Hi there,
Absite Review by Steven Fiser, MD is an excellent and concise review for ABISTE. I am very biased here because Steve was my chief resident at UVa. He scored more that four perfect scores on the ABSITE exam and has put together a great reference. General Surgery Review is also a good book but you need a little more than the review books for ABISTE.
Baby Greenfields is an excellent book for getting off to a good start in your reading. For a big text, I really love the new Sabiston's. The Rush Question book is too dense but it really has good stuff and is good have around. I have generally supplemented my review stuff with reading in a good General Surgery text(Greenfield, Sabiston or Schwartz).
Any PGY-1 categorical surgery resident should have: a solid review book and one of the big texts like Sabiston's, Schwartz or Greenfields. Your program probably has a favorite and any of the three is a matter of personal preference. The same goes for review books, there is no one single book that will take you over the top for this exam.
I recommend Baby Greenfields because you can get through it in a short time and it is a bit easier to master than a big text. Fiser's book can then be the icing on your foundation. The important thing, is to keep reading.
For those who have Lawrence left over from your surgery clerkship, you can do pretty well just knowing Lawrence inside and out for your first year. I used Advanced Surgical Recall and Lawrence and did very well on ABSITE during my first year. This past year (my PGY-3 year), I used Fiser's book with my supplemental reading in Sabiston's and did great.
For the first ABSITE exam, you need to efficiently cover the material. For the subsequent years, you can build on your foundation.
njbmd 🙂
