Books for general surgery internship?

[dr zaius]

I searched the forums but could only find outdated threads. Are there any quick reference books or must have texts for general surgery PGY1-2? I matched into urology (military), and the program requires 2 years of general surgery.

I was also curious about reading before July 1. Is it pointless like studying before medical school, or are there some beneficial resources out there?

Thanks!

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[Winged Scapula]

The threads are not outdated because the advise has not changed.

The conventional wisdom is that you should wait until you start you program to see which text is considered the "home text", as that is what lectures are usually culled from.

I assume you will be required to take the ABSITE; most will recommend Fiser's book as an adjunct study aid (see the thread about the SCORE portal above).

As for studying in advance, that advise will vary; it may also depend on what you're doing with the remainder of your 4th year. If you're doing some ICU/inpatient surgery rotations that's good prep. If you're spending the rest of the year doing Radiology, etc and have forgotten how to take care of inpatients, it might behoove you to brush up a little.

 

[dr zaius]

Thank you for the reply. I will see if I can get in touch with some of the general surgery interns at the hospital I will be at.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

Thank you for the reply. I will see if I can get in touch with some of the general surgery interns at the hospital I will be at.

I get wanting to do well and taking pride in your work. But you're going to be a urologist. No reason to kill yourself on gen surg. I suspect your PD won't mind if you aren't the top intern. Read enough to take good care of your patients and be competent but get Campbell's urology and read that if you must read something before intern year starts.

 

[dr zaius]

I get wanting to do well and taking pride in your work. But you're going to be a urologist. No reason to kill yourself on gen surg. I suspect your PD won't mind if you aren't the top intern. Read enough to take good care of your patients and be competent but get Campbell's urology and read that if you must read something before intern year starts.

My fear is being stuck in the desert while deployed and having a situation arise where I wish I would have paid more attention/learned more during my two general surgery years. I'm not aiming for top intern or anything like that. I just want to get as much out of these two years as possible.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think it also depends on the particular Urology PD. I know for a fact that our subspecialty interns/2nd years were required to take our ABSITE and they were expected to do well. They may not have been expected to be the "top" GS intern, but it was made obvious that they were expected to be amongst the best.


I would like to say "thank you" to Dr. Zaius for having the foresight to realize that there may be something valuable to learn while on GS; some subspecialty residents don't appreciate that. You will never regret trying to be the best physician (and not just the best urologist) out there.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

I would like to say "thank you" to Dr. Zaius for having the foresight to realize that there may be something valuable to learn while on GS; some subspecialty residents don't appreciate that. You will never regret trying to be the best physician (and not just the best urologist) out there.

Wasn't necessarily trying to imply otherwise. There is enormous value in Gen Surg. It's just not practical or reasonable to immerse oneself into another specialty . There's a reason the overwhelming majority of urology programs only have one year of gen surg. If OP becomes completely devoted to GS during his two years, he will have been two years without reading a single thing about Urology. And for the record it goes both ways, we had Gen Surg interns on our service and they had little to no interest, even in things like trachs. Generally speaking no one cares as much about your field of study as you do, otherwise they would have done it as theirs. It's the nature of having off service rotating residents.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I thought it was the solemn duty of the urology interns to bring down the curve for the rest of us on the ABSITE...

LOL... not our guys. They got in trouble if they didn't score well on the exam.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Wasn't necessarily trying to imply otherwise. There is enormous value in Gen Surg. It's just not practical or reasonable to immerse oneself into another specialty . There's a reason the overwhelming majority of urology programs only have one year of gen surg. If OP becomes completely devoted to GS during his two years, he will have been two years without reading a single thing about Urology. And for the record it goes both ways, we had Gen Surg interns on our service and they had little to no interest, even in things like trachs. Generally speaking no one cares as much about your field of study as you do, otherwise they would have done it as theirs. It's the nature of having off service rotating residents.

And I didn't mean to imply that you thought that about general surgery. Your points are valid and accurate.

The only off service rotations I did were ENT and Plastics and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Perhaps mostly because it meant being removed from the general surgery call schedule and doing something different. IMHO most off service interns aren't very interested, especially the nonsurgical ones. For the most part our subspecialty interns were good ones and worked hard. If there was any exception it was the plastics residents who continually moaned and grown about general surgery.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

And I didn't mean to imply that you thought that about general surgery. Your points are valid and accurate.

The only off service rotations I did work ENT and plastics and I thoroughly enjoyed both of them. Perhaps mostly because it meant being removed from the general surgery call schedule and doing something different. but most off service interns aren't very interested especially the nonsurgical ones. For the most part our subspecialty interns were good ones and worked hard. If there was any exception it was the plastics residents who continually moaned and grown about general surgery.

We would have loved to have had you! I actually really enjoyed residents from other specialties, but over time it became quite clear that only a small percentage cared about what we did and why we did it. It surprised me. I mean I get it that a general surgeon doesn't care about a laryngectomy. But trachs at our house were more commonly done by the general surgeons in the ICU's and I would have anticipated a bigger interest in them. But again, it's more interesting to me than most or I wouldn't be an ENT

 

[Winged Scapula]

We would have loved to have had you!

You almost did have me! I didn't do my ENT elective until PGY-3 and absolutely loved it. The attendings were very patient and since the ENT elective was at a local community hospital (rather than the mothership), there were no ENT residents. We did MRNs, laryngectomies, lots of CA surgery. I really enjoyed peeling those faces off and then redraping and suturing them back into place. Peds ENT was a little less interesting to me. I had no exposure to ENT as a med student; unfortunately, as a PGY-3 it was too late to switch specialties.

I actually really enjoyed residents from other specialties, but over time it became quite clear that only a small percentage cared about what we did and why we did it. It surprised me. I mean I get it that a general surgeon doesn't care about a laryngectomy. But trachs at our house were more commonly done by the general surgeons in the ICU's and I would have anticipated a bigger interest in them. But again, it's more interesting to me than most or I wouldn't be an ENT

I agree - I'm not sure why the GS residents wouldn't be more interested in the trachs; after all, its still considered a core skill for general surgeons. I enjoy off-service residents who choose the rotation instead of it being mandatory; IMHO the level of interest is much higher and they seem to be more "present".