PM&R elective book

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chaseface

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Hey guys I'm applying for my away elective in PM&R and am wondering if there is a good book or manual that I could get beforehand so that I impress the attending/director and can get a good letter out of the experience?
Also I'm in the DC/Baltimore/Philly area and would appreciate some feedback on good places to go for my elective (enthusiastic program directors, great programs, kind residents)?
 
Secrets in physical medicine and rehabilitation is a nice start.

Jefferon and Temple are user friendly.
 
I agree w/ PM&R Secrets... it was very helpful during my (5😱) PM&R elective rotations last year. It's thick, but you certainly don't have to read all of the chapters. The intro chapters on anatomy, physical exam, etc are great and you can just read the few other chapters on whatever area of PM&R that you are rotating in.

Choi's Pocketpedia is also a popular and solid choice, but may be too concise to learn from as primary source for these rotations. I always have it in my pocket as a quick reference, but if I had to pick one as a student I'd go w/ Secrets.

Regardless of what area of PM&R you are rotating in.... KNOW YOUR NEUROMUSCULOSKELETAL ANATOMY COLD!! The book probably doesn't matter, but I can't stress enough how this was the one area that I was almost uniformly expected to know.... not to mention that it's extremely important in all areas of PM&R.

If you are doing a sports/musculoskeletal rotation, make an attempt to at least know how to perform manual muscle testing and common physical exam maneuvers. Residents and Attendings should help you refine your technique, but you shouldn't be starting from scratch on the rotation. Hoppenfeld's "Physical Exam of the Spine and Extremities" is a fairly basic and classic book. I'm a big fan of Malanga and Nadlers "Musculoskeletal Physical Examination". The DVD that comes with the book is great too.

In terms of places to rotate, I don't know much about the programs in Baltimore/DC, but I did rotate at Temple and Jeff. Both of those programs fit the 3 criteria that you mentioned and were fairly easy to set up rotations with.
 
I've never seen the Oxford book so no opinions on that. Definitely the Secrets book if you want to do some reading at home, sadly I felt like the older version covered topics not in the newer version so if you can find one cheap it has most of what you need at that level.

For portability, Choi is great and is actually packed with info that will be useful even in Residency (Plus it fits nicely in a back pocket if you're a guy since you will never wear a white coat in PMR)

Agree that the best thing is reviewing your brachial and even lumbosacral plexus, dermatomes (which can be found in Maxwells or Choi) and key muscles for testing.

Its also gonna depend on what you're doing a rotation in, for instance if you are doing SCI you can look up topics specifically like doing an AIS (formerly ASIA) exam. Or in TBI, know how to do the Glascow Coma Score or even have an idea what Ranchos Los Amigos is used for.

I went to a school where PMR was a mandatory so it's nice to see people actually interested and proactive about being helpful and reading up on the topic. Don't be afraid to see patients on your own if they will let you, but dont be upset if they also re-do most of it (keep in mind only your history can be used in medical record) which is a great chance to learn other ways of doing the physical exam.

Just my pennies...
 
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