How to Study in CBY?

[fastboyslim]

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So I'm a current cby in anesthesia; pretty lost as to what I'm supposed to be doing for studying. We do a mix of med/surg/icu in our cby. Should I be reading non-anesthesia subject specific books for each rotation like when I was a med student, eg. surgery, icu books, etc.? Should I be combining this w/ step 3 prep w/ FA/UW? Should I be combining this w/ getting started on reading a core big fat anesthesia textbook/question bank for the in-training exam in spring/better prep for CA-1 year/future board prep, etc?

Any help appreciated.

 

[Triple AAA]

So I'm a current cby in anesthesia; pretty lost as to what I'm supposed to be doing for studying. We do a mix of med/surg/icu in our cby. Should I be reading non-anesthesia subject specific books for each rotation like when I was a med student, eg. surgery, icu books, etc.? Should I be combining this w/ step 3 prep w/ FA/UW? Should I be combining this w/ getting started on reading a core big fat anesthesia textbook/question bank for the in-training exam in spring/better prep for CA-1 year/future board prep, etc?

Any help appreciated.

When I was a CBY, the only studying I did all year was for step 3. I recommend you do the same. Any other studying will be for medicine topics that you may never see in the OR/ICU/pain centers.

 

[cognitus]

When I was a CBY, the only studying I did all year was for step 3. I recommend you do the same. Any other studying will be for medicine topics that you may never see in the OR/ICU/pain centers.

What if you took Step 3 already and don't have to worry about it anymore?

 

[kazuma]

Do whatever you have to do to study for step 3 which should correlate somewhat with your rotations and give you a solid medicine background which you will need for anesthesia. Get Step 3 out of the way as early as you can (by early spring is ideal IMO) then start reading and intro-text like M&M, baby miller and a Q-bank to solidify your knowledge (M5 board prep is the most comprehensive and easiest to remember IMO). This is what I did and I scored high on my ITE's and I've done well clinically. It will make your life much easier and less scary come July 1.

Now that all newly minted CA-2's are required to take a real ABA board exam (the "basic" exam) it's in your best interest to start studying hardcore early as it is a high stakes exam with potential career ending consequences if you fail it. If I would have had that hanging over my head I would have done more than casually reading M&M and doing a few hundred questions towards the end of internship. After talking to the CA-2's the basic exam sounded like it was a beast. I'm interested to hear how people scored this year.

 

[Triple AAA]

Oh yeah, I didn't even think of that. Back in my day, I didn't have a 'basic science exam' to worry about. Early preparation there could very well go a long ways.

 

[fastboyslim]

So how much do people care about your ITE during CBY year? I'm asking because my Step 3 and ITE will probably be scheduled around the same time, and I'm definitely going to be studying for Step 3 but I'm not sure how much time I'll have left over to study for ITE. Not sure if people even care about the ITE if it's just your PGY1 year?

 

[kazuma]

CBY probably doesn't matter much because a lot of folks don't have the chance to take it. Plus your scaled against other interns that usually don't have much anesthesia experience so it's all relative. The CA1 ITE is the first ITE that carries weight and is your best objective data that you have available to see where you stand against the basic which you will take in July of CA2 year.