New Baby Miller

[RedAnesthesia]

My program gave all of us CA-1's the new baby Miller and was wondering if anybody else has it. I read about 150 pages from the old baby Miller before being given the new one. I feel like the new one may be more colorful and glamorous but I don't feel like the material is as well put together. I feel like the old baby Miller is superior, was wondering what your guys thoughts are?
RedAnesthesia

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[RussianJoo]

I think the baby miller, no matter what edition is a waste of time for a resident. It's a great book for a medical student and maybe a nurse but that's about it. We are physicians and need to know much more details. I even find that some parts of M&M book to be not detailed enough. You need to read a full text like Miller or Barash.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

I think the baby miller, no matter what edition is a waste of time for a resident. It's a great book for a medical student and maybe a nurse but that's about it. We are physicians and need to know much more details. I even find that some parts of M&M book to be not detailed enough. You need to read a full text like Miller or Barash.

Concur. Our program gave us Big Miller and Stoelting's Co-Existing Diseases.

 

[BCM]

I think Baby Miller is fine for a CA-1 just starting out. The deeper reading can begin after you have a good foundation with Baby Miller. M&M was good when I needed to get some sleep.

 

[cfdavid]

My program gave all of us CA-1's the new baby Miller and was wondering if anybody else has it. I read about 150 pages from the old baby Miller before being given the new one. I feel like the new one may be more colorful and glamorous but I don't feel like the material is as well put together. I feel like the old baby Miller is superior, was wondering what your guys thoughts are?
RedAnesthesia

I like the new baby Miller much better than the last (the pink colored one, not sure the edition).

Mixed emotions about whether it's ideal for CA-1's or not... I think it's o.k. for a reasonably quick read, to develop some fundamental knowledge as well as for memorizing certain practical and testable stuff. I don't think it's just for med students. Lange/MM is pretty good and frankly I haven't cracked big Miller yet. First things first. You can cover a lot of ground with baby Miller.

IMO, when first starting out as a CA-1, we DO need to focus on being good technicians. The detailed knowledge of the how's and why's will come with time. This isn't to say that we shouldn't be thinking a LOT about how and why, but this will come with time. For now, I'll probably continue using it and MM and then starting (like this weekend) to use Milller for reference.

I just don't know if it's super justifiable to read Miller cardiovascular anesthesia when we won't be in the heart rooms for at least a year. Fundamentals first.

Also, literature review articles and even internet searches have proven, frankly, very useful this past month.

 

[beavis]

I think the baby miller, no matter what edition is a waste of time for a resident. It's a great book for a medical student and maybe a nurse but that's about it. We are physicians and need to know much more details. I even find that some parts of M&M book to be not detailed enough. You need to read a full text like Miller or Barash.

I disagree. I think Baby Miller/M&M are great books for a CA-1 starting out. You gotta know the basics cold before mastering a knowledge base....even if you are a physician. I'm a CA-2 and still will go back to those from time to time to refresh on something I read as a CA-1 (I've moved on to more in depth texts as well).

Beav

 

[cfdavid]

I disagree. I think Big Miller/M&M are great books for a CA-1 starting out. You gotta know the basics cold before mastering a knowledge base....even if you are a physician. I'm a CA-2 and still will go back to those from time to time to refresh on something I read as a CA-1 (I've moved on to more in depth texts as well).

Beav

I think you meant baby Miller.

 

[countingdays]

I think you are better off reading baby Miller cover to cover 4 times and learning it inside out than reading Miller once and not remembering most of what you read.
By all means, read about your cases from a big book, but get your foundation with a small one.

 

[beavis]

I think you are better off reading baby Miller cover to cover 4 times and learning it inside out than reading Miller once and not remembering most of what you read.
By all means, read about your cases from a big book, but get your foundation with a small one.

Agreed.

 

[jetproppilot]

I think you are better off reading baby Miller cover to cover 4 times and learning it inside out than reading Miller once and not remembering most of what you read.
By all means, read about your cases from a big book, but get your foundation with a small one.

Agreed.

 

[lane]

Baby Miller is MONEY for the ITE. It's not a definitive text for the practice of anesthesiology, but it is your best bang-for-the-buck when you have to do well on the test.

 

[lord_jeebus]

The previous edition (the one with the black cover) is a great book IMHO. I think it's good to have something that a CA-1 can get through in a few weeks and learn some important facts covering a broad range of topics. In addition, I think it is the best single resource for cramming for the ITE and written boards (even better than Big Blue), and the more familiar you are with it, the more you will get out of it when you use it for review.

I also think that every resident has no excuse to have not read one of the big texts, preferably Big Miller, cover-to-cover at least once during residency. I think they complement each other well.

 

[Ronin2258]

Got to get funds settled from the move first, but the new Baby Miller (have fourth ed. from years ago,) and Daddy Miller are the top two things I am planning to purchase. Picked up Stoelting's (new edition,) earlier.

