Studying during R1

[Steve_Zissou]

Hey all, I’m going to be starting my R1 year here in 3 or so months and was hoping to hear about peoples approaches to studying during residency and how they would have changed things.

I’ve heard/read a broad swath of opinions including “start with CTC” to “don’t read CTC and stick to H&B.” I’ve heard “study one hour a day” to “study as much as you possibly can.”

Thoughts on approaches/resources to use?

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[Cognovi]

I studied as much as I possibly could. I never read CTC, B&H, or Core. I looked everything up on Radiopaedia and journal literature search and made Anki cards.

 

[PhysMatMan]

Just read the relevant chapter in core radiology and do radprimer questions. I also supplemented with ACR case in point and aunt minnie case of the day for approximately 1 year starting in mid R1. I wouldn't stress about the hours per day, but try to get through all of the Core radiology section per 1 month rotation and make a dent in radprimer. You can save CTC and intermediate radprimer for R2 and beyond.

 

[Womb Raider]

Hey all, I’m going to be starting my R1 year here in 3 or so months and was hoping to hear about peoples approaches to studying during residency and how they would have changed things.

I’ve heard/read a broad swath of opinions including “start with CTC” to “don’t read CTC and stick to H&B.” I’ve heard “study one hour a day” to “study as much as you possibly can.”

Thoughts on approaches/resources to use?

Most important thing is to develop a system that is somewhat consistent. Don't go the whole year without studying, but don't study yourself to death.

Starting out on each new rotation is hard as an R1. First priority should be getting the anatomy down, because you can't know abnormal until you know normal. Get a subscription to e-anatomy. Hopefully your institution has some way of introducing R1s to the section (e.g. basic anatomy and search patterns for the bread and butter CTs) but if they don't, ask an upper level on your first day for a quick rundown. Most of your learning will come from looking things up as you go. Look them up on radiopedia or statdx.

As for pathology, do as much "basic" radprimer as you can. Starting out it can take a while because the explanations are very detailed and you just don't know anything. Core radiology is extremely basic and quick, and may be a good place start before starting a new rotation. Use radiologyassistant.nl - this website is VERY good for learning. Brant and Helms sucks - it's extremely dry and takes forever to slog through, no one in my entire residency liked it. Some of my R1s have CaseStacks and love it, although I didn't try it myself. Radiographics is excellent but the complexity varies wildly, and it's one of those things that becomes more useful the more you know. There's a million different ways to skin a cat - I wouldn't sweat it too much during R1 year. You're going to feel like an idiot no matter how much you study. (FWIW I would 100% avoid CTC as an R1.)

One more thing - don't try to be perfect and spend an hour dictating one CT. It won't help. Read as many as you can. You're expected to miss stuff as an R1. Develop a search pattern, and refine it. You need to get normal burned into your brain and there's a lot of different kind of normal. Many R1s underestimate the importance of volume.

 

[Steve_Zissou]

Fantastic! Thank you all, these suggestions will give me a good place to start.

My wife and I are hoping to have a child during R1, so my current plan is to try and hit the studying 4 days during week (Ideally Monday through Thursday) and then an hour or so on Sundays while chilling with the fam. Hoping that should be enough to at least get a good start for building knowledge base and eventual board prep.

 

[Steve_Zissou]

Alright guys, I’m back as an upcoming R3. Spent a lot of time using textbooks, case stacks, radiopaedia and radprimer during R1 and R2 to get up to speed. How did you guys study during R3 year to maximize preparedness for boards?

I’m thinking of opening up CTC and going through it a few times, filling in with info I get from radprimer, but I have no idea if this is a solid approach or not.

 

[guytakingboards]

Alright guys, I’m back as an upcoming R3. Spent a lot of time using textbooks, case stacks, radiopaedia and radprimer during R1 and R2 to get up to speed. How did you guys study during R3 year to maximize preparedness for boards?

I’m thinking of opening up CTC and going through it a few times, filling in with info I get from radprimer, but I have no idea if this is a solid approach or not.

Big ups for making it this far. R2 year is a grind.

There's a lot of different ways to skin the Core exam cat. (caveat my advice is 7 years old at this point). One of my former co-residents (/now practice partner) did pretty much what you're suggesting. He finished all of RadPrimer before the test and used CtC on the side. He passed and says he didn't regret his studying method.

I personally couldn't stand radprimer and only used it sparingly. I really liked the "A Core Review" study guide series. Most of the sub-specialty books were really good. Few, like mammo at the time, were outdated or just bad. This series is question based, similar to Rad Primer, but i felt like the questions were much more geared to what actual Core exam questions are like rather than RadPrimers "lemme ask you something super esoteric just so you can read the long ass explanation". I felt like it was much less of a pain going through "A Core Review" questions than RadPrimer.

I did use CtC as my "first aid' of sorts where I had written all my notes in... as well as going through CtC 3-4 times I think.

For more question banks I also used Board Vitals and Qevlar. Check with your seniors if those are still useful. Qevlar, while not a great question bank overall, was Iphone/Ipad friendly and was nice for knocking out a few questions while standing in line at the grocery store.

For physics I read the Huda physics book, CtC War Machine and then attending the in-person Huda physics course.

By no means am I suggesting you do everything I did. A lot of the study prep depends on your baseline radiology knowledge, which sounds like its pretty good if you've been studying steadily for 2 years now. I would throw in: don't overlook regular studying/reading during R3 year either. R3 year i started getting subspecialty rotations like body MRI and cardiac and R3 year is a good time to read a book or two in those categories.

 

[Steve_Zissou]

Big ups for making it this far. R2 year is a grind.

There's a lot of different ways to skin the Core exam cat. (caveat my advice is 7 years old at this point). One of my former co-residents (/now practice partner) did pretty much what you're suggesting. He finished all of RadPrimer before the test and used CtC on the side. He passed and says he didn't regret his studying method.

I personally couldn't stand radprimer and only used it sparingly. I really liked the "A Core Review" study guide series. Most of the sub-specialty books were really good. Few, like mammo at the time, were outdated or just bad. This series is question based, similar to Rad Primer, but i felt like the questions were much more geared to what actual Core exam questions are like rather than RadPrimers "lemme ask you something super esoteric just so you can read the long ass explanation". I felt like it was much less of a pain going through "A Core Review" questions than RadPrimer.

I did use CtC as my "first aid' of sorts where I had written all my notes in... as well as going through CtC 3-4 times I think.

For more question banks I also used Board Vitals and Qevlar. Check with your seniors if those are still useful. Qevlar, while not a great question bank overall, was Iphone/Ipad friendly and was nice for knocking out a few questions while standing in line at the grocery store.

For physics I read the Huda physics book, CtC War Machine and then attending the in-person Huda physics course.

By no means am I suggesting you do everything I did. A lot of the study prep depends on your baseline radiology knowledge, which sounds like its pretty good if you've been studying steadily for 2 years now. I would throw in: don't overlook regular studying/reading during R3 year either. R3 year i started getting subspecialty rotations like body MRI and cardiac and R3 year is a good time to read a book or two in those categories.

Thanks man, R2 call mostly sucked but I'm at an independent call program and feel far more confident in my call abilities/base radiology knowledge than at the start of the year.

I've picked up a large assortment of subspecialty books (those recommended by Ben White on his website) via the massive education funds we have that cannot be used for much else besides study resources. I plan to continue some aspect of reading those while on rotation.

I think the CtC notes is what I may follow. I started doing a little bit of it with core radiology, but I have heard lots of good things from my coresidents regarding CtC so that may become my primary resource for this year, with significant time spent building it out to be a comprehensive resource.

This is helpful, thank you for your take!

 

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