First aid for night float?

[humuhumu]

Do you know of any "high-yield" resources out there for 4th-year med students who are looking down the barrel of intern year, especially night float? Has anyone created a list of "frequently asked questions" for interns on night float?

Resources like Pocket Medicine and UpToDate are useful when you're the primary physician for a patient on your medicine service. What I'm wondering about is night float, where you are responsible only for acute issues on a much larger set of patients who you probably don't know. Obviously you get a decent knowledge base in med school, and some things you just have to learn by trial and error, or by asking someone else, but I still think "First Aid for Night Float" would be handy (and my anxiety levels are probably high enough that I would read it before intern year)....

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[shift_roro]

I'm planning to buy this book before starting intern year -

http://www.amazon.com/Washington-Manual-Internship-Survival-Guide/dp/0781793602/

 

[nightflight747]

That book is an excellent resource. Really everything you NEED to know in a compact format. Whatever else comes your way either is something you call your senior for, or it can wait til the morning.

 

[marr]

Don't buy any more books!!! You have at least 90% of the knowledge to handle anything coming your ways when on nightfloat and the rest is when you call your upper level. Pocket Medicine book is really the only thing you need to carry with you. Enjoy 4th yr, july will hit you like a ton of brick.

 

[gutonc]

Pocket Medicine, ACLS cards, your hospital's antibiogram and your senior's pager number are all you need.

 

[N-Surge]

My advice...

Save your back!

Empty your pockets of all books except Maxwells (the blank pages for data you need day to day, the eye chart, and the ruler will be the most useful things at this point), ACLS pocket guide as already mentioned, and the few things helpful to your particular program (phone numbers and such).

Get a smartphone with good battery life and download,

1. Pocket Medicine
2. Sanfords
3. Whatever drug resource you prefer, e.g. Epocrates
4. Other things you might want, e.g. Washington Manual, FA STEP 3...

If you are Med/Peds you can get the Harriet book too! There are all sorts of things you can download as well for other specialties, e.g. Pocket Guide for Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery.

Oh, and always remember to keep your smartphone charged and bring your charger on call nights.

Shameless plug: I suggest a Blackberry or iPhone. I went from an iPhone to a Blackberry right before I entered my intern year this past June due to the weight difference. But either device should serve you well in the end!

 

[McSnappy]

Small, easy to carry, full of jewels on every page. This is the one I find myself turning to when I want to fill out my differential or run down a problem

Tarascon Internal Medicine & Critical Care Pocketbook (Whinshall, Tarascon Internal Medicine & Critical Care) (Paperback)

Other than that. I carry pharmacopoeia and Sanfords, ACLS algorithm (you'll get free cards when you pass the test), maxwells, 2 laminated cards (with phone #'s, pager #'s, and door entry codes) and the hospital abx guide.

Don't worry, you'll be dumping what you don't use soon enough

 

[Law2Doc]

...ACLS cards, ... your senior's pager number are all you need.

Agree with the ACLS cards and knowing who to call if you are jammed up. Epocrates is also key.

You quickly learn a few rules of thumb that help in many situations, such as: be very conservative when giving meds -- often less is more -- a good rule of thumb is to halve whatever it is the nurse is suggesting you give. And fluids are your friends, except for heart patients. And don't give IV fluids and diurese at the same time. Etc. I really wouldn't expect any "survival guide" to give you enough of the day to day tidbits in the ideal accessable way -- you learn as you go and make up your own mantras.

 

[doctron]

UCSF hospitalist handbook
google it, it's free, mostly up to date
I use it on the daily

 

[N-Surge]

When you staff your admissions you also have the attending on-call to help with questions you may have about your admission. It's good to be prepared to give a plan. But push come to shove they are there to help when you staff as well.

 

[DOctorJay]

get Internal Medicine On Call - you can get it as a text, or through skyscape for palm,windows, iphone.

test it out here
http://books.google.com/books?id=qY...al+medicine+on+call&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I like it because it has chapters based on the calls you will get and can focus your questions and exam.

On night float it's your job to keep your patients alive until the primary team comes back, not workup a huge differential - this book will help you put out those fires

 

[jdh71]

get Internal Medicine On Call - you can get it as a text, or through skyscape for palm,windows, iphone.

test it out here
http://books.google.com/books?id=qY...al+medicine+on+call&cd=1#v=onepage&q=&f=false

I like it because it has chapters based on the calls you will get and can focus your questions and exam.

On night float it's your job to keep your patients alive until the primary team comes back, not workup a huge differential - this book will help you put out those fires

I'll be honest I carried this book 1st year and I didn't find it that helpful.

 

[thesauce]

Agree with the ACLS cards and knowing who to call if you are jammed up. Epocrates is also key.

You quickly learn a few rules of thumb that help in many situations, such as: be very conservative when giving meds -- often less is more -- a good rule of thumb is to halve whatever it is the nurse is suggesting you give. And fluids are your friends, except for heart patients. And don't give IV fluids and diurese at the same time. Etc. I really wouldn't expect any "survival guide" to give you enough of the day to day tidbits in the ideal accessable way -- you learn as you go and make up your own mantras.

LOL. This is so funny.