Studying during PGY2-PGY5

[IceHouse]

---

Members do not see this ad.

how do you find time to study?

do you sit down with a textbook every night or so?

I don't see how it's possible to know stuff cold by just reading up on cases.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

My personal approach was first to read up for cases for the next day. Then we usually had a COCLIA assignment to work on too and maybe a grand rounds talk or M&M. Then I'd try and do general reading after that. Reality for me was general reading tended to happen on Saturday and Sunday mornings on my weekends off. I find that I still struggle with topics that I didn't encounter much/ever during my residency like face lifts or clefts. Hard to learn it from just a book or one lecture over a residency.

Good luck. It's not easy to find the time to do it all.

 

[resxn]

I read KJ Lee as much as I could. I probably wrote more in the margins than there was text by the end of my residency. It ended up being the absolute best study guide for the boards when I was finished.

I still refer to it quite often because I know that book so dang well I can flip to my reference within seconds if I forget what lab I want for a particular workup or what not.

 

[Leforte]

My studying seemed to go in spurts. Would read about a new or challenging case the night or weekend before, but honestly, most of my dedicated studying time was after Christmas and before the in-service exams when I was either working or reading. This seemed to be a yearly ritual. I, too, knew KJ and Pasha from memory. I read all of Bailey's and Cummings in the first 2 years of residency and read a major text from each of the subspecialties over the next 2 years. I re-read all prior to my Boards (which we took the written in April, unlike the current grads who take them soon after graduating).