Full course description
Electrocardiogram (EKG) interpretation is a fundamental clinical skill that supports timely diagnosis, risk stratification, and patient management across healthcare settings. This session will provide a practical, case-based approach to systematic EKG interpretation, emphasizing rhythm recognition, ischemic changes, conduction abnormalities, and common clinical decision points. Participants will review a structured framework for EKG analysis and apply key concepts through interactive case discussions. Real-world examples will highlight common pitfalls, diagnostic pearls, and strategies for integrating EKG findings into clinical decision-making. By the end of the session, participants will have increased confidence in recognizing clinically significant abnormalities and determining appropriate next steps in patient care.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
- Apply a systematic approach to EKG interpretation
- Identify common cardiac rhythms, including normal sinus rhythm and frequently encountered arrhythmias
- Recognize EKG findings associated with myocardial ischemia and infarction
- Differentiate common conduction abnormalities, including bundle branch blocks, and atrioventricular blocks, and axis deviation
- Integrate EKG findings with clinical presentation to support diagnostic and management decisions
- Identify situations that require urgent evaluation, escalation of care, or specialty consultation
Goals/Purpose
The intended course outcomes for this session are to certify that participants:
- Have been present and actively engaged throughout the synchronous educational activity
- Participated in interactive interpretation of EKG tracings and case-based discussions
- Applied a structured framework to evaluate cardiac rhythms and identify abnormalities
- Demonstrated the ability to recognize common EKG findings with clinical significance
- Incorporated EKG findings into clinical reasoning and patient management discussions
This session is designed to strengthen foundational EKG interpretation skills and clinical decision-making but is not intended to deem any participant “competent” in independent EKG interpretation, as competency determination remains the responsibility of individual supervisors, credentialing bodies, and institutional protocols.
Course will be held on Friday 10/2/26 8:30am - 12:30pm VIRTUALLY. Course director will send follow up email after registration. Please email Debby Farkas (farkasdr@pitt.edu) with any questions or concerns.