ECG Academy

Some time back the LITFL team came across the ECGAcademy.com, created by American electrophysiologist Dr Nick Tullo. Nick had generously made a sizable portion of content freely accessible to everyone on his Youtube channel. We were sufficiently impressed that we made an ECG Academy collection within our own ECG Library so that we could find them when we needed them.

However ECGAcademy.com is more than just a few free videos. I recently got the chance to check it out in its full glory, thanks to a temporary free subscription. Let’s get on with ‘The good, the bad and the ugly” review LITFL-style.

What ECG Academy is all about

The ECG Academy is an online video-based course designed to quickly teach you how to expertly interpret an electrocardiogram at your own pace.

• Easy to understand video lessons in ECG interpretation
• Step by step instruction from basic to intermediate, and ultimately to advanced level (coming soon)
• Learn from an electrophysiologist (Not to be sniffed at – I have never actually met an electrophysiologist in person in the Australia/ New Zealand health systems!)
• Weekly practice “ChalkTalk” lessons (think Khan Academy for medical professionals!)

The Good

• Dr Nick is a master educator with an easy manner and friendly sense of humour, as well as a true ECG expert.
• The videos are superbly produced, mimicking the best bedside pen and paper teaching sessions. However the videos have a major advantages – a bona fide expert teacher, no interruptions, and the ability to revisit topics whenever you want. This is ‘asynchronous learning’ at its best.
• The intermediate syllabus covers everything in the basic section (basic physics, leads, vectors, cardiac physiology, conduction blocks, premature beats, as well as atrial and ventricular tachycardias) as well as more advanced topics including axis interpretation, atrial abnormalities, ventricular hypertrophy, hemiblocks and bundle branch blocks, ischemia and ST abnormalities. This is ideal for advanced medical students and RMOs, as well as junior registrars looking for revision or to fill in a few of the gaps (that we all have!).
• As someone who teaches others how to interpret ECGs, seeing Dr Nick in action is a real boon. I’ll be recycling some of his approaches to tricky-to-explain ECG concepts for sure!

The Bad

• The annoying thing about these ECG Academy videos is how much I still seem to learn from them even thought they are supposedly ‘below my level’…
• Hmm, not much else that I could find… Bring on the Advanced syllabus ASAP!

The Ugly

• Subscription isn’t free – you can find out all the details here. There are different levels of subscription based on degree of advancement: basic (9 hours of video) is $99.95/month $19.95/month and intermediate (14 hours of video) is $139.95/month $24.95/month.
• Alternatively you can just subscribe to the weekly ChalkTalk sessions at $14.95/month $9.95/month, or get additional savings on an annual membership. (Editor’s note 15/8/2012: Note that the price has come down considerably since this review was first written. There is now also a modular course with a Certificate of Completion for CME 2 credit)

The Last Word

• If you buy into the ‘asynchronous learning’ revolution (like us at LITFL) you can’t beat the ECGAcademy.com for quality ECG education. Check out sample videos here. Great work Dr. Nick!
• Also check out our review of Top 20 ECG Courses Online.

Conflict of interest statement This review of ECGAcademy.com was made possible by a temporary subscription provided free of charge by ECG Academy. The LITFL team has no financial or other interests in this educational venture.