Abstract
BackgroundThe use and interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs) are widely accepted as an essential core skill in Emergency Medicine. It is imperative that emergency physicians are expert in ECG interpretation when they exit their training programme.AimIt is unknown whether South African Emergency Medicine trainees are getting the necessary skills in ECG interpretation during the training programme. Currently there are no clear criteria to assess emergency physicians’ competency in ECG interpretation in South Africa.MethodsA prospective cross-sectional study of Emergency Medicine residents and recently qualified emergency physicians was conducted between August 2008 and February 2009 using a focused questionnaire.ResultsAt the time of the study, there were 55 eligible trainees in South Africa. A total of 55 assessments were distributed; 50 were returned (91%) and 49 were fully completed (89%). In this study, we found the overall average score of ECG interpretation was 46.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 41.5–51.2%]. The junior group had an overall average of 42.2% (95% CI 36.9–47.5%), whereas the senior group managed 52.5% (95% CI 43.4–61.5%).ConclusionIn this prospective cross-sectional study of Emergency Medicine residents and recently qualified emergency physicians, we found that there was improvement in the interpretation of ECGs with increased seniority. There exists, however, a low level of accuracy for many of the critical ECG diagnoses. The average score of 46.4% obtained in this study is lower than the scores obtained by other international studies from countries where Emergency Medicine is a well-established speciality.
Highlights
The use and interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs) is widely accepted as an essential core skill in Emergency Medicine [1]
We found the overall average of ECG interpretation was 46.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 41.5–51.2%]
On interpretation of the main diagnosis alone, we found an overall average of 40.1%; for the junior group it was 34.5%, and the senior group 48.4%
Summary
The use and interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs) is widely accepted as an essential core skill in Emergency Medicine [1]. Specialist emergency physicians are known to improve patient outcomes for patients requiring urgent life saving interventions; previous authors have shown that ECG interpretation skills improve throughout the training programme in Emergency Medicine in Australia [1]. The first locally trained Emergency Physicians have only recently qualified (October 2007). It is imperative that emergency physicians are expert in ECG interpretation when they exit their training programme. Aim It is unknown whether South African Emergency Medicine trainees are getting the necessary skills in ECG interpretation during the training programme. There are no clear criteria to assess emergency physicians’ competency in ECG interpretation in South Africa. Methods A prospective cross-sectional study of Emergency Medicine residents and recently qualified emergency physicians was conducted between August 2008 and February 2009 using a focused questionnaire
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