Houston Company Aims to Improve Physicians' ECG Interpretation Skills

HOUSTON, Oct. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Medicus of Houston (http://www.advancedecgcourse.com), founded in 2011 by Jerry W. Jones, MD FACEP, is a Houston, Texas-based provider of continuing medical education (CME) for physicians and other healthcare personnel. The schedule of classes through July 2015 has just been announced for their signature course – "Advanced ECG Interpretation Boot Camp" as well as the inaugural presentation of their newest curriculum – "Advanced Dysrhythmias." The Advanced ECG Interpretation Boot Camp is a live, four-day course that will convene on March 10 – 13, 2015 and June 23 – 26, 2015. Advanced Dysrhythmias, a live, three-day course, will be held July 22 – 24, 2015.

Dr. Jones explained his reason for founding and developing the company: "Most people are unaware that, for the most part, medical students and resident physicians never receive any formal instruction in electrocardiography (ECG analysis). I remember when I was a first-year resident in internal medicine, I was simply told to buy a book about ECG interpretation and learn to read ECGs on my own. So, I bought a book and I read it in just one day. However, during the next shift when I was handed a patient's ECG, I still had no idea what I was looking at."

In order to correct this deficiency, Dr. Jones founded Medicus of Houston. But things had changed considerably since he was an internal medicine resident: today, physicians are not the only ones reading ECGs, but many nurses as well as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, paramedics and even some medical researchers must also read and interpret ECGs – often well above the introductory level.

Dr. Jones continues: "We had to design the course so that it was applicable to all levels of healthcare providers. We included didactic sections as well as animations and multimedia presentations. We also decided to limit the size of each class to just ten people because the active involvement of each participant in the interpretation of real ECGs is the key to all our courses. When you are just one among three hundred other attendees, there is no opportunity for individual attention or active participation."

But there were some unforeseen developments. "We seriously underestimated the power of the internet. While our initial focus was on Texas and U.S. physicians, it did not take long for us to be discovered by healthcare providers in other areas of the world. Our classes became known internationally very quickly. One of our clients – a physician – flew to Houston all the way from Saudi Arabia to attend our last Advanced ECG Interpretation Boot Camp."

More information regarding Medicus of Houston and the 2015 class schedule can be found on the company website at: http://www.advancedecgcourse.com or by calling the Medicus of Houston office at 713-931-5423 (weekdays, 9 am – 5 pm CDT). Dr. Jones can be contacted by email.

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SOURCE Medicus of Houston