gms | German Medical Science

Background: EKGxperts is a student-led initiative at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf that offers extracurricular ECG courses in a peer-teaching format. The aim is to enhance medical students’ ECG interpretation skills through practical, hands-on training. Beyond teaching, the project also has a scientific focus: as a student research group funded by the University of Hamburg’s excellence strategy, EKGxperts investigates ways to modernize ECG didactics. Using standardized questionnaires and eye-tracking analyses, the project aims to determine the learning effects of peer-teaching tutorials and identify challenges in ECG education.

Objective/research question: This study examines the effect of a structured ECG course in a peer-teaching format on the objective interpretation competence and self-assessed confidence of medical students.

Methods: Between May and December 2024, ten course sessions were conducted. Participants completed standardized questionnaires before and after the course (fully completed: n=50), assessing self-perceived confidence in ECG interpretation (scale 1-10) and practical prior experience. Additionally, participants interpreted an ECG before and after the course using a standardized evaluation template. The accuracy of their interpretations was assessed using a scoring system (range: 0-9 points). Changes following course participation were analyzed using paired t-tests.

Results: Participants had a mean age of 23.82 years (SD=2.753); 74% were female, and 84% had at least one parent with a university entrance qualification (abitur or higher). 70% of participants reported prior experience in ECG interpretation, mostly from university courses, with an average estimated number of previously interpreted ECGs of 7.49 (SD=7.169; range: 0-40). The course led to a significant improvement in self-assessed confidence (mean before: 3.36; after: 6.30; p<0.001) and objectively measured interpretation competence (mean before: 2.16; after: 4.08; p<0.001).

Relevance: The results demonstrate the effectiveness of a structured ECG course in a peer-teaching format for improving both ECG interpretation competence and self-assessed confidence in medical students.

Recommendations/conclusions: Structured peer-teaching formats like EKGxperts should be integrated into medical curricula to enhance practical training. Future studies will evaluate long-term effects at 3- and 6-month intervals after course participation and utilize eye-tracking technology to analyze the gaze dynamics of individual participants. These analyses will provide insights into their thought processes and approaches to ECG interpretation. The findings will be compared with those of trained cardiologists to develop further strategies for optimizing ECG education.