Best ECG Resources for Residents (& Med Students)
One of my most frequently asked questions is what resources I recommend for learning ECGs, so I finally sat down and compiled some of my lesser-known favorites.
This blog post has a mix of free & paid resources: textbooks, blogs, videos and more. Hopefully you find something useful: if you do, please share with your friends, and let's get better at reading ECGs together!
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The Basics:
Life in the Fast Lane (free): an all-encompassing blog that covers everything from the basics of ECG interpretation to the most advanced stuff ever, and includes mini-cases, quizzes and so much more - I still use it regularly to look things up on shift.
The Only EKG Book You'll Ever Need ($70*): a book I used eons ago to learn the basics of ECG interpretation and I still recommend it. It was thorough and yet very palatable.
*Note: you can get older editions and it's way cheaper ($11 for an older version).
Beyond the Basics:
ECG Weekly (paid): a website with incredible weekly cases with video walkthroughs by Amal Mattu, EM-cardiology guru. My program pays for our basic subscription, and I always learn so much when I go through the video cases.
The week-by-week subscription is $1/week, but the premium version allows you to go back through all the old cases.
ECG's for the Emergency Physician by Amal Mattu ($45 for Part I): this is a book co-authored by the same guru as above, and has two parts (I've only used the first part). The book is case-based and has thorough explanations, so if you like learning from a textbook, this is perfect for you.
ECG Cases by Emergency Medicine Cases (free): one of my favorite podcasts created a blog series where they specifically cover unique, challenging, confusing ECGs. Each "series" has a different theme: STEMI Mimics, Early Repol or STEMI, etc. They're fantastic.
Test Yourself
ECG Wave-Maven (free): this is a blog that has hundreds of cases to test yourself. The UI might look outdated but the content is gold. You can use the quiz mode or browse by diagnosis, which is great if you want to get better at recognizing a specific abnormality (see below).
ECG Stampede (free & paid): this is a fun way to test yourself - gamify ECG learning by putting your new skills to use. The ECG Stampede game is free to use "in true FOAMed fashion," but their courses and other educational content is paid.
Essentially, you're presented ECG after ECG (much like on shift) and you have to triage them: who needs to be seen now? Who can wait? Did you miss a massive STEMI? Only time will tell.
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