There are many online ECG courses available, but which one should you choose? To help you make the decision, we have compiled a list of the top 10 online ECG courses. Each course is ranked according to its affordability, convenience, and quality. So, whether you are a beginner or an experienced practitioner, there is sure to be an online ECG course that meets your needs. Check out our top 10 list and get started today!
Table of Contents
What Should A Good ECG Course Cover?
An ECG course should cover all of the basics of electrocardiography, including:
Anatomy and physiology of the heart, The normal ECG pattern, ECG changes associated with acute MI/ischemia, Bundle branch blocks, Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW).
Be sure the instructor at least covers all of these topics, and others, in great detail so that you will be able to confidently interpret ECGs on your own.
Accreditation
All of the courses on our list are accredited by either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA). These accreditations ensure that the courses meet the highest standards for quality and content.
Convenience
Some of the courses on our list are self-paced, so you can complete them at your own pace. Others are offered in an online format, so you can access them from anywhere with an internet connection. And some are even available as downloadable PDFs, so you can study them offline.
Affordability
We understand that not everyone has the same budget for ECG courses. That’s why we’ve included a variety of courses at different price points. Some of the courses are even free!
Quality
Of course, we only want to recommend the best of the best. That’s why all of the courses on our list come highly rated by past students. Now that you know what to look for in a good ECG course, let’s get started with our list.
The Basics of ECGs from the American Heart Association
All that is required to take the 12-Lead ECG course is a basic understanding of heart anatomy and physiology. Learning is focused on analysis, not memorization. This course thoroughly covers the normal pattern, STEMI, non-STEMI, bundle branch blocks, LAFB, LVH, and WPW, as well as how to analyze the changes associated with acute MI/ischemia.
The course consists of both online material and written material and is a self-paced course that you can complete at your own pace. The 12-Lead ECG Course is designed to be completed at the student’s convenience as a self-study course at home. An online bookmark will bring you back to your last page if you need a break and you may then continue, or review the material previously covered. You cannot skip any topics but must cover each new topic sequentially.
Upon registering, a suggested syllabus is included to assist in completing the course. A total of ten modules are covered in this course, as well as homework sets and quizzes. You will be required to answer multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and matching questions. The questions are graded instantly online. Students must pass with a score of at least 80% or they must review and retest. A score of 80% is required to proceed to the next module and The students may review all previous material as much as he/she wishes but will not be allowed to skip ahead.
ECG Academy
If you don’t have anyone to help you practice and show you where you might be making mistakes, ECG interpretation can be very difficult and frustrating. Do you have difficulty interpreting complicated charts? Wouldn’t it be nice if you could spend hours looking at ECGs with an expert who could tell you exactly what you should be looking for?
Whether you’re learning online or in a classroom, the ECG Academy® Learning System beats any other educational experience out there. In addition to being available in high definition, the videos are crammed full of tips, tricks, and insights that only an expert can provide. What’s even better is that if you forget anything, you can go back and watch them again. That’s not something you can do in a classroom! If you would like to subscribe for a period, you can subscribe for as long as you need. You can also enhance your skills regularly by watching the weekly “ChalkTalks,” fun 6-minute video coaching sessions where you are taught how to handle those tricky tracings that don’t follow a conventional textbook pattern.
Continuing Education Credits (CECs) can be earned by attending the ALL-NEW Certificate Courses being offered by ECG Academy in 2022. This new and improved certificate course provides a self-paced, programmed, modular approach to learning ECGs, with unlimited access to the course videos and Chalk talks. The quiz and exam questions have all been written from a fresh perspective to ensure you have the best experience possible!
MedMastery.com
Medmastery offers three different ECG training courses, all of which are accredited by ACCME and UEMS, for students at all levels, from amatuer to expert. The structure of the course is logical and the content is concise to emphasize the essentials rather than burying unnecessary information. The courses offered by MedMastery are designed to not overwhelm students but to provide them with the ‘twenty per cent of skills’ that will help them to resolve over eighty per cent of cases – an impressive accomplishment.
The majority of the learning platforms reviewed focus on knowledge acquisition, whereas Medmastery appears to be more concerned with building solid foundational skills and promoting a broad-based knowledge base. Get the first chapter of every course for free with a free trial membership for the ECG Yellow Belt, ECG Blue Belt, and ECG Black Belt Courses.
ECG Weekly
ECG Weekly is a case-based ECG educational resource designed to provide students with in-depth, timely learning opportunities through video lectures. This educational program is organized under the leadership of Amal Mattu, a tenured professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Ali Farzad, an emergency physician at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.
Video explanations or ‘ECG Workouts’ supplement the weekly ECG cases, covering the key points and references in an easy-to-digest bullet-point format, which can be reviewed and downloaded. There is a substantial amount of content available in FOAMed format, and access to the full site can be obtained for a mere $1 per week, including access to cardiology literature reviews
Simple Education
Electrocardiogram (ECG) Interpretation Essential Guide by Simple Education is an 11-part course manual, video content, and course manual with over 3 hours of video content for ECG interpretation.
Designed to provide doctors with solid background knowledge in ECG interpretation, this course is taught by electrophysiologists Prof Richard Shilling and Dr Andrew Sharp. This course provides an introduction to ECG interpretation as well as a short MCQ quiz at the end. It is intended for those seeking a less in-depth course than Cardiotute.
In spite of the low rating of 3 stars among participants, this course may be beneficial as a supplement to your learning rather than your primary source for ECG training.
ECGEDU.com – The Last EKG Interpretation Class You Will Ever Need
Executive Electrocardiogram Education has developed an online EKG interpretation course specifically for medical students, residents, and practicing clinicians. Students will learn the fundamentals of EKG interpretation as well as the practical skills necessary to take these recordings and diagnose common heart problems using EKG patterns and other signs.
The EKG course offered by ECG EDU enables students to learn at their own pace in the privacy of their own home, but also provides practical advantages and professional development opportunities, opening up new career options or allowing experienced medical professionals to refresh or broaden their knowledge.
Various specialized EKG courses are available including arrhythmia, ACLS interpretation, and interpretation of EKGs. A practising cardiologist and educator with over twenty years of experience, Dr Scott Siegal narrates and creates all of the EKG interpretation videos.
Dr Siegal has used his method to teach electrocardiography to several medical residency programs and cardiology fellowships. These presentations became the basis of the electrocardiogram course Executive Electrocardiogram Education. This course teaches an approach to read an electrocardiogram as its primary focus. Moreover, students are presented with the ECG criteria and are able to navigate between sections pertaining to the approach and the criteria sections to gain a more comprehensive understanding. A full-time student can complete the course in 8 hours which should be manageable across a few days or weeks, even on a busy schedule. You will want to review the course several times over a period of several years because with repetition ideas are reinforced over time and concepts may be accessed throughout the year.
As you can see, there are many different online ECG courses to choose from, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. It is important to do your research before choosing a course in order to find one that best fits your needs. The courses we have reviewed here are some of the most popular and well-respected options available, but there are many other choices out there as well. Whatever route you choose, make sure to get plenty of practice interpreting ECGs before you put your new skills to the test in a real-life situation.
