learning surgical procedures

[Nestle]

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is there any resource either on the web, or a relatively cheap book, that has quick summaries of different surgeries. It would be so helpful since today I got pimped on what they were going to do next. like I know that stuff!! anyways, I found a textbook - -Zollingers' Atlas. it has summaries and pictures. but its like 160 bucks. does anyone know of any other cheaper resources?

thanks.

 

[dread]

I assume that you are a med student. I would say don't waste your time learning this during your surgery rotation. It's not knowledge that will serve you in any way (knowing how to manage patients, for step II, or for your surgery shelf). The only surgical procedures you should know how to do are things like suturing. If you are really worried about being pimped on it though, I would just ask the resident what he or she reads and ask if you can read up on it in the residents room right before the surgery. I would not purchase a whole book on surgical techniques for this.

 

[HMS '05]

The Cleveland Clinic Guide to Surgical Patient Management is a cheap (~$35) little book that has a nice synopsis of the actual performance of a variety of surgical procedures, as well as the expected complications to look out for. However, the descriptions are just text-based, with no pictures. You won't find a true surgical atlas (like Zollinger's) for less than $100, unless you luck out on E-bay.

 

[Dawg_MD]

I used Surgical Recall and found that it had the answers to most of the questions that I was pimped on. As for the procedures themselves, I would figure out which operations I was going to scrub in on the next day and photo copy pages from a surgical atlas that was in our department. It had great pictures, but also gave little details such as landmarks to show where you would start the incision, which vessels would be ligated first, etc. I agree with the above statement that this is not the stuff you should be worrying about during your core rotation, but it does help if you want to impress your attendings.

 

[Galaxian]

I swear by zollinger's for the surgical rotation. No need to buy it though... Most resident call rooms/surgical reading rooms will have it. Just browse through it the night before surgery, or the day of. Otherwise, the most important book you can own is a netter's, because surgery is all about anatomy, anatomy, anatomy!

 

[Blade28]

When I was in a rush, Recall is all I used. If I had slightly more time, then Zollingers' it was. If I had at least 10-20 minutes, then I'd bust out Netter for vasculature, musculature, innervation, etc.

 

[surg]

Probably my favorite atlas is Chassin's Operative Strategies in General Surgery. It gives a combination text and pictures and a reasonably short description of what the operation is best used for. It also has a nice section on just basic surgical technique. This is the reference I go to when I need to perform an operation I've never done before as a resident.

As far as how much to study. IMHO, the thing that sets apart the best from merely the good students The best students have an understanding of the disease process and the reasons why this operation may serve them well. They also take the time to prepare for the operation so they can help out (or at least not impede the operation!) They also tend to ask more nuanced questions.

Having said that, I would not spend so much time studied HOW to do an operation that it compromises your knowledge of WHY do this operation and WHAT are the consequences of the operation (physiology and potential complications). Those things are things that every doctor needs to know, whereas the detailed HOW is primarily of interest to surgeons (although I would argue that if primary care docs knew more of the HOW, they would be able to answer a lot of questions in the office better).

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think it rather ridiculous to be pimping a student on surgical technique. As surg notes, it is MUCH more important for you to know why an operation is being done and its possible complications than how its done.

Nonetheless, I wouldn't spend money on a operative technique book/atlas but can recommend Skandalakis and Skandalakis - Surgical Anatomy and Technique if you truly feel the need to do so.

 

[gwyn779]

Recall actually has a lot of landmark anatomy stuff in it, which is mostly what I got pimped on.