This book,as its title implies, is meant to serve as a self-learning program.The original idea was to create a practical textbook that could dynamically teach healthcare professionals how to interpret electrocardiograms. It occurred to me at the time that we needed to write a text in the same way an instructor might present the information to you in a classroom: with lots of illustrations, clinical tidbits of information and instructional notes,questions to prompt critical thinking, and lots of practice strips to allow application of concepts.

The first two chapters of the book look at the underlying concepts of the anatomy and electrophysiology of the heart and the electrocardiogram itself. Chapters 3 through 7 have been designed to follow the five-step process of ECG interpretation. Each chapter provides an in-depth look at one of the steps, and while it begins to introduce names of dysrhythmias, its focus is to understand why we interpret ECGs in this way and understanding the alterations in electrophysiology that are occurring. Chapters 8 through 11 lead you through dysrhythmias of the sinus node, the atria, the AV junction, and the ventricles. Chapter 12 introduces the concept of electrical axis. Chapters13 through 15 introduce concepts important to 12-lead ECG interpretation and recognizing myocardial injury, ischemia, and infarction. Finally,Chapter 16 discusses other cardiac conditions and their effect on the ECG.