Key Topics in Cardiology: 25 High-Yield Topics for MRCEM & FRCEM
Cardiology is where the ED exam and the ED shift overlap most. This book covers the 25 cardiology topics that matter on both fronts — three pages each, four or five where the ECG needs room.
Written for MRCEM Intermediate and FRCEM SBA candidates, and for practising senior ED clinicians. It assumes clinical training. It is not an introduction for MRCEM Primary.
What's inside
- 25 key topics — from chest pain risk scores and occlusion MI to torsades, pacing emergencies, tamponade and cardiac drug toxicity
- 50 SBA questions — two per topic, with an explanation of why each distractor is wrong
- 13 annotated ECGs — each built to teach one diagnostic decision
- 74 evidence summaries — the studies behind the recommendations, with clickable references
Every topic follows the same structure
- First actions — what to do in the first minutes, in order
- Top 10 — the ten things to know if you read nothing else
- Revision notes — recognition, decisions, drugs and disposition
- Key numbers — doses, thresholds and cut-offs in one table, source named
- Pitfalls and exam traps — shop-floor errors and the distractor with the right answer
- Apply it — a clinical case to decide before you read the answer
Whose guidance is it?
NICE, RCUK, RCEM, UKKA and the ESC don't always agree — and the exam knows it. Every attribution is colour-coded so you can see at a glance whose number you're reading. UK guidance takes precedence; international positions are there because they shape UK practice and the exam.
Checked against cited UK primary sources, October 2026. Version 1.1. Corrected editions are issued free to existing buyers.
98-page PDF. For qualified healthcare professionals. Educational resource only — not a substitute for local protocols, the BNF or clinical judgement.