Electrocardiogram training for residents: A curriculum based on Facebook and Twitter

Abstract

Background: We studied whether social media applications can serve as effective educational tools for teaching electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation to medical residents.

Methods: 39 emergency, family, and internal medicine residents participated in the 33-week "ECG of the Week" curriculum via Facebook and Twitter. ECG skill was assessed before and after the study with a 10-ECG quiz. Outcomes of interest included predictors of participant response rates and post-study quiz performance.

Results: ECG quiz scores were 66% and 76% on the pre- and post-study assessments respectively. High-performing participants on the pre-study quiz were more likely to have above-average response rates to ECG challenges (36% vs. 0%, p=0.015). There was no significant difference between pre- and post-study quiz scores.

Conclusions: Our social media-based ECG curriculum elicited the most participation in residents who were already above-average in ECG reading ability. Future designs will need to better reach residents with below-average baseline ECG reading ability.

Keywords: Electrocardiogram interpretation; Residency training; Social media.