Schwartz..Sabiston..

[Erythropoietin]

How do you guys read these books? I don't want to use the word "study" because the exam time is over, but there's just way too many information that I don't even know how to approach these books. Do you just read it plain, take notes on a notebook, post-it notes, highlight.. ?

Thanks!

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[Dr.LeoSpaceman]

You can't study from these books in the traditional sense. You're best off using the books as a component of a curriculum that follows the SCORE outline. I'd suggest following along with the curriculum by reading the relevant chapters in your text of choice, and taking notes by annotating a copy if Fiser ABSITE review. Then you can just study the annotated Fiser when then ABSITE rolls around.

Realistically, it's probably worthwhile to get through one of the main texts at least once over your first 2-3 years. After that though, Cameron and other texts (Mastery of Surgery, Operative Techniques in Surgery or other specialty-specific texts) become more useful. I can't remember the last time I actually looked in my copy of Sabiston.

 

[Erythropoietin]

anyone else?

 

[Jolie South]

I used the books to complement my knowledge for cases as I went or to read for our conferences.

I personally hate both sabiston and Schwartz. The only text I found relatable was Cameron. The texts for your early years are too “so and so old dude invented the beginnings of this procedure when he cut open x organ and allowed it to drain...”. I hated them and found their practical application limited.

Cameron was a good mix of background and details for cases.

If studying for ABSITE, I used Schwartz question book and SCORE question bank.

 

[Erythropoietin]

I used the books to complement my knowledge for cases as I went or to read for our conferences.

I personally hate both sabiston and Schwartz. The only text I found relatable was Cameron. The texts for your early years are too “so and so old dude invented the beginnings of this procedure when he cut open x organ and allowed it to drain...”. I hated them and found their practical application limited.

Cameron was a good mix of background and details for cases.

If studying for ABSITE, I used Schwartz question book and SCORE question bank.

Thank you for your reply. (Btw I'm not a resident i the U.S. so we dont have the ABSITE thing here.) To be honest, I also find Cameron the best out of all the books out there. But there's this impression out there that Schwartz is a "must" and that we should all be reading it.
Well I'm definitely not making a progress with Scwartz so I might as well continue with Cameron.

 

[Jolie South]

Thank you for your reply. (Btw I'm not a resident i the U.S. so we dont have the ABSITE thing here.) To be honest, I also find Cameron the best out of all the books out there. But there's this impression out there that Schwartz is a "must" and that we should all be reading it.
Well I'm definitely not making a progress with Scwartz so I might as well continue with Cameron.

I think you should read a book that you can get through and learn from. If you have Schwartz and don’t read it or like it, it’s not really doing anything for you.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I think you should read a book that you can get through and learn from. If you have Schwartz and don’t read it or like it, it’s not really doing anything for you.

Exactly.

If you don’t read it, it won’t help.

Our “home” book for residency was Greenfield which I hated. Cameron was my book of choice.

 

[TypeADissection]

I think you should read a book that you can get through and learn from. If you have Schwartz and don’t read it or like it, it’s not really doing anything for you.

Bingo. Our designated textbook was Schwartz and for whatever reason it just didn't resonate with me. I was able to "read" Sabiston better, while my buddy was able to "read" Greenfield better. It just comes down to what works for you and staying consistent with it.

 

[mestielest]

Not them. However, I have read the whole Campbell's Urology (now Campbell and Walsh's) during my urology residency. Textbooks has a lot of information that you cannot memorize even sometimes cannot be sure whether you have read that already or not. Anyway, I think that made some difference and provided me a background for boards and working as a consultant.

 

[mestielest]

anyone else?

I used the books to complement my knowledge for cases as I went or to read for our conferences.

I personally hate both sabiston and Schwartz. The only text I found relatable was Cameron. The texts for your early years are too “so and so old dude invented the beginnings of this procedure when he cut open x organ and allowed it to drain...”. I hated them and found their practical application limited.

Cameron was a good mix of background and details for cases.

If studying for ABSITE, I used Schwartz question book and SCORE question bank.

Very good point. The classical books' chapters are mostly "traditionally updated" and some of them still comprises data that holds only historical importance. I don't know whether the chapters should be totally reconstructed or kept up this way.