Both NMS Surgery + NMS Surgery Casebook to do well?????

[Adam638]

Do I need both NMS Surgery and the NMS Surgery Casebook in order to do well on the shelf exam? Or would one or the other suffice (leaning towards NMS Surgery Casebook)? I'm supplementing these books with UWorld questions and the Pestana notes. Any advice would be appreciated as I am going to purchase them soon. Thanks. 🙂

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[OCallag]

NMS Surgery is far too long. You won't have time to read it.

 

[Adam638]

Thanks 🙂

 

[Mortal_Lessons]

Agree. I had both the big NMS surgery book and NMS Surgery Casebook but abandoned the big book early in the rotation due to the impossibility of finishing it. The Surgery Casebook was short and to the point. I would also supplement with the Pestana Review guide, reading it once earlier and then right before the shelf. PreTest isn't bad either. Use Surgical Recall while waiting for operations to begin. All that and you can score > 90 raw on the shelf. Good luck.

 

[wAyRadikull]

Not to hijack, but what did you guys read to over the rotation to build a solid foundation and not specifically for the shelf?

I was thinking about getting Kaplan surgery for background reading, but I'm not sure if its comprehensive enough.

 

[radiodoc99]

NMS Surgery takes a lot of time to read. Kaplan Surgery is a quick read first, then read more specifics in NMS.

 

[Adam638]

I appreciate everyone's help and insight 👍

 

[username456789]

Bump just to get some more insight. Is NMS Casebook generally recommended, while NMS Surgery (the 600 pager) is generally not?

 

[PokerDoc]

Bump just to get some more insight. Is NMS Casebook generally recommended, while NMS Surgery (the 600 pager) is generally not?

correct; unless you're a speed reader

 

[mbe36]

BUMP

How about the combo of NMS casebook + Surgical Secrets?



I personally like the layout of the secrets book and think this combo is a bit more digestable.

 

[change77]

Bumping this thread up just to get some more current info. A lot of the M4s at my school said to get the NMS Surgery Book, but I keep reading now that it is too long and the NMS Casebook is better. Any thoughts from those who recently took the shelf or who used one or the other? Thanks!

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

There is a ton of medicine and pediatrics on this exam. The best way to do well on surgery is to take it after these rotations (especially medicine).

 

[change77]

Well I have Surgery first and I know people who honored it without taking medicine or pediatrics first, so it's possible.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Well I have Surgery first and I know people who honored it without taking medicine or pediatrics first, so it's possible.

It's possible, it's just harder to get the 90+. That being said, the average will probably be somewhat lower as well, so your honors cut-off is probably a little lower.

NMS Casebook (ignoring the non MS3 relevant things) + Pestana + UWorld is a solid foundation.

 

[JJMrK]

NMS casebook as many times as you can, plus the UW questions once should get you a high enough score for honors, depending on your school's grading scale. No need for other resources IMO.

 

[sharklasers]

What are the nonMS3 related parts of nms casebook?

 

[evilbooyaa]

What are the nonMS3 related parts of nms casebook?

Anywhere it tells you on surgical techniques.
Anywhere it mentions discrete criteria for cutoffs for risk stratification of patients (like Childs-Pugh, CHADS2, MELD, etc.)

 

[sharklasers]

Cool thanks! I really hope that makes up a lot of the 400+ page book I'm struggling doing any reading during this rotation lol