It can be quite a challenge to teach 12-lead ECG when your students have never had a 12-lead class before, or when they are very rusty.  There is so much ground to cover!  Over the years, I have learned (the hard way) that most students cannot retain well when bombarded with a subject for a whole day, especially on several consecutive days.  For years, I taught an 8-hour 12-lead review course.  The first part of the day was anatomy, lead concepts, and STEMI.  After lunch, we covered bundle branch blocks and other misc. topics.  On revisiting the same students months later, I would find they were pretty good at STEMI, and could not remember the criteria or significance of BBB.  Don't know why it took me several years to figure it out.

Now, I admit this is not a scientific study.  But, I have been teaching this topic for many years, and I HAVE learned!  Now, I offer  classes in shorter, more digestible bites.  Introduction to 12-Lead ECG is a 12 - 16 hour course, so I divide it into three or four days, preferably not consecutive.  I have also developed a series of modular classes that are 3 - 4 hours long, and focus on one topic.  This has helped me stand out from all the other 12-Lead instructors out there, who have one course in their portfolio: 12-Lead ECG.   I have topics like:  ECG Fluency, STEMI Review, Cardiac Alert,  Tachycardias and Bradycardias, Bundle Branch Block, and Pacemakers.  These are review classes, but an introductory class can be divided into modules, too.  Be creative. Devise homework assignments between modules so that students can study other resources and retain the information well.

On the RESOURCES page of this site, you will find two documents that may help you if you are just developing an introductory class.  One is a Course Description and Objectives, and the other is an Outline.  These are Word documents.  Feel free to edit them, change them, add to or eliminate from them as you like.  There is also a "mapped" 12-Lead ECG in RESOURCES that might help you and your students. Other Resources on the page may help you, as well. 

For a basic introductory 12-Lead class, many of the ECGs in our ARCHIVES will help you.  I recommend:

Normal 12-Lead ECG, 11/23/11
Normal 12-Lead ECG, 10/24/11
Right Bundle Branch Block, 10/31/11
Inferior-Posterior wall M.I., 10/31/11
Left Bundle Branch Block with Sinus Tachycardia, 11/01/11
Anterior-Septal Wall MI prior to PCI 75 yr old F, 11/01/11
Left Bundle Branch Block, 11/23/11
Inferior Wall M.I. and Atrial Fibrillation, 11/28/11
Infero-lateral Wall M.I., 12 Lead ECG and Rhythm Strips, 11/30/11
Infero-lateral Posterior M.I., 11/30/11
Inferior Posterior M.I. With Tall R Waves in V2 - V4, 11/30/11
Wide Complex Tachycardia: Left Bundle Branch Block with Subsequent Rhythm Strip, 11/30/11
Left Ventricular Hypertrophy With Strain, 12/02/11
Anterior Wall M.I. and Right Bundle Branch Block, 12/07/11
As you browse the Archives, you will probably find other ECGs you would like to use in your presentation or handouts.

 
WHAT ECGS DO YOU NEED TO "ROUND OUT" YOUR COLLECTION?  PLEASE COMMENT BELOW: