Surgery: A Case Based Clinical Review
Reviews (64)
Top tier resource for the surgery rotation and the surgery shelf.
Surgery was my first clerkship of the year. After hearing about how hard the shelf exam can be (and that most of it is Medicine), I felt that the famed Pestana book wouldn't be enough. A friend mentioned this book, and I also found it referenced a few times on Student Doctor Network. I took the plunge. Very thankful I made that decision. This book contains the answer to almost every (reasonable) question you'll get pimped on during the clerkship and served as a phenomenal tool for preparation for the shelf. It's a hefty book, so you'll need to start early, but it's worth it. I would try to read about a chapter a night (some days I would skip and make up for on the weekend). Don't necessarily go in order. I would highly suggest reading chapters relevant to the cases you have the next day...you'll look like a rockstar most of the time. By the end of the rotation, I read the book cover-to-cover once (doing all the questions in the back as well). The questions are hard, but get you into the mindset required for the shelf. A few days before the shelf, I read Pestana cover-to-cover for the first time and did all of the questions in that book as well. It should only take you about a day. Most of Pestana is contained in this book, so it'll be a review. The day before the shelf exam, I reviewed the 'summary of essentials' page at the end of every chapter in this book. Somewhere along the way, I did about 90 of the UWorld Surgery questions. Didn't even finish them. I also did both NBME practice exams, which I would suggest. They don't offer answers, which is unfortunate, but you get to see the style of questions on the shelf...which can be helpful. You'll be less surprised when you get curveballs on the real thing. I did not use NMS Casebook or any other books because I just didn't like them or they seemed to have tons of crazy tables and figures. Ended with a raw score of 83, which at this time of year translated to the 95th percentile...which I was thrilled with. I'm not any smarter than a typical medical student, so this is a testament to the resources used. Could you go higher with some additional resources? Yeah. No doubt. But, this book was well-written and easy to read (for a textbook). I never felt like I was being thrown unnecessary details...it was all stuff I felt like I genuinely wanted to know as a future physician. Best of luck!
Surgical rotation must have!
This book is absolutely a must have for surgical rotations! I wish all specialties had a book like this. It’s a big book, but a very easy read. You’ll be amazed by how much you learn from just passively reading this. Everything is so well organized, and the order of explanations are very logical. I also purchased Dr. Pestana’s Surgical notes for my rotation, and I did not use it at all (too much of a summary, does not cover anything in depth). I had an oral exam in addition to a written shelf for my surgical rotation, and this book prepared me for both. I cannot stress the value of this book enough! Other students who have done their surgery rotation before I have had said their only regrets for studying for this shelf was not reading this book soon enough, and now I understand why!
GREAT book for surgery rotation and shelf
This book saved my butt during my surgery rotation. Its information is easy to absorbed, uptodate and concise without missing any details. A lot of the questions it discusses are exact questions I received from my residents and attendings. My favorite part of the book is that at the end of each chapter, it provides 5-6 literature references to look at for more information. I have learned 3rd year that many residents expect you to know and have read the studies that lead to our guidelines and this book provides an easy way to do that.
Great for oral exam and shelf. Amazing organization and concise details.
I got this book for my surgery rotation in medical school. This is a great book. It has enough detail and is outlined in a concise and organized manner. I used this solely to pass my oral exams and was the main reading material for my shelf exam as well. Organization: Book is split into chapters based on major surgery topics: upper gi bleed, lower gi bleed, vascular, urology, etc. Each chapter is split into 2-5 case vignettes that starts with a one liner. Each case then goes on to explain typical presentations, the reason behind the symptoms, and how you'd differentiate between a great differential that they provide. This style fit my oral exams so well that I didn't need anything else. This vs pastanas? - listen, pastanas reads like someones notes with scant explanations behind many things. This book is concise but provides the explanations for you. Moreover, they go through tricky parts of each surgical case and finishes each case with a outline of major points. If you're looking for something more in depth than pastans, this is it. This book does not explain how to do procedures unless it's relent to being tested on the shelf. So this is a shelf and oral exam resource. This is not a resource to learn techniques or methods of surgical techniques.
BEST BOOK EVER FOR SURGERY WARDS
BEST BOOK EVER FOR SURGERY WARDS. HIGHLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND - CRUSHED PIMPING QUESTIONS BECAUSE LITERALLY - EVERY. SINGLE. PIMPING QUESTION IS FROM THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!
This is THE book you need for your Surgery rotation.
Used a combo of this guy, Pestana, and OME for my Surgery clerkship. 96 %ile on the Shelf, which I -largely- credit to de Virgilio. No other source is going to give you this depth of information in a digestible-for-M3 level. Do it. You won't regret it. Looks massive (and it is), but I promise you can get through it.
You're going to want this book
It's not bare-bones high yield, but each case is on a high yield topic. The case format (with 2-5 pages on each topic/vignette) is great for big picture learners. I felt like this text helped me to understand the high yield facts I was regurgitating from other sources.
Great for surgery clerkship
Great book for med students on surgery clerkship. Gives adequate attention to pathophys for the most common surgical problems and gives you details of the workup, indications and contraindications for procedures, and occasionally some tidbits that are more for pimping than practical purposes. Highly recommend. Be aware that if you take the NBME Surgery Shelf at the end of your rotation, you'll definitely need another resource to supplement since the Shelf is more medicine oriented.
"The Big Blue Book" is the best kept secret.
Some NBME shelf questions and the majority of pimping question I was asked on my surgery rotation came verbatim from this book. No one else you know will use this, but it is gold. Cons: -will NOT fit in your pocket. Possibly not even your backpack. -if you are a small female this may weigh more than you. -Topics not included: Lung CA, Liver CA, some pre/post-op topics like TPN and Fluid Resuscitation. You will need another source for these.
Highly recommend for surgery shelf
Excellent book. Easy read. Can go through a chapter in 45 minutes or so Update: downgraded my 5 star review to 4 stars because of the horrible binding. I already have pages falling off after two months of reading
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