Resources for Cardiothoracic in-service Exam

[Junior22]

Just wondering what everyone found most useful. Are the lectures that the JCTSE sets up adequate, or is it better to grab a good thoracic book (medical management of thoracic sx...) and cardiac book (no f***in idea) and just go from there. Cheers.

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[Thanatos]

Just wondering what everyone found most useful. Are the lectures that the JCTSE sets up adequate, or is it better to grab a good thoracic book (medical management of thoracic sx...) and cardiac book (no f***in idea) and just go from there. Cheers.

All I used to study for the actual test was SESATS and the TSRA review book and ended up doing good enough to score better than most of the people in my program as a first year. This is on top of the usual reading for cases and preparing for conferences and etc...in general I use Sugarbakers book for thoracic and the Hopkins textbook (for big picture) and Cohn's book (to really drill down) for cardiac, although I supplement with Kirklin when I have time because its so complete.

I tried like hell to get through the JCTSE curriculum for the first few months and eventually gave up, its too much material and a lot of it was super disorganized/scattered and often very old. I remember there was one week where we had to read an entire 60 page chapter on tracheal lesions written in the 1970's or something....most of us will not be trachea specialists and I think a nice summary review would have been plenty for something like that, that's when I officially gave up. Supposedly they're redoing the whole thing this year but like horror movie sequels, I'm not interested unless I hear rave reviews.

 

[celling]

All I used to study for the actual test was SESATS and the TSRA review book and ended up doing good enough to score better than most of the people in my program as a first year. This is on top of the usual reading for cases and preparing for conferences and etc...in general I use Sugarbakers book for thoracic and the Hopkins textbook (for big picture) and Cohn's book (to really drill down) for cardiac, although I supplement with Kirklin when I have time because its so complete.

I tried like hell to get through the JCTSE curriculum for the first few months and eventually gave up, its too much material and a lot of it was super disorganized/scattered and often very old. I remember there was one week where we had to read an entire 60 page chapter on tracheal lesions written in the 1970's or something....most of us will not be trachea specialists and I think a nice summary review would have been plenty for something like that, that's when I officially gave up. Supposedly they're redoing the whole thing this year but like horror movie sequels, I'm not interested unless I hear rave reviews.

100% agree with this. SESAT and TSRA handbook should be enough. Cohn is good for more in depth reading. For thoracic, I liked Shields more than Sugarbaker but both are strong.

 

[Junior22]

All I used to study for the actual test was SESATS and the TSRA review book and ended up doing good enough to score better than most of the people in my program as a first year. This is on top of the usual reading for cases and preparing for conferences and etc...in general I use Sugarbakers book for thoracic and the Hopkins textbook (for big picture) and Cohn's book (to really drill down) for cardiac, although I supplement with Kirklin when I have time because its so complete.

I tried like hell to get through the JCTSE curriculum for the first few months and eventually gave up, its too much material and a lot of it was super disorganized/scattered and often very old. I remember there was one week where we had to read an entire 60 page chapter on tracheal lesions written in the 1970's or something....most of us will not be trachea specialists and I think a nice summary review would have been plenty for something like that, that's when I officially gave up. Supposedly they're redoing the whole thing this year but like horror movie sequels, I'm not interested unless I hear rave reviews.

100% agree with this. SESAT and TSRA handbook should be enough. Cohn is good for more in depth reading. For thoracic, I liked Shields more than Sugarbaker but both are strong.

Thanks guys, much appreciated. I usually prefer a good book or two, rather than a bunch of haphazardly put-together modules of someone talking at me. Cheers.

 

[ThoracicGuy]

Misread that as the board exam. For the In-training exam I used SESATs and that's mostly it. I don't remember the TSRA handbook. Maybe that was after my time.

Info for board study is included below:

I used SESAT and the Core Review course. I used Mastery of CT surgery for some quick backup as well as Shields for more indepth reading.

For orals I used Mastery, the Clinical Scenarios in Thoracic Surgery book, Cardiac Surgery Pitfalls and Safeguards, and several mock orals with the faculty where I did my training.

 

[dynx]

Just wondering what everyone found most useful. Are the lectures that the JCTSE sets up adequate, or is it better to grab a good thoracic book (medical management of thoracic sx...) and cardiac book (no f***in idea) and just go from there. Cheers.

Depends where you are in your training. When i found out I matched I started reading Cohn and then Shields before starting. Read them again each year of fellowship in addition to reading for cases, journals for discussions etc. Wish I had found the TRSA review earlier, its fantastic, get it, get it now.
Now, the above may be over kill but let me tell you, you're not studying for the inservice, the inservice is not a problem and with the above reading you'll be in the top couple percentiles. You're studying for the CE. And that test my friend...is no joke. I've never felt like I've failed an exam before, and leaving those rooms I had serious questions about if I had passed (every one I spoke with after either knew they failed or thought they might have failed..not a single person said "yeah, I passed"). One very capable fellow exam taker I had met on several occasions before was standing with a blank face as I entered the elevator after the test. He didn't even acknowledge the elevator had stopped or other people had entered. When I called his attention to my presence and asked how it went he said "I just got clubbed like a little baby seal". So...over prepare. You wont regret it.

And I forgot. Mastery for descriptions of cases you've never done before. essential.