PREREQUISITE :

The only prequisite required for taking this course is a fundamental knowledge of
anatamy and physiology of the human heart.


TARGET AUDIENCE :

This course is written for the broad audience of -----

•  nurses
•  EMS personnel
•  monitor techs
•  mid-level practitioners and students
•  physicians and medical students
•  exercise physiologists
•  respiratory therapists
•  medical chart reviewers-- including insurance
•  paralegal forensics

CEU credit:

This course has been approved by the West Virginia Board of Registered Nursing for 5 CEs. The WVBRN is an ANCC approved board. Because each state nursing board's regulations vary, it is recommended that the practitioner check with his/her nursing board to ensure that credit granted upon completion of this course will be honored.

COURSE GOAL :

The specific goal of this course is to cover all the common ECG rhythms you will encounter in your practice of medicine. Each rhythm will be developed with a given bottom-line criteria of recognition and an example strip given in the FIELD GUIDE. The arrangement has been carefully selected with the purpose to strengthen your streetsmart view of rhythms.
I have categorized the rhythms into groups according to their importance and have so labeled them as
absolutely must know and the less important as
nice to know .
The purpose in this arrangement is to aid the student by prioritizing his/her study time, as well as categorizing the order of importance.

Finally, I have added a section on 12 -Lead tracings. This was added to make the FIELD GUIDE a more complete pocket guide .


FORMAT OF COURSE :

This online course is presented in the format of 3 MODULES of rhythms and 12-Lead presentations and a fourth MODULE containing the COMPREHENSIVE FINAL EXAMINATION.

The first 3 MODULES will present common rhythms you will encounter in your practice.
Each rhythm is presented in the form of an animated tutorial, similar to that which is presented on the homepage.
As each tutorial is viewed, it is my purpose to embed the following in your cerebrum :

A . Notice the color shading of the heart drawing and its corresponding voltage and waveform of the P-QRS-T complex.

B . My goal is to instill in you the fundamental understanding of the source of these waveforms and to avoid rote memory of the rhythms i.e. I want you to be systemic -analytical regarding rhythms interpretation.

C .Be aware that the depolarization signal propagates in a wavefront-like manner(taking note of the direction and timeframe)

D . There are two types of tissues of the heart with different electrical characteristics --
1 . special electrical conduction tissue and the
2 . myocardium cells


Topics covered :


Normal sinus rhythm
Sinus bradycardia
Sinus tachycardia
First degree AV block
Sinus arrhythmia
SVT
Atrial flutter
Second degree AV block-Mobitz I (Wenckebach)
Second degree AV block-Mobitz II
Third degree AV block (complete heart block)
Atrial fibrillation
Junctional rhythm
Premature beats
Escape beats
Ventricular tachycardia
Ventricular fibrillation
Idioventricular rhythm
Agonal-asystole
QT-interval (prolongation)
Multiatrial rhythm
Sinus arrest
Sinus exit block
Non-conducted PAC
Electronic dual chamber pacemaker
RBBB
LBBB
WPW
LAFB
LVH
Electrical axis
Myocardial infarction/ischemia
Polymorphic ventricular tachycardia



HOMEWORK EXERCISES ---There are 6(six) Homework Practice Sets consisting of 5 rhythm strips each.These exercises are designed to enhance your knowledge of the material covered to that point. Each SET is presented in a multiple choice matching format-----answer choices supplied in the Rhythms Manual--
they are immediately graded online.
You must attain a minimum specified score in order to progress, otherwise the course is designed to not allow you to continue.
You may retake as many times as needed in order to attain the needed score.

The FINAL EXAM consists of 50 questions :

fill-in-the-blank.........................15 questions
true/false.................................15 questions
rhythms matching ....................20 questions

It is graded immediately online and you will be emailed your final score and a papercopy certificate(signed by Dr. Stanley) will be mailed to your registered address.

NOTE :
If you are registered with a medical partner, your score and notification of completion will also be emailed to your hospital, ambulance company, university, or other institution as specified at time of registration.

WRITTEN MATERIALS :

As you progress thru the course, you should continually refer to the written materials you received in the mail :

FIELD GUIDE ...........................Quick summary reference of Rhythms
Rhythms Manual .....................Rhythm strips refering to online homework and online Final Exam
Stanley's Laminated Rhythms Rule ........................... Pocket guide to rhythm recognition



AFTER YOU HAVE TAKEN THIS COURSE :

After you have taken this online rhythms course, I encourage you to visit my website www.virtualecgcourse.com .
The focus of this online course is 12-Lead ECG Interpretation (contains no information regarding rhythms). Its design and format is similar to that of this rhythms course.
It covers all the common 12-Lead ECG patterns you will encounter in your practice, with a special focus on recognizing the acute ischemia/infarction pattern.
This course has been designated by the American College of Emergency Physicians for 30 hours Category I CME toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award.