a 12-lead ECG is an important part of routine and emergency patient care for many healthcare professionals. This course is developed to provide the participants with high knowledge and skills in ECG analysis and interpretation.