In this section
At the heart of education and innovation
The Cardiac Education Centre is based within the North West Heart Centre at Wythenshawe Hospital which forms part of the wider Manchester Heart Institute. As an IQIPS Cardiac Physiology and BSE accredited department we have many years of experience in running advanced cardiology courses, launching our new portfolio of courses under the ‘Cardiac Education Centre’ name in 2021.
With over 65 staff members at all levels we provide diverse training to support the needs of school leavers, undergraduate and postgraduate students as well as qualified healthcare professionals. Our learners include students, Allied Health Professionals, nurses, physiologists, registrars, GPs and consultants.
Our aim is to deliver the highest quality cardiac education to healthcare professionals to encourage continuous improvement and progression in cardiac knowledge in order to provide the best, most advanced patient care.
We are proud to provide the clinical cardiology teaching for both the Practitioner Training Programme (PTP) and Scientist Training Programme (STP) run by the National School of Healthcare Science on behalf of Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU). In collaboration with the British Society for Echocardiography (BSE), Health Education England and MMU we also facilitate the new 18 month echocardiography training programme which includes a Postgraduate certification in Echocardiography and a BSE Level 2 accreditation in transthoracic echocardiography. We are also a selected National Practice Assessment Centre for the BSE.
In line with our commitment to education we also host numerous apprentice, PTP, STP and echocardiography students each year throughout their learning and ensure they are incorporated into our wider team to enhance their experience. We also offer work experience for candidates of all ages (school leavers through to career changes) to provide unrivalled access to the crucial work we perform – this helps to raise the profile and showcase the importance of cardiac physiology as a discipline.
Please click on the links below for further details on our courses. Check back frequently as we add in our new courses throughout the year.
ECG practice – online course coming soon!
- The Basics
Get to grips with the what, when and how of electrocardiograms (ECGs). This course will educate delegates on what information we can learn from ECGs, when they are indicated and how to perform an ECG correctly, including troubleshooting tips and tricks. It will also give delegates an insight into the cardiac conduction system and basic ECG interpretation focussing on rhythm recognition.
- Beyond the basics
This is our intermediate ECG course that will introduce more in depth ECG analysis. This course will take you through from some of the more common ECG abnormalities and pathologies to miscellaneous findings such as signs to look for post transplant, pericarditis and pericardial effusion.
To include axis, paediatric ECG, bundle branch blocks, supraventricular arrhythmias (AVNRT, AVRT, AF, AFl, aberrancy), ischemic changes (locating the myocardial infarction), electrolyte imbalances, channelopathies (Short QT, long QT, Brugada), pharmacological-induced changes,
- Advanced ECG
This course is designed for advanced rhythm specialists and electrophysiologists. It will include atypical/ typical flutter, tips and tricks on how to locate the VT and troubleshooting pacing/ CRT pacing optimisation.
North West Advanced Heart Failure Symposium
Catheter Lab Emergency Simulation (CLEMS)
Learning Objectives:
- To re-familiarise staff in providing the core emergency management skills required to support the critically ill patient during cardiology intervention
- To collectively learn a protocol that ensures each multi-disciplinary team member is committed to their role and empowered to speak up when needed to ensure patient safety
- To learn risk stratification and preparation as a tool to anticipate potential complications and act as early as possible to avoid further deterioration
Learning format:
Access to pre-course educational material to ensure candidates have a good base knowledge prior to attending the course (we hope to develop an e-learning platform for this in future). On the day candidates will be working in a multi-disciplinary team and taking part in simulated catheter lab emergency scenarios. Each team will have the opportunity to take part in a number of scenarios including de-briefs and observe good and bad practice.
Transthoracic Echocardiography
- 1-day Basic Transthoracic Echo
Example course content – Previous Course Agenda | Developed by Catherine Barman
- Manipulation if the ultrasound probe | Catherine Barman
- Echo windows and scanning modes | Catherine Barman
- Breakout session 1
Group A | Image optimisation and Practical Scanning Session 1
Group B | Physics of ultrasound
- Breakout session 2
Group B | Image optimisation and Practical Scanning Session 1
Group A | Physics of ultrasound
- Left ventricular systolic and diastolic function | Professor Simon Ray
- Breakout session 3
Group A | Practical Scanning Session 2
Group B | Physiological correlations, the normal study, visualising the LV
- Breakout session 4
Group B | Practical Scanning Session 2
Group A | Physiological correlations, the normal study, visualising the LV
- 3-Day Introduction to Echo
Stress Echocardiography
Transoesophageal Echocardiography
Cardiac devices training
This course is designed to introduce delegates to bradycardia pacing. This will include permanent pacing indications, implant techniques and kit, programming (modes, codes, sensing, stimulation, timing cycles and brady algorithms) and basic physics underlying pacemaker function. It will also include some brady electrocardiograms (EGMs) and cases, to get to grips with troubleshooting from both the ECG and EGM side. This course is not manufacturer-specific and will guide delegates through all major device manufacturers.
Advanced High Voltage Pacing
The next step for pacing delegates is to learn the ins and outs of high voltage therapy. This will include indications for implantable cardiac defibrillators (ICDs), effects of medications on device measurements and getting into the nitty gritty – detailed descriptions of discriminators for all major manufacturers. We will also look into the EP testing page, so you won’t be caught off guard in A&E. Delegates will be guided through therapy programming, troubleshooting EGMs and how to optimise based on your individual patient.
Devices in Heart Failure
Our more advanced devices course will cover cardiac resynchronisation therapy (CRT) from CRT indications, through device diagnostics and algorithms, to optimisation and troubleshooting. We will guide you through the all-important initial implant and what to get right from the start, how to deal with those tricky non-responders and where to go next (LBBB, His pacing, trans-septal leads). We will also discuss reprogramming for special circumstances (e.g. ventricular assist devices, VAD).
Electrophysiology
This course will go back to basics and ensure our delegates understand how to diagnose supraventricular arrhythmias from the ECG and device EGMs. We will look into differential diagnoses of tachyarrhythmias and mechanisms of supraventricular tachycardias. Our course will include an introduction to the physics of radiofrequency ablation and EP lab set-up and equipment. Delegates will be guided through EP pacing manoeuvres and learn the rules of ‘EP guess who’ to identify the culprit SVT. This course will be heavily focussed on real-life examples, using case studies throughout.
Advanced EP/ Ventricular Tachycardia course
This course will begin by assessing the morphology of the clinical VT and the potential mechanisms, including a refresher on medications commonly used to treat VT. We will then guide delegates through a VT patient’s EP procedure from start to finish including pacing manoeuvres and what we can learn from them, to complex mapping techniques and how 3D mapping actually works.
