i´m interested in buying a book for my future internship in IM, which one would you buy to read before you start your residency??

i was thinking about washington manual for medical therapeutics, but i also heard about a Johns Hopkins manual similar to the former, or Harrison or ACP, i´m confused.

which is better for a PGY1 or for the transition of medical student to "intern"???

thank you

I like Pocket Medicine (MGH) for quick reference for things like differential, labs, etc. For cross covering, night time calls, etc - UCSF's Housestaff Handbook.

Agree - buy Pocket Medicine. Nothing to read the summer before. Just won't help. When you here a phrase ... like "UGI bleed" or "thrombocytopenia" or "chronic pancreatitis", just open the little blue book before you see the patient, then again before you write orders. You won't fail.

And, if you can get a hold of the Tulane Internal Medicine book that they give to their med student, residents, and IM interviewees, that will serve you so well on night float/cross-coverage. It's phenomenal. Worth interviewing there for it, hehe.

-S

i´m interested in buying a book for my future internship in IM, which one would you buy to read before you start your residency??

I didn't read either one cover-to-cover before starting residency, but I found On Call (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0838542786/qid=1142899389/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-8125706-9956868?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) and Ferri (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0323023975/qid=1142899439/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/002-8125706-9956868?s=books&v=glance&n=283155) to be a good combination.

As a follow-up on this. Does anyone have experience w/ both the print and PDA versions of Pocket Medicine? I'd much prefer to have the PDA version but if it lacks significant content (or is harder to access) compared to the print version I'll go w/ the print.

BE

yes, that´s an excellent question, thanks to your comments i think i´d better buy pocket medicine but i would like to know if it´s the same content with(diagrams, etc.) the PDA version than the print version???

i checked it in amazon and they are like 250´s pages (and comparing it with washington manual - 700´s pages), isn´t it too small??, is it ok?, worth it?

Pocket Medicine is definitely worth it. Don't forget to pick up a current pharmacopia and the Stamford bug book, unless of course you plan to keep it all in your PDA.

-Q

thank you very much quidnunc. :)

Is a great book to start but you'll soon grow out of it as it only covers the basics of what to do right and then and not much pathophys and explanation. that's where you can use other books like Washington Manual or Uptodate if your hospital has it.

Is a great book to start but you'll soon grow out of it as it only covers the basics of what to do right and then and not much pathophys and explanation. that's where you can use other books like Washington Manual or Uptodate if your hospital has it.

I already have the Wash Manual on my Palm and generally use it and UTD when I want to go a little more in-depth and I have the hardcopy of the Ferri Guide (but I doubt very seriously I'll be carrying that brick around with me) for procedures. Do you think that Pocket Med (particularly the PDA version) would be a useful adjunct to the Wash Man or will it just be redundant and a waste of money?

BE

I already have the Wash Manual on my Palm and generally use it and UTD when I want to go a little more in-depth and I have the hardcopy of the Ferri Guide (but I doubt very seriously I'll be carrying that brick around with me) for procedures. Do you think that Pocket Med (particularly the PDA version) would be a useful adjunct to the Wash Man or will it just be redundant and a waste of money?

BE

I have the PDA version of Pocket Medicine. It's nice I guess and has all the content... but it would be MUCH quicker to leaf through the hardcopy to find answers, seeing as I would use this book for quick reference. Also, looking at some of the tables and diagrams, it's not really that user-friendly on the PDA. I would prefer the hardcopy version...

Pocket Medicine to carry around; Ferri for more in-depth review of medicine topics. For some reason I find Wash manual to be a much difficult read than it needs to be.

I have the PDA version of Pocket Medicine. It's nice I guess and has all the content... but it would be MUCH quicker to leaf through the hardcopy to find answers, seeing as I would use this book for quick reference. Also, looking at some of the tables and diagrams, it's not really that user-friendly on the PDA. I would prefer the hardcopy version...

Thanks. This is what I was trying to get at. I guess I can spare a little pocket space. Plus it's cheaper than the PDA version.

BE

alright, Pocket Medicine in hardcopy as a quick reference, it sounds good to me. And Ferri, or Washington or any other if i wanna go deeper.

If you can get access to UpToDate, that's golden! I just use Epocrates Rx Free, Johns Hopkins Antibiotics guide (i personally prefer this to sanford's guide, plus it's FREE) and a computer with UpToDate anywhere on the floors. In our hospital, we have an institutional license for UTD, so its really convenient. I think they have a CD available too (which might fit a palm pilot extension card).

i´ve just bought it (pocket medicine-MGH). it looks good and practical. Besides that, you can add your own notes to it (looseleaf format).