Better book for psych shelf?

[KidAtHeart]

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So I am a little confused. My psych clerkship director told us at orientation that the students who get honors (aka score high on shelf) tend to use the textbook he recommends, which is Lange's Current Diagnosis and Treatment in Psychiatry. I started reading it, and it is just so dense! And it seems like a lot of stuff in there, at least in the first few chapters, is way more detail than could be (or should be) tested. I would much rather read First Aid or Casefiles, but it makes me wonder if those books are much less comprehensive? I want to make the most of the time I have to study, and be as efficient and thorough as possible.

Did anyone use this textbook? Was it helpful? Would you have rather used something else? Any other thoughts?

 

[lord_jeebus]

I did pretty well (somewhere in the 80s) with First Aid and Case Files. If I were to add anything to that, it would be to get some lists of DSM criteria for specific disorders to know where to draw the line and what symptoms are absolutely necessary for diagnoses.

 

[mdphd2b]

I did pretty well (somewhere in the 80s) with First Aid and Case Files. If I were to add anything to that, it would be to get some lists of DSM criteria for specific disorders to know where to draw the line and what symptoms are absolutely necessary for diagnoses.

Agreed...I honored psych & got 97%ile (92 shelf score) by doing the following:
-First Aid for Psych clerkship (read twice--it's ALL you need to know).
-Case Files for Psych
-MCQ's: Kaplan's Qbook and Qbank (could go w/just Qbook--I hate Pre-Test in general).

My psych shelf had a good number of child/adolscent ques, so make sure to know that stuff if you're only seeing adult pts. Also, remember that on the shelf, the clues in each vignette need to match DSM-IV criteria--there's no gray area. For example, if someone has "a general medical condition", then that's what they have.

 

[medicinehopeful]

any thoughts on "introductory textbook of psychiatry" by andreasen/black? we are told to read this book.