I have been reading M&M (call it Lange here,) off and on again from the day of acceptance into the program in February. Cranked up the reading of that since end of May/start of June. Managed to read/highlight about 1/2 of the book's chapters so far. Not bad for a read, but I want more, like Daddy Miller.

 

[sevoflurane]

Baby miller and m&m are great books. Read them both (m&m is more detailed) several times. Buy big blue intern year and read it 3-4 times. Do this and you'll be way ahead of your colleagues. Always supplement with the big books and journals.

Trust me on this one. Do this every year until CA-3 and you'll smoke the boards. Guaranteed. 😉

 

[Arch Guillotti]

I also think that every resident has no excuse to have not read one of the big texts, preferably Big Miller, cover-to-cover at least once during residency. I think they complement each other well.

Uhhh, because the damn things put you to sleep, weigh about 40 pounds each, are dense as hell and my eyes went blurry after about 3 pages😀

I read a lot of different parts of Big Miller but I can't say that I read it all the way through.

I did fine on the written boards.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Baby miller and m&m are great books. Read them both (m&m is more detailed) several times. Buy big blue intern year and read it 3-4 times. Do this and you'll be way ahead of your colleagues. Always supplement with the big books and journals.

Trust me on this one. Do this every year until CA-3 and you'll smoke the boards. Guaranteed. 😉

Buy Big Blue during intern year? I don't even have time to read for patients/Step 3 consistently, nonetheless an anesthesia book/review book.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Uhhh, because the damn things put you to sleep, weigh about 40 pounds each, are dense as hell and my eyes went blurry after about 3 pages😀

I read a lot of different parts of Big Miller but I can't say that I read it all the way through.

I did fine on the written boards.

I don't think you need to read it to do well on the boards, I just think that exposing yourself to this body of knowledge can only benefit you as an anesthesiologist and consultant.

 

[imfrankie]

I think you are better off reading baby Miller cover to cover 4 times and learning it inside out than reading Miller once and not remembering most of what you read.
By all means, read about your cases from a big book, but get your foundation with a small one.

Strongly agree.

 

[Jeff05]

never opened barash or big miller - too much detail, unnecessary for practice.

destroyed the in-services. destroyed written boards. passed orals.

read baby miller and Lange. then read good topical reviews/articles during residency. that is more than enough for 99% of your practice. ace series from asa is good.

 

[Precedex]

I also think that every resident has no excuse to have not read one of the big texts, preferably Big Miller, cover-to-cover at least once during residency. I think they complement each other well.

Strongly disagree. I know noone in my program who did this. It was a solid program with some dedicated folks. These books weren't designed to be read cover to cover.

 

[Arch Guillotti]

I don't think you need to read it to do well on the boards, I just think that exposing yourself to this body of knowledge can only benefit you as an anesthesiologist and consultant.

Of course it will benefit you. I don't think it is realistic though at all.

Props to you if you can read it all the way through🙂.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Of course it will benefit you. I don't think it is realistic though at all.

Props to you if you can read it all the way through🙂.

3084 pages / 365 days in a year = less than 9 pages per day to finish it in a year. I just started CA-3 and I've already finished it. I don't know how many pages Barash or Longnecker are, but you could probably read 1-2 pages a day and finish them within residency.

Perhaps it was too strong of me to say that everyone should read a big textbook, but I don't think it's impractical to do so. At the least, a few hours/week dedicated to reading something should add up to thousands of pages over residency (even 15 pages/hr * 3 hrs/wk * 48 wks / year (exclude vacation) * 3 years = 6500 pages), and residents in every specialty should be doing this.

 

[Bertelman]

3084 pages / 365 days in a year = less than 9 pages per day to finish it in a year. I just started CA-3 and I've already finished it. I don't know how many pages Barash or Longnecker are, but you could probably read 1-2 pages a day and finish them within residency.

Perhaps it was too strong of me to say that everyone should read a big textbook, but I don't think it's impractical to do so. At the least, a few hours/week dedicated to reading something should add up to thousands of pages over residency (even 15 pages/hr * 3 hrs/wk * 48 wks / year (exclude vacation) * 3 years = 6500 pages), and residents in every specialty should be doing this.

You could have read M&M 4 or 5 times, and probably would have walked away knowing that book cold. I doubt you have the same retention of Miller.

 

[pgg]

3084 pages / 365 days in a year = less than 9 pages per day to finish it in a year. I just started CA-3 and I've already finished it.

I am impressed, but if you have the discipline, motivation, and opportunity to read that much, every day, I think there are higher yield sources than Big Miller. I don't think it matters what you read, so long as the time is spent. Fig 1 doesn't lie.

 

[sevoflurane]

Buy Big Blue during intern year? I don't even have time to read for patients/Step 3 consistently, nonetheless an anesthesia book/review book.

Which is one of the reasons I took step 3 before intern year.

The sooner you master the material.... the better off you will be.

Once Ca-1 comes around and you have built a solid clinical foundation, you may be able to read during long, boring Asa I and ii cases.

This may not be universally accepted however.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I am impressed, but if you have the discipline, motivation, and opportunity to read that much, every day, I think there are higher yield sources than Big Miller. I don't think it matters what you read, so long as the time is spent. Fig 1 doesn't lie.

