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The Only EKG Book Youll Ever Need with Point Access Codes

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Now in its updated Fifth Edition, this popular and practical text presents all the information clinicians need to use the EKG in everyday practice and interpret hypertrophy and enlargement, arrhythmias, conduction blocks, pre-excitation syndromes, and myocardial infarction. It is an ideal reference for medical students in ICM courses, house officers, or anyone directly involved in patient care, whether student, teacher, or practitioner. The book features more than 200 facsimiles of EKG strips and numerous case studies and clinical examples. This Fifth Edition includes updated information on pacemakers and myocardial infarction treatment and more practice EKGs.

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

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About the author

Thaler

5 books

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5 stars
265 (62%)
4 stars
122 (28%)
3 stars
32 (7%)
2 stars
4 (<1%)
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4 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
Profile Image for Amirsaman.
493 reviews262 followers
September 5, 2019
As a CCU extern with no previous touch on ECGs, this book peaks you up (like a T-wave in STEMI at first!). I combined reading it with some important chapters of Harrison's which had a great outcome. But I will certainly read Goldberger's ECG book during my time as an intern, so that --I hope-- in this way, like a Q-wave from an old MI, the whole concept will always be with me!
Profile Image for Asmaa Alhazmi.
6 reviews9 followers
December 2, 2017
This Book was recommended to us by our doctor & I'm glad that I bought it. Now I can say I'm way more comfortable in reading ECGs because of this book. Missed couple of chapters but overall it's an easy to read & a very simplified book that is designed for beginners. I highly recommend it to all my junior colleagues.
Profile Image for Enas Ahmed.
161 reviews65 followers
September 21, 2015
Very informative, written in easy language and also funny !
I find it much more useful than ECG made easy, which is very popular in my school
I love the interactive part where there are many cases and also chapter 8 really puts it all together :)
Profile Image for Fatemeh Mehrasa.
207 reviews102 followers
August 17, 2017
کتاب رو سال گذشته از نمایشگاه کتاب گرفتم و در بازه پانزده تیر تا پانزده مرداد ماه سال نودوشش در دوران استاژری بیمارستان مدنی تبریز تموم کردم.
از جمله بهترین اساتید بخش قلب می تونم به دکتر‌الناز جوانشیر اشاره کنم که فوق العاده باسواد و دلسوز بودن.
برای اینکه یادم نره هم اضافه کنم که دکتر سینا مشایخی هم در تدریس خلاقیت خاص و ستودنی ای داشتند.
مرسی از هر دو اتند عزیز(:
Profile Image for Eärendilen.
209 reviews62 followers
May 21, 2020
شما آقا رضا ابراهیمی رو نمی‌شناسین، ولی اگه اون نبود توضیح بده بلوک شاخه‌ایا رو، من که عمرا نمی‌رفتم فیزیوپاتولوژیشونو از هاریسون بخونم،
و این کتاب یک سال دیگه هم تو کارنتلیا می‌موند:))

خیلی کتاب کاربردی‌‌ایه، روونه و پر مثال. تمیز سکشن‌بندی کرده و خلاصه‌های خوبیم داره آخر هر بخش.
یکم بعضی جاها کم توضیح داده که حالا ماام یه ستاره از تهش میندازیم. 🥼🩺📕
Profile Image for Zach.
126 reviews1 follower
July 17, 2018
A quick read that taught me way more than 10 hours of EKG lectures did. Of particular value is the first chapter, which provides the best explanation of the 12 EKG leads I’ve seen so far.
Profile Image for emad.
94 reviews4 followers
June 8, 2024
Can confirm this is one of the only ECG books you might ever need
Profile Image for Saloni (earnestlyeccentric).
774 reviews41 followers
October 16, 2022
This is what my life has come to: reviewing medical textbooks. Also, I find it amusing that despite the title, this book still required multiple editions.

Spoilers ahead.

The cardio block in my first year of medical school sucked the soul out of my body and things continued sucking when our teaching on ECGs was abominable at best. I swore I wouldn't even think about becoming a cardiologist because ECGs are like the bread and butter of the speciality. Then, this year, despite not having touched cardio in YEARS, I was allocated to a random cardio outpatient clinic and I just knew I would be grilled by the consultant on ECGs. I stumbled upon this book and read every damn page. Can't say I remember all of it (that's what Anki's for, am I right?) but holy hell did Thaler do a good job explaining things. I mean, I felt like I understood stuff! Also, the little jokes sprinkled around and his casual tone was just so welcoming and I didn't feel like an idiot for not knowing the basics.

Anyway, I still did worse than horrendously on the ECG questions at the end of the textbook BUT I correctly identified left atrial enlargement from the ECG that the cardio registrar gave me to peruse. So, yay me?
Profile Image for Sandra  ☀︎.
38 reviews26 followers
February 10, 2021
I don't usually rate books related to uni, but this one was something extra that I read in order to understand some things for my upcoming cardiology rotation.

This book helped me so much to build a solid foundation regarding the mechanism of the EKG. Nobody has ever explained it this way at uni and it was really hard to understand why the EKG is the way it is in a normal/ pathological situation. Even though I couldn't learn by heart all the rules that have to do with a specific pathology, I feel confident enough to try to guess what a certain EKG represents, just by looking at it and remembering how the whole mechanism actually works. That is not the case for everything of course, since some things just don't make sense just by logic and are very characteristic, so that it wouldn't make sense to try to further analyze them.

The book is just for basic understanding and most usual/ important pathologies, but it's not the only book you'll ever need if you want something more than that. Also, there are rarely some points that are not clearly explained (like the mechanism of the ST depression/elevation).

