Neurosurgery rotation advice

[blurry]

I'm a PGY-1 in a surgical subspecialty. I'll be starting a month of neurosurgery in two weeks and I'll be rotating at our county hospital (lots of trauma, super busy, little supervision). From what I've heard, the interns typically see consults and then triage accordingly. Not a huge problem, except for the fact that I'll likely be the only "neurosurgeon" in house on most evenings and weekends. I don't know who let that happen, but it does.

The extent of my prior neurosurgery experience is a two week rotation in medical school where I basically stood up against a wall during rounds then went home before lunch. Any advice on what to read up on and how to approach the rotation? Any recommendations for short pocket books (not 1,000 page textbooks) that I can carry/download and flip through?

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[kitsunepixie]

Greenberg is the neurosurgery handbook/bible

There is a nice "Neurosurgery Survival Guide" app that I highly recommend

Good luck!

 

[scrappysurfer]

I would borrow, rather than buy the Greenberg. In reality, the previously mentioned app is pretty fantastic. Most of what you will do on call is deal with 1) trauma and 2) crumping patients on the service. The Survival Guide app should help you with the basic emergencies such as subarachnoid hemorrhage, various bleeds, and trauma. The patients who tank overnight will be sick -you should already be able to recognize the signs of a herniating patient (pupils!!!!, respiratory status, mental status, etc) and the rest will be tanking for the reasons most surgery patients tank. I imagine you have an idea how to treat hypotension, fever, etc already. Good luck!