Must have pocket books for intern year

[MoonCheese]

Any useful pocket books you would recommend I keep in my white coat during the first 6 month of med and for afterwards for psych to help our transition . Thanks

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[scruffy821]

The Pocket Medicine book was the only pocket book I ever ended up actually carrying in my white coat & using, particularly on Medicine or when cross-covering the psychiatry wards on-call. It also serves as bit of a security blanket, haha. I also bought the thick Stahl's Prescriber's Guide and have found that helpful on inpatient psychiatry wards (I just keep it at my desk). Otherwise, I never ended up using any of the other small books I bought! I personally think it's more helpful to maximize 1-2 resources, rather than go too broad.

 

[Amygdarya]

Amazon product is a really useful slim little psychiatry pocketbook.

 

[Taddy Mason]

I second the MGH Pocket Medicine book. I found the Pocket Neurology book helpful while on my neuro months but definitely used it less than Pocket Medicine.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

What is a "book"?

 

[Celexa]

The only pocket book I needed was my phone.

 

[Amygdarya]

The only pocket book I needed was my phone.

iPad mini in my case.

 

[NickNaylor]

These are the books that I still carry in my bag (I don't wear a white coat anymore, but when I did, many of them were in there) and would recommend buying:

- Desk Reference to the DSM - Amazon product

Great for checking criteria and, early on in training, a good way to quickly think about a psychiatric differential (though useless for considering medical etiologies of psychiatric symptoms). I would still recommend buying the big DSM at some point, but if you only had the resources to buy one but not the other, I would get the desk reference version first as it, in my opinion, is much more clinically useful than big DSM.

- Some kind of psychiatric pharmacopeia. I bought this one, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it: Amazon product

A pharmacopeia is initially helpful for simply learning the names of drugs but later is useful for learning recommended doses, reviewing side effects, roughly thinking about cost, being aware of different formulations, etc. Yes, all of this information is on UpToDate and I would probably prefer looking up drug information there, but when getting to a computer, logging in, etc. can be challenging, a pocket pharmacopeia can be useful. I wouldn't recommend the version I linked because it was already out-of-date when I bought it a couple of years ago and is likely more so at this point. It looks like the same company released a new edition, so maybe check that one out instead.

- MGH Residency Handbook of Psychiatry - Amazon product

A classic that is often recommended, but quite honestly I didn't use it all that much. It's a good way to quickly learn about a variety of conditions, but I didn't find the organization to be all that great, and really you should do your reading/learning from other sources. That said, it can be a good way to quickly learn about the basics of a specific condition and it is almost universally recommended.

- Interview Guide for DSM-5 - Amazon product

A very cheap and interesting book that essentially offers questions you can use in your interviews for every diagnostic criterion for DSM disorders. You'll eventually develop your own way of asking questions and the book will quickly become useless, but I think serves as a good starting point early in your training.

- Pocket Medicine - Amazon product

Good for medicine rotations and inpatient psychiatry rotations. You might also consider getting the Pocket Neurology book that's similar, though I can't vouch for that one personally.

 

[CingulateGyro]

Prescriber's Guide: Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology this has been a life saver as a desk reference (particularly for things like tapering and discontinuing which is not in resources like epocrates)

 

[clozareal]

Both the Stahl's Prescriber's guide and DSM-5 are iPhone apps that have been really useful for me, although a bit pricey.

 

[Marasmus1]

for the first year all you need is DSM 5 and Stahls psychopharm pocket books. Look at the meds and diseases everytime you see a case.

 

[Amygdarya]

As a matter of fact, MGH just published a Pocket Psychiatry book (in the same vein as the popular Pocket Medicine), which is updated and has relevant references, so it’s an improvement over the little green book I mentioned above.

 

[SourceOfDenial]

These are the books that I still carry in my bag (I don't wear a white coat anymore, but when I did, many of them were in there) and would recommend buying:

- Desk Reference to the DSM - Amazon product

Great for checking criteria and, early on in training, a good way to quickly think about a psychiatric differential (though useless for considering medical etiologies of psychiatric symptoms). I would still recommend buying the big DSM at some point, but if you only had the resources to buy one but not the other, I would get the desk reference version first as it, in my opinion, is much more clinically useful than big DSM.

- Some kind of psychiatric pharmacopeia. I bought this one, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it: Amazon product

A pharmacopeia is initially helpful for simply learning the names of drugs but later is useful for learning recommended doses, reviewing side effects, roughly thinking about cost, being aware of different formulations, etc. Yes, all of this information is on UpToDate and I would probably prefer looking up drug information there, but when getting to a computer, logging in, etc. can be challenging, a pocket pharmacopeia can be useful. I wouldn't recommend the version I linked because it was already out-of-date when I bought it a couple of years ago and is likely more so at this point. It looks like the same company released a new edition, so maybe check that one out instead.

- MGH Residency Handbook of Psychiatry - Amazon product

A classic that is often recommended, but quite honestly I didn't use it all that much. It's a good way to quickly learn about a variety of conditions, but I didn't find the organization to be all that great, and really you should do your reading/learning from other sources. That said, it can be a good way to quickly learn about the basics of a specific condition and it is almost universally recommended.

- Interview Guide for DSM-5 - Amazon product

A very cheap and interesting book that essentially offers questions you can use in your interviews for every diagnostic criterion for DSM disorders. You'll eventually develop your own way of asking questions and the book will quickly become useless, but I think serves as a good starting point early in your training.

- Pocket Medicine - Amazon product

Good for medicine rotations and inpatient psychiatry rotations. You might also consider getting the Pocket Neurology book that's similar, though I can't vouch for that one personally.

I don’t know if I’d trust someone named Nick Naylor telling ya to buy the DSM....