Here's a great review by another med student:
12-Lead ECG: The Art of Interpretation, Garcia, Tomas and Holtz, Neil. 2001. Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
ISBN: 0-7637-1284-1
The problem is that in order to become proficient at reading EKG's, one must practice, practice, practice. Dubin will show a strip or two of EKG that demonstrates, say, atrial enlargement, but this is in no way adequate for a student to recognize the same manifestation outside of that single example. If the multiple choice exam is going to be a photocopied page of a idealized EKG from Dublin, then by all means, get Dublin, but if you wanted a solid foundation on how to read EKGs and a book that will last you past 1st year medicine, then I strongly suggest taking a look at Garcia.
The book is unique in that each of its pages are tagged with a level marker from 1 to 3. Level 1 gives the reader the most basic of all information (the theory). Level 2 expands concepts further incorporating over 200 full-sized real life sample EKGs with an interpretation. Finally, level 3 covers more sophisticated concepts in the EKGs that one might recognize as advanced practitioners. In contrast to Dubin's unorthodox literary style, Garcia is written in a more or less high-yield textbook manner.
The strength of this book lies in its numerous samples of practice EKGs. For every one concept, Garcia reinforces it by providing several EKGs showing the same thing so that as a student, I can pick out the anomaly from the background noise. I start to recognize the variations that a certain pathology might manifest. Whereas Dublin might give a couple example of right bundle branch block (RBBB), Garcia gives me over TEN. That way, I start looking at patterns rather than a sinlge specific shape, and that is what EKG interpretation is about.
Another thing that I like about the book is that I can go through the EKGs sequentially with each successive example building on things that I have learned previously. Garcia guides you through interpreting EKGs -- it is an easy read. Through the many practice EKGs, it is automatic that one naturally develops a systematic way to analyze EKGs, yielding a thourough and comprehensive interpretation of the EKG. Garcia reinforces past concepts by frequently prompting and reminding the student to look for topics covered previously.
Garcia's book is very well organized and indexed. Every abnormality on an EKG can be found from the index. The chapters progress systematically from the P-wave to the ST segment and T-wave, to myocardial infarctions. With Dubin, I'm not exactly sure how it is organized, why certain pathologies are placed before others.
If Dubin is the recommended textbook, then Garcia does lack some information about the history of EKGs and some specifics on its theory. In this case, I would suggest getting Garcia and skimming Dubin (it will take 15 minutes at most) to pick up on the one or two points that were not covered in Garcia.
This book does have full-colored illustrations with excellent diagrams detailing the concepts behind the EKGs and what they represent, superior in quality to those of Dubin's. Dubin really falls short on examples and this is what is crucial in terms of understanding EKGs. Garcia provides tons of EKGs for you to peruse over while you'd be hard pressed to appreciate EKG nuances with Dubin. Dublin is written and organized at a grade two comprehension level which can make it seem like a waste of time reading it. For better yield in less time, Garcia is the way to go.
The bottom line is that if you want to just pass the test in your first year or plan on doing something like psychiatry where you'll never see EKGs again, then go for Dubin. But if you really want to show off your EKG skills in the ER, then Garcia beats Dubin hands down. In my opinion, for the same price, you get a much better book.
