Studying while in residency? Need advice...

[Dr.TurkandJD]

hey all, PGY1 EM here. Just took my first in-service and wow... I feel confident in the ED, feel like I can hold my own and been told by numerous attendings that I am "much further along where I should be as a 1st year". That is all great to hear and all, but when it comes time to tests I suck at it and feel like I know nothing. I do rosh questions here and there, read Tint here and there, but overall I feel inadequate. I never have time to study, and I have weird studying habits. When I was back home, I had my study place and my study group, now I am away from residency and feel like I cannot study at home and have no one to study too. The inservice was a real kick in the ass, being good in the ED is only 1/2 the battle, but I still have to learn A LOT of basic science for inservice, ED Boards and Step 3 (i have to re-learn everything from step 2, I wish i still had that knowledge plus my real ED knowledge).

How do you guys study? How much? What do you use? any suggestions? I want to excel and be a good EP, but I feel like I am stuck in a vicious cycle of home life, shifts, and sleep. Our shifts are busy, and even if I look something up, it never sticks. Would love some advice!

Thanks all!

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[deleted547339]

There's no substitution for just putting in the work. I read tintinalli's and did the hippo EM review. You just have to find a way to get your head in the books, the more the better.

 

[Old Grunt]

hey all, PGY1 EM here. Just took my first in-service and wow... I feel confident in the ED, feel like I can hold my own and been told by numerous attendings that I am "much further along where I should be as a 1st year". That is all great to hear and all, but when it comes time to tests I suck at it and feel like I know nothing. I do rosh questions here and there, read Tint here and there, but overall I feel inadequate. I never have time to study, and I have weird studying habits. When I was back home, I had my study place and my study group, now I am away from residency and feel like I cannot study at home and have no one to study too. The inservice was a real kick in the ass, being good in the ED is only 1/2 the battle, but I still have to learn A LOT of basic science for inservice, ED Boards and Step 3 (i have to re-learn everything from step 2, I wish i still had that knowledge plus my real ED knowledge).

How do you guys study? How much? What do you use? any suggestions? I want to excel and be a good EP, but I feel like I am stuck in a vicious cycle of home life, shifts, and sleep. Our shifts are busy, and even if I look something up, it never sticks. Would love some advice!

Thanks all!

In Service in January? I always plug this book and course:
Online In-Training Course or In Training Test Preparation and Review for the ABEM In-Training Examination or Inservice Examination

(I have no financial interest in the product).

The book is pretty good and I coupled it with the online review course. The book is pretty good and much less dense than Rivers. I cut it in half and bound two halves of it. I used it all through residency and took notes in the margins and also made notes on patient encounters to drive home things. I used it to study for the ABEM qualifying exam and still refer to it.

I just think it's a good product.

 

[littlejuan]

I second hippoem. They tend to have discounts for emra members as well. One way of making things more interesting is picking a patient or two and reading up on their issue to put it in context. You just have to get used to studying every day or almost every day. I would study usually before my shifts.

 

[Dr.TurkandJD]

ACOEP in service in January. And we take ABEM one in March


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[Dr.TurkandJD]

Wife/baby + 12 hour shifts + didactics, biggest anxiety is having time to study and when


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[gman33]

The first step is figuring out how you learn and coming up with a realistic plan.

Studying for the boards (or inservice) is different than studying to be a good doc.
They almost having nothing to do with each other.

For tests, for many it's best to just do questions. Tons of them. All of them if you can.
There are only so many things they can ask and you need to recognize the patterns.

Studying to be good at your job is very different.
I think reading one of the basic texts is a good starting point.
Many will say this is a waste of time and it may be for some.
I'd try to have this done in the first half of residency and than the rest of the time you can focus more on current literature.

Scheduling can be the toughest part. If you can commit to 20 minutes a day, every day, this is a good starting point.
On an off day, try to spend 1-2 hours.

Residency is very hard, but it is important to spend time educating yourself.
Many don't and a lack of knowledge isn't doing any favors to your patients.

 

[gamerEMdoc]

Reading tintinelli is great, but unrealistic.

I'm a big believer in some type of continuous review course (hippo or nembr) mixed with ROSH questions. If you start residency doing one video a day by the end of your residency, you'll have gotten through the material numerous times over. And you can always multitask if time is short. Watch a lecture on the treadmill/bike while working out if you do cardio. Listen to the audio during a commute if you have one (NEMBR has all the lectures in audio format too). Just do a little each day, the payoff will be huge.

 

[Tenk]

Questions, questions, questions and questions. Also try questions and questions. When in doubt though just stick to questions. Any questions?

 

[gro2001]

1) PEER. If you do one thing, do all the PEER IX. If you do two things, PEER IX and PEER VIII. If you do three things... you get the point. Also, by doing questions, I mean reading all the explanations, even for the questions you got right. If you start 3 months in advance and do just 5 questions a day, you will have covered PEER IX. Obviously you can also just do a few questions continuously throughout the year.

2) EM:RAP. Subscribe. Download. Listen during down time (commuting, washing dishes, etc). It will both help you clinically by keeping up with new stuff, as well as help you learn stuff for the boards.

I tried Hippo:EM, but was not impressed. At least 50% of any given lecture was the hosts cracking silly jokes. While I like that kind of silliness buffer in a podcast (I find it helps break up the more content heavy sections, something EM:RAP does really well), if I am sitting there staring at the screen, I want them to just get on with it and tell me the information I need to know. Then again, YMMV. Lots of people love Hippo.

 

[Jlaw]

There is no easy solution you just have to put in the time unfortunately. Last year I watched the Hippo videos and did Rosh and did very well on the in service, it was a decent time commitment and I definitely studied harder than many of my classmates but I feel like I got a lot out of it. I made the most of my off service time to study and got a lot done while on call for my ICU months. I also made a point to put in an hour a night while on ED blocks or at least read through my notes on the treadmill on the rare days I had time to work out.

Studying as a resident is more a sum of the parts, you aren't going to have the structure you had as a med student where all you did was study and you could sit down for hours and master something. Now you will get 5 minutes here, an hour there and gradually put it together. But trust me it will come together.

Don't worry about Step 3, as an EM resident you are better prepared for it than 90% of other residents. I did the comquest bank in addition to my in service studying (took it 1 month after inservice) and scored 100 points higher than I scored on 1 and 2....read, I did way too much prep for it. Remember you're not competing against super type A med students spending months studying anymore, you're now on the same curve with the peds resident who has never and will never see COPD, ACS or a stroke, and the surgery prelim who barely has time to do laundry let alone study.

 

[Brigade4Radiant]

listen to EM BASIC then EM RAP also do question bank questions. Reading Tintanilli is low yield.

 

[Angry Birds]

listen to EM BASIC then EM RAP also do question bank questions. Reading Tintanilli is low yield.

I agree that Tintanilli is low yield. It's low yield in the sense that you only have limited time, so might as well maximize it. