How hard is it to "pass" the surgery shelf?

[Lord_Vader]

I finish my surgery rotation tomorrow and take the shelf next Friday with the time in between to study. How hard is to pass this exam (our school uses a cutoff of 59 as passsing)? I'm not interested in getting honors or even high pass since I have no intention of going into surgery. I didn't have that much time to study during the rotation since I usually didn't get out till 6 and was exhausted by the time I got home. I did read some of Pestana and listen to some of his audio lectures. I'm planning on just finishing the book and perhaps doing some Uworld questions. Is it really difficult to even get a raw score of 59 on this exam?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[GadRads]

Is this your first or last shelf and have you had internal medicine? It is not a medicine shelf, but an IM background is helpful.

I used Pretest (50-60% of the book was helpful/relevant), Pestana book, and half of u-world surgery (which wasn't that helpful for me, but others thought it helped). Step 1 background was more helpful. Took it before IM. Was able to honor it but barely (78 to honor at my school). I thought I definitely failed that exam after taking it, so it might not be that hard to pass.

 

[Lord_Vader]

This is my very first 3rd year shelf. Haven't had IM yet. I haven't thought about using Pretest because the question stems look way too short but I'll look into it. Funny enough though, a 59 seems to be at the 5th percentile which means that it shouldn't be that hard to get a 59 right?

 

[blub1212]

Uh.... If it is your first shelf, I would put a little effort in to it. I did most of pestana and most of uworld surgery and got a 74. I honestly didn't put in a lot of effort for this shelf. BUT, it was my second to last one of the year, right after IM. There was a ton of medicine on the surgery shelf. If I was you, I would try to suck it up and study.

 

[WinslowPringle]

There isn't a 'ton of medicine' on the surgery shelf. There is a 'ton of appropriate peri-operative management of surgical patients' on the shelf. Knowing when and when not to operate and what to do after you've operated is just as important in its own way as knowing the steps of the operation...

It sounds as though you have a *full week off* to study for the shelf? If that's so, I really hope you can get a 59 on the shelf. Read all of Pestana at least once; it should take about two hours. If you have UWorld questions, might as well do them - help yourself for Step 2, too. Plus, there are what, 150-250 questions? I'd guess about 6 hours to take and briefly review those. Still have time left? Browse through a Blueprints or do some more Q's with PreTest. My guess is those + common sense + anything you picked up during the rotation should get you to a 59. But then again, 5% of people are in the bottom 5% for some reason or another...

 

[GadRads]

There isn't a 'ton of medicine' on the surgery shelf. There is a 'ton of appropriate peri-operative management of surgical patients' on the shelf. Knowing when and when not to operate and what to do after you've operated is just as important in its own way as knowing the steps of the operation...
.

I think you are speaking for yourself, but my shelf was atypical. Probably 3 trauma questions at most, questions on vent settings (figured them out just by reasoning and Step 1 knowledge), good chunk of endocrine, management of hypercalcemia, acute coronary syndrome (not as in-depth as IM would require), diagnosis of Riedel fibrosing thyroiditis, handful of GI, MSK, etc. The shelf was random. I had colleagues who had the typical perioperative surgery shelf as you describe above. It's your luck of the draw.

I have done 85+ or better on my other shelves, just so you don't assume I am an idiot. I am definitely sure having IM prior to the surgery shelf would have boosted my performance, but I still honored the rotation so no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

And knowing steps of the operation is very low yield.

OP: study hard, and you might even honor it.

 

[Cytarabine]

Took it 2nd to last (neuro was last). Didn't finish pestana or uworld, just read on patients and for biweekly didactics. Made a 90. Thought it felt difficult but not unreasonable. Would've been harder without a good background in medicine

 

[ACSurgeon]

I think you are speaking for yourself, but my shelf was atypical. Probably 3 trauma questions at most, questions on vent settings (figured them out just by reasoning and Step 1 knowledge), good chunk of endocrine, management of hypercalcemia, acute coronary syndrome (not as in-depth as IM would require), diagnosis of Riedel fibrosing thyroiditis, handful of GI, MSK, etc. The shelf was random. I had colleagues who had the typical perioperative surgery shelf as you describe above. It's your luck of the draw.

