Review: Acadoodle

Acadoodle.com – online

Price: $99/ £66 per annum (approx)

Authors: Dr John Ryan, Dr John Seery

Acadoodle is a subscription-based online resource for ECG training that boasts a large selection of video tutorials which can be viewed individually, or as part of a tested course. The ECG Teacher sections are the primary focus of this review, but other courses such as blood gas analysis are available, however.

Produced by Drs John Seery and John Ryan, I found these courses to compliment my study, and even when I wasn’t watching them directly, I found myself letting them play in the background as I read a textbook, or went over my lecture notes.

The videos themselves are well produced and make understanding the ECG and its subsequent analysis much easier. The animations are slick and the narration is clear, concise and full of all the pertinent diagnostic information you will require.

Each area of study is tailored to a specific area of electrocardiogram diagnostics, so each playlist/module flows from one video to the next. In addition, the flow of the modules themselves makes sense, and the learning curve increases in a logical order and as such, each section follows on from the one that precedes it in a manner that doesn’t overload you with information before you’re ready.

A small selection of the videos are available on YouTube, so if you wished to try before you buy, then searching for “Acadoodle” would throw up some of the more basic tutorials for you to have a look at. I noticed that these YouTube videos are also embedded in the Acadoodle site proper, giving rise to a sometimes noticeable drop in picture quality, on occasion.

It’s nearly impossible to fault the content and structure, as these videos have helped me immeasurably throughout the last six or seven months, but it is an expensive purchase for anyone, let alone students, especially when you consider that almost all of the content is in some way available via lectures or found in other, similar video courses on YouTube. In that respect, despite the quality of the content, I find it hard to recommend Acadoodle to physiology students who are considering purchasing a personal subscription, but for lecturers or professional bodies and universities, it should prove to be a valuable asset when clarifying concepts to a class full of students.

That isn’t to say that a student purchasing a subscription wouldn’t get a lot out of Acadoodle; it’s certainly worth it, it’s just expensive at a time when disposeable income is generally spent on textbooks or… food and shelter. If splitting £66 is something that you and a few peers feel is possible, then I highly recommend it, as the website can be used from multiple PCs with little to no issue.