Barash during residency...worth it?

[HalO'Thane]

I started my CA-1 year this past summer. Like most people starting out, I've had the challenge of balancing our very busy OR schedule with reading outside of the hospital. So far I've had success reading such high yield books as Morgan&Mikhail, Faust, and Hall questions (especially those nights when I barely have the energy to keep my eyes open for 30 minutes). Some of the senior residents have also suggested sub-specialty books when I start Peds, Cardiac, etc. Are those high-yield books good enough to pass the boards AND be a good resident/ future attending? Or should I eventually be working my way up to the Big Boy books like Barash and Miller? I've heard both sides of the argument from senior residents and faculty but would really like to know what you guys think. Thanks.

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[bubalus]

As far as the boards, you may just want to see how you do when you take them this coming July, before you get overly stressed about them. If you knew M&M well, I think you'd pass the written boards without too much of a problem. Roughly 60% of my class scored high enough to pass them after our CA1 year, and I'm pretty sure none of us has read Barash, certainly not in its entirety. That said, I think it's reasonable to have one of the standard big textbooks like Miller or Barash when you need to look up something in more detail.

If you're interested in a Barash, PM me.

 

[Noyac]

I liked Barash better than Miller.

 

[Planktonmd]

I think Barash is a good book, as a reference, and as a first year that was the only book I had (they gave it to us free ) but that was ages ago!