I have done 85+ or better on my other shelves, just so you don't assume I am an idiot. I am definitely sure having IM prior to the surgery shelf would have boosted my performance, but I still honored the rotation so no big deal in the grand scheme of things.

And knowing steps of the operation is very low yield.

OP: study hard, and you might even honor it.

People forget that a lot of these topics are as much general surgery as they are IM. Eg endocrine, GI, etc

 

[JP2740]

You should be able to get a 59 but it's irresponsible to not study or to suggest to you not to study hard. We don't know how much you know, how much knowledge from step 1 and all that. You absolutely should go thru that pestana book. It's really good for the shelf, and it's the size of a pamphlet. Then do a bunch of u world q- absolutely surgery, then electrolytes and GI.

With that being said a 59 should not be that hard to get. Just study, like everything else in med school.

 

[Psai]

What time do you start

 

[Frazier]

I finish my surgery rotation tomorrow and take the shelf next Friday with the time in between to study. How hard is to pass this exam (our school uses a cutoff of 59 as passsing)? I'm not interested in getting honors or even high pass since I have no intention of going into surgery. I didn't have that much time to study during the rotation since I usually didn't get out till 6 and was exhausted by the time I got home. I did read some of Pestana and listen to some of his audio lectures. I'm planning on just finishing the book and perhaps doing some Uworld questions. Is it really difficult to even get a raw score of 59 on this exam?

I'm jealous, my school gives 1 day off to study prior to shelf.

A week would be awesome.

 

[Psai]

I'm jealous, my school gives 1 day off to study prior to shelf.

A week would be awesome.

why do you get time off to study
i would get the afternoon off if my residents were nice

 

[Cytarabine]

why do you get time off to study
i would get the afternoon off if my residents were nice

Why would you get the afternoon? My residents would have us do overnight call the day before shelves. They'd let us skip morning rounds if they were nice

 

[Psai]

Why would you get the afternoon? My residents would have us do overnight call the day before shelves. They'd let us skip morning rounds if they were nice

no way, that's just messed up

 

[Cytarabine]

no way, that's just messed up

I'm just messing around. It doesn't really matter what one school does vs another. Shelves aren't reported on eras, so it's just an internal grading thing

 

[WinslowPringle]

I think you are speaking for yourself, but my shelf was atypical. Probably 3 trauma questions at most, questions on vent settings (figured them out just by reasoning and Step 1 knowledge), good chunk of endocrine, management of hypercalcemia, acute coronary syndrome (not as in-depth as IM would require), diagnosis of Riedel fibrosing thyroiditis, handful of GI, MSK, etc. The shelf was random. I had colleagues who had the typical perioperative surgery shelf as you describe above. It's your luck of the draw.

....GS deals with endocrine stuff (don't mess with the pancreas....); hypercalcemia (hello, parathyroids); thyroids (can't let ENT have all the fun); GI (colorectal surgery, anyone?); MSK (trauma, compartment syndrome, soft tissue excision, melanoma excision...); vent settings (GS runs the SICU). *Shrug* Sounds to me like your shelf was pretty typical.

One has to know about all of the above and more to provide appropriate peri-operative care and to know when and when not to operate, which is what the shelf (and the review books) focuses on - and not how to do xyz incision type. It's not stuff that is 'just medicine'; it's stuff that is appropriate care for surgical patients.

 

[Lord_Vader]

What time do you start

The exam? We start at 9 AM.

 

[alpinism]

I'm jealous, my school gives 1 day off to study prior to shelf.

A week would be awesome.

We got off a half of a day (noon the day before) plus no call that week. Woo!

 

[Thespunger]

I didn't think it was too difficult, just did Pestana vids at like 1.5x and Uworld Surg Questions like the last week before and scored 9o something. I feel like usually the answer is just pick the cheapest, simplest, least invasive test/treatment or whatever when in doubt. Per usual, always read the last sentence of the vignettes first because they can be long and pointless ..