Abstract Rationale First-year internal medicine residents have variable competency in electrocardiogram (ECG) interpretation, yet many internal medicine residency programs lack a structured, evidence-based ECG curriculum. Accurate ECG interpretation is essential for timely recognition and management of arrhythmias. To address this educational gap, we developed a hybrid ECG curriculum to strengthen residents’ ability to diagnose commonly encountered arrhythmias and determine the appropriate next step in clinical management. Our scalable model may also be applied to other diagnostic skills, such as chest x-ray interpretation, that are integral to pulmonary and internal medicine training. Methods The resident-authored, resident-led curriculum was integrated into the internal medicine residency program at a large academic medical center (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN). The curriculum included written materials for self-directed learning and one in-person flipped classroom session on five arrhythmias. Each flipped classroom session lasted 45 minutes and included 4-6 learners (i.e. first-year internal medicine residents) and 2-3 instructors (i.e. senior internal medicine residents). Learners were asked to complete a pre-test before the curriculum and a post-test shortly after the flipped classroom session. The primary outcome was improvement in post-test scores. Statistical analyses were performed with the paired t-test. Results 21 flipped classroom sessions occurred between August 2022 and December 2024. 110 first-year residents were eligible to participate in the curriculum. Attendance at each flipped classroom session was not recorded so the exact participation rate is unknown. Of the 34 learners who completed both the pre-test and the post-test, the average pre-test score was 68.5% and the average post-test score was 87.6%, an improvement of 19.1% (95% CI 10.9 - 27.4%, p 0.0001, Figure 1). The post-test was completed a median of 3 days (IQR, 1 - 7 days) after the flipped classroom session. Conclusions The resident-led, resident-authored ECG curriculum with self-directed learning and a flipped classroom session significantly improved first-year internal medicine residents’ ability to interpret and manage five commonly encountered arrhythmias. Academic medical centers have finite faculty resources, so it is beneficial that our flipped classroom sessions were organized and led by rotating senior residents in a sustainable and structured manner. Our hybrid curriculum is scalable and may be applied to other diagnostic tests, such as interpretation of chest x-rays or blood gases, which impact the identification and management of many pulmonary and critical care conditions. This abstract is funded by: None
Hughes et al. (Fri,) studied this question.