I agree that it's low yield for multiple choice testing, or most everyday practice of anesthesiology, but if I was just interested in what was high yield, I would have just read Baby Miller 10 times. I did well enough on the ITE as a CA-1 that I decided to branch out beyond books like that and M&M (which I personally dislike, besides a few chapters, not sure why but I think it doesn't have much more information than Baby Miller yet it's often a lot more wordy).

I think the biggest benefit has been the ability to be able to cite "Big Miller" when I have a difference of opinion with an attending - it's hard to argue against the authoritative source.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Which is one of the reasons I took step 3 before intern year.

The sooner you master the material.... the better off you will be.

Once Ca-1 comes around and you have built a solid clinical foundation, you may be able to read during long, boring Asa I and ii cases.

This may not be universally accepted however.

Not allowed to take Step 3 before intern year anymore (I believe). I could be wrong, and in essence, I missed out on the chance.

I'm planning to take Step 3 in December. That'll leave me with 5-6 months to cover anesthesia stuff. I don't have Baby Miller, but I do have online access to M&M from my program's online library. I plan to print out chapters and read them during that time. Hopefully x 2. My intern year will also be a lot more relaxed than it is now, given how I'll have finished all my med wards requirements and 2 out of 3 surgical months, and 1 ICU month all within these first 6 months. Hopefully it's a good plan.

 

[Ronin2258]

Just waiting the release of funds to pick up Baby Miller here. My copy came in today.

 

[caprisun]

Can someone confirm for me that these are the latest two editions of the Baby Miller:

5th:
http://www.amazon.com/Basics-Anesth...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310530323&sr=1-1

6th:
http://www.amazon.com/Basics-Anesth...=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1310530329&sr=1-2

I'm reading the 5th edition and am about 100 pages in. I'm wondering if I should just buy the new one. Any feedback on the 6th in comparison to the 5th?

 

[Foodie]

Baby miller and m&m are great books. Read them both (m&m is more detailed) several times. Buy big blue intern year and read it 3-4 times. Do this and you'll be way ahead of your colleagues. Always supplement with the big books and journals.

Trust me on this one. Do this every year until CA-3 and you'll smoke the boards. Guaranteed. 😉

Thanks for the info on big blue. Will def start adding big blue now that I'm in my CA-2 year. At the beginning of my CA-1 year, I had kinko's separate my baby miller and m&m into multiple spiral-bound booklets for portability.

 

[caprisun]

Have other residencies started to endorse use of the new Baby Miller?

 

[scotchnwater]

Have other residencies started to endorse use of the new Baby Miller?

We have, but are admittedly quite biased.

In regards to the question about the updates, I can add the following:

1) There were a few charts/graphs which had printing errors on them in the 5th Edition which have been corrected.
2) Manny Pardo, our current program director, is now the co-author on this one as opposed to Stoelting.
3) There are no-doubt updates and changes (and I believe a new chapter or two) but I don't know specifics beyond that.

 

[omniatlas]

Will be picking up baby miller 6th edition soon for my gas rotation at the end of the year. And no, I'm not in any residency yet, in Australia you have to do a Intern and Junior medical officer year first before you can even consider applying to a program. I'm planning to pick up a block in ICU next year as well.

I heard the Little ICU book is a pretty good intro? We were only allocated 2 weeks in the ICU as med students (shocking).

 

[Ronin2258]

Got my copy of Baby Miller. Reads quite well.

The one typo I did notes was on inhalational anesthetic chart on page 81. It lists the MAC of sevo at 185, not 1.85.

Haven't found any other glaring errors at 18 chapters read in the last two weeks.

 

[CrazyJake]

Have the 5th edition from a friend - brand new, never opened.

Would it be worth ditching it for the new edition? Wouldn't cost anything, just cash gone from book fund money.

Any thoughts?

CJ

 

[Frank Rizzo]

Can't say much about the 6th ed., but the 4th and 5th were good books. If you know it, you'll pass boards. Hell, if you know the MGH handbook cover to cover, you can probably squeak by on the writtens. I am by no means recommending this, btw.

 

[givesmegas]

Is there a site/list for the errata in Baby Miller's 5th ed? Just started reading about a week ago and noticed an error in one of the tables.

 

[codeb1ue]

Will this book eventually come out in paperback? Because if so, I'd rather wait since I'm not in a rush to begin reading this book.

 

[Bertelman]

Will this book eventually come out in paperback? Because if so, I'd rather wait since I'm not in a rush to begin reading this book.

I haven't seen a paperback of this book in like 8 years, so probably no.

Unlike fiction books and bestsellers, medical textbooks tend to come in one format only. It's paper or bound. I guess you could count electronic as the alternative format.

 

[omniatlas]

Bought the hardcopy 6th edition from Amazon a few days ago.

I'm still waiting for it to ship, so I tried the kindle sample copy today on my iphone; next thing I know, I've been charged $60; this is a last time I use their app, or put my trust in electronic books