With care of the mentally unwell our primary job (and many of us psychiatrists), we may wonder why we should be re-learning something that is essentially a medical skill that should be left to the medics.

But we must remember:

• psychiatric patients have significantly more comorbid medical illnesses AND have higher mortality rates as a result of this (Waddington et al 1998)

• we use some of the most dangerous drugs on our patients – these increase the risk of sudden cardiac arrythmias and thus, sudden cardiac death (Ray et al 2001)

• ECG interpretation is a basic skill expected of any UK medical school graduate, however studies show a lack of elementary knowledge of ECGs amongst all doctors (Montgomery et al 1994)

• there is compelling evidence that ECG interpretation amongst psychiatrists is poor (Solomons et al 2008)

• machine interpretation is not proven to be reliable (Willems et al 1991).

The aim of this two-part module therefore is to refresh clinicians’ knowledge of ECGs and to help them recognise basic abnormalities, focusing on conditions that are most commonly seen in mentally unwell patients.

Start the module

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