Books for scribing

[glassdoll]

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Hey everyone! I am working as a medical scribe this year and it is AWESOME. I have been learning a lot about differential diagnoses and clinical decision making, but I know I still have a lot of knowledge gaps. I have been trying to supplement with First Aid, but it is so dense and some things, like embryology, are not very helpful as I am trying to focus on presentation of disease, what labs/imaging to order, and pathology of disease.

Is there a book out there that would help me with this? The perfect book would lay out all of the chief complaints, i.e. abdominal pain, then go into differential diagnoses (possible things that are causing the complaint), i.e. appendicitis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, hernia, small bowel obstruction, strep, pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, and then would talk about what causes each disease, what labs/imaging to order, what therapies exist, and more. Is there anything like this, either in book form or online?

Thank you so much!

 

[milkandcereal]

It sounds like you're looking for a medical library. No single book is going to have all that information. At this point in our education, we're not expected to know the details of any of that stuff; if a specific disease or something really interests you, I'm sure a Google search would satisfy the majority of your questions.

 

[Ismet]

UpToDate.com for quick referencing.

Don't bother looking at FA. FA is meant for medical students to use as review after they've already learned the material. It will do no good to you right now. It looks dense to you because you haven't learned the material yet.

What you're asking for is what people go through 4 years of medical school + X years of residency to learn. You're not going to find one book that tells you all of that information and you're certainly not expected to know that as a pre-med.

 

[glassdoll]

Thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it and definitely understand where you guys are coming from! Thanks again!

 

[eefen]

UpToDate.com for quick referencing.

Don't bother looking at FA.

As a former scribe..... + 1 million. UpToDate is great for an overview of, for example, how to approach a patient with abdominal pain - e.g. what symptoms are concerning for what, ddx, labs/imaging to consider, etc.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

I think this is the type of book you're looking for (assuming you're a scribe in an ED), but you obviously do not need to buy it or attempt to read it at this point in your training.

http://www.amazon.com/First-Emergency-Medicine-Boards-Series/dp/0071764003

Here's another one that might work:

http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Signs-Symptoms-LWW/dp/160547052X

 

[glassdoll]

Thank you!! UpToDate has been great, I've been reading it during my downtime. The boards book looks way over my head but the symptoms book does look helpful! Thanks 🙂