I found it extremely useful that almost every explanation of something was accompanied by a picture, because visualizing it helps me so much more to understand it. There were times when I'd finished reading a paragraph which I hadn't 100% understood, and each time it made feel so relieved to find a picture of the axplanation at the next page. Phew!

Some parts were truly funny, which made the whole experience even more pleasant (don't get me wrong, at certain points I was VERY slow on the uptake and almost felt frustrated, but I was still grateful that I was learning something new and very valuable.)

(I actually started from almost zero knowledge on the matter. Trust me, it's easy to understand without previous knowledge.)
Profile Image for Jhonatan Ramos.
10 reviews3 followers
July 24, 2020
Good book, but is NOT the ONLY ECG book you will ever need!

By the way, in the end it even acknowledges it. The book's name is actually more a "joke" than anything else, as the book's feeling is overall light in the attempt to not scary it's primary public (medical students) away from the art of reading an ECG.

It’s definitely not complete enough to give you confidence, but I would say that if you have very limited time to study - which is the case of majority of medical students - you can give it a try as your first ECG book in med school and you will get many insights out of it. But just never ever assume the book’s name as true.

If you have more time, I advise you to go for something more complete, such as Goldberger’s Clinical Electrocardiography or Marriott’s Clinical Electrocardiography. It is definitely worth the extra time.
Profile Image for ♥Xeni♥.
1,203 reviews80 followers
December 8, 2014
They call themsleves the only ECG book you will ever need, but it's really not the case. Sure, they cover the stuff, but there definitely was something lacking. I think some other ECG books might be better suited for fast comprehension. There was just too much prose for a book that needed to be to the point.
4 reviews
June 11, 2016
Can't praise this book enough! It really IS the only EKG book you ll ever need as a non- cardiologist. It delivers the information in a very understandable way, managing to keep the content and form of writing interesting as well. I could even argue it was a pleasure to read. Definitely recommended to transform a subject that normally makes your eyes roll, into an attractive knowledge trip
Profile Image for Shannon.
4 reviews3 followers
March 10, 2017
The title is accurate. By far the most complete and easy to understand book out there.
Profile Image for steph.
19 reviews2 followers
October 16, 2023
EKGs still look like scribbles to me but very helpful book
Profile Image for Teodora Nanescu.
124 reviews7 followers
May 26, 2023
I am behind on my reading goal and this is part of the reason why. Really good book tho!
Profile Image for Dustin.
120 reviews
June 11, 2019
This really breaks down this information well. I do wish they would have had more in-depth info, but this is definitely a text that I will be referring to many times.
Profile Image for Ashley Anderson.
129 reviews15 followers
October 2, 2019
Want a book that will make you weep like the child you know you are deep down??? THIS IS IT, FOLKS! This book will pull you into a false sense of security, and then will flip you over and make you question everything.
Profile Image for Zacki Kino.
86 reviews19 followers
November 27, 2017
very comprehensive and really isn't demanding you can finish it in a weekend
i recommend it to both students and anyone who's interested in acquiring a better understanding on ekg's !
Profile Image for Ali Azawi.
30 reviews2 followers
April 7, 2018
Very clear and informative, and easy to read.
Profile Image for Tudor G B.
3 reviews
December 30, 2018
Takes your EKG reading skills from zero to hero. Highly recommend for any healthcare worker.
44 reviews
August 1, 2021
As the title suggested, this is by far the only EKG book I'll ever READ.
This is the first (and probably the last) textbook that I have read all of it (yes, including the introduction and acknowledgments).

I have struggled with EKG since the very beginning, but after reading this book I can read and understand the EKG during morning rounds with Cardiologists.
By far, the best investment of my time, academically. Real life-saver

The author explains EKG and its electrophysiology in a conversational tone (educative and not boring in one book) how rare is that? Plus strong clinical correlation in each case vignettes.
Not to mention occasional jokes and reference to the other EKG books ,lol.

totally love it and love the author too.

Profile Image for Julijana ✨.
18 reviews1 follower
January 28, 2021
This book is a life saver for reviewing ECG, no need for rifling through physiology, pathophysiology, and whatever other textbooks when you have a handy little handbook that has everything you need to know :)
Profile Image for Alberto L..
2 reviews
October 21, 2024
4.5. Excellent for understanding the basics of EKG reading. Though some parts felt oversimplified and required further reading (so, not the only EKG book you'll ever need), it still gave a solid foundation for interpreting EKGs as a medical student or general practitioner.
Profile Image for Maather.
3 reviews1 follower
September 15, 2017
مهم لطلبة سنة ١-٦
يشرح كل الاساسيات بطريقة سهلة وبسيطة
...
سنة امتياز فما فوق ماراح يحتاجون هذا الكتاب .. لان بيكون مكرر بالنسبة لهم
12 reviews
September 11, 2019
Libro molto scorrevole che insegna a leggere in modo semplice una traccia ECG.
Profile Image for Kayla Garner.
3 reviews
September 14, 2019
The best resource I have found for understanding rhythm strips and EKGs. Breaks things down step by step, and explains the physiology wonderfully.
Profile Image for Cody F.
31 reviews1 follower
December 28, 2019
Fantastic book. Very easy to read, very humorous which made it entertaining, and not overly simplified.
Profile Image for Gabi L. .
39 reviews
August 27, 2020
Jedna z najlepších dostupných kníh o EKG preložených do slovenčiny, niektoré členenia sú síce zastaralé, ale ako celok kniha ponúka veľmi komplexný a hlavne logicky vysvetlený princíp EKG.
Profile Image for Mary Gwin.
45 reviews2 followers
January 3, 2021
A thorough and systematic primer on how to accurately interpret EKGs. I know I will be returning to this resource often.
33 reviews1 follower
March 10, 2021
A very good and entertaining read.It's not the only one you will need,but it is the best one to start with for sure.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews

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