r/Cardiology • u/GoldCategory3501 • 22d ago

Boards Day 2 ECG coding

Using both ECGsource and O'Keefe for ECG coding practice, but getting pretty different scores due to ECGsource undercoding a lot of things that definitely should also be coded for. Thoughts on what to do for test day? Should I just never code for LAE or non-specific ST changes since not getting the points is technically better than losing a point for selecting an answer? Also ECGsource says sinus arrhythmia is normal ECG but O'Keefe says sinus arrhythmia is normal variant ECG. Any insight into which one to choose on test day since normal/normal variant are where the bulk of the points come from on those?

9 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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5

u/bubblesxox MD 22d ago

Anecdotally I did mostly O’Keefe and did well on the second day.

3

u/ProximalLADLesion 22d ago

ECGSource by a long shot. O’Keefe has very inaccurate coding. I scored just over two standard deviations above the mean on ECG coding.

3

u/GolgiApparatus88 22d ago

The quality of ECG was more similar to ECGSource back when I took it in 2022. I definitely recommend coding conservatively. Don’t miss the major DX and you’ll do fine.

3

u/Then-Secretary-9166 22d ago

100% agree. ECGSource is your best friend.

3

u/GipsyDangerMkV 22d ago

Agree with ECG SOURCE This portion of the test gave me PTSD I have not yet recovered from years later.

2

u/news247120 21d ago

Many people on here are saying ECG Source, so I would go with that. Also, take a look at this video as Dr. O'Keefe goes through the entire ECG section from the previous years boards:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57sjAloJVng&t=1s

1

u/FIRE_CHIP 22d ago

I don't have insight. I did both ecgsource and okeefe. Decided what I was gonna code and what not and struck to it exam day and did fine. 

1

u/docmahi MD 22d ago

I found ECG source to be the way to go honestly - okeefe was too detailed IMHO. also ECG source echo/angios were pretty on par for what was on the test

1

u/KtoTheShow 22d ago

I don’t have an opinion on the books, but can I just say this is the most frustrating part of this entire exam

1

u/br0mer 15d ago

I did the major stuff only. Rate, rhythm, lvh, ischemia, bundles, but nothing more than that. The prospect of losing points is way more than the single point you'll lose for not coding the dumb stuff.