Study tips..as an intern

[doconboard]

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So, I have been an intern since July. I have performed decently well in all my rotations so far. I seem to get the idea of patient care and I can function as an intern now. I feel confident in doing so..

Now that 1/4 of the year is over, I expect more from myself. I should be getting better..at reading about diseases, bringing up literature review cases, etc during rounds. However, every time I come home, I am back to being a husband, running errands. I also may be getting tired and motivation might just be going away once I come home lol

So, my question to you all is, how should I study as an intern?

 

[POW16]

Read about your patients. If you haven't taken Step 3 yet, use Uworld. That's all.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

 

[AdmiralChz]

The answer largely depends on what your core residency is - IM, peds, ER, etc... Try focused reading on your patients to ask yourself what you'd do if an emergency happened, or how to deal with complications arising from their comorbidities.

 

[FutureInternist]

UW

MKSAP for whichever rotation you're on

NEJM review articles for whichever disease your patient has (they give A to Z in about 6 pages) - I made a summary of each article and kept it in dropbox so that invariably whem you get asked a 5th time to do a quick presentation on PE you should print it out

Teach students

 

[wc0921]

Read on your patients. Read about what you admit them for. Always try to understand everything you are doing and why. Don't just memorize we do "x" for "y", understand it. That helps facilitate short-term memory becoming long-term memory and help you understand more complex processes. If you don't understand, ask. Focus on differentials as well. Not just common ones. Which are most life threatening? Make sure those are thought of and ruled out in all of your patients. Lastly, anticipation is good to start working on. Always ask yourself, if anything could go bad with my patients, what would it be? I.E you have a patient with an acute MI. How would you manage the patient if they had unstable VT? Cardiogenic shock? Tamponade from ventricular free wall rupture? Etc. Some of these are more advanced, however if you start now, it will get much easier down the road

 

[Raryn]

So, I have been an intern since July. I have performed decently well in all my rotations so far. I seem to get the idea of patient care and I can function as an intern now. I feel confident in doing so..

Now that 1/4 of the year is over, I expect more from myself. I should be getting better..at reading about diseases, bringing up literature review cases, etc during rounds. However, every time I come home, I am back to being a husband, running errands. I also may be getting tired and motivation might just be going away once I come home lol

So, my question to you all is, how should I study as an intern?

The most important part of intern year is learning systems. How the patient is taken care of, what to watch out for, how to recognize a sick one. What sticks in your head ends up being a sense of clinical gestalt, as well as memories of specific patients and what you did for them. To that end, you should try to make the latter as large as possible by reading about the specific patients.

Your residency is at least three years long, and as time goes on, you will have those systems parts down pat. You will also know how to manage the basics you run into over and over again. Knowing all those like the back of your hand will free up more time and mental energy to truly learn about the various rare presentations and zebras. Teaching experience helps with that as well, as you realistically have to know something comprehensively to feel comfortable teaching a medical student about it.

Basically, right now you're still only half way through the initial stages of your development as a doctor. Read on your patients, do your best to take care of them, take note of what your attendings and seniors do (try to do your best to *understand* it, not just parrot it), and get through the weeks and months. When you reach July 1 of next year, you'll be amazed at how much more you know than when you came in (and how much more you know than the new interns). All-purpose reading as a new intern probably won't stick, and I don't generally recommend doing it (other than studying for Step 3 of course).

 

[Sweetpotatoguy]

UW

MKSAP for whichever rotation you're on

NEJM review articles for whichever disease your patient has (they give A to Z in about 6 pages) - I made a summary of each article and kept it in dropbox so that invariably whem you get asked a 5th time to do a quick presentation on PE you should print it out

Teach students

What if I'm in a Transitional Year program going into Flight Surgery? Should I get MKSAP?

 

[FutureInternist]

What if I'm in a Transitional Year program going into Flight Surgery? Should I get MKSAP?

Is there any end of the year exam you have to take?

If not then just use UW

 

[Perrotfish]

What if I'm in a Transitional Year program going into Flight Surgery? Should I get MKSAP?

What are you planning to do after flight surgery?

 

[Sweetpotatoguy]

What are you planning to do after flight surgery?

Considering Rads after I get out. But keeping the table open for FM/CARDS/SUPERHERO. I have 2 years to choose. I figure I'll know a lot more of what I want after 2 years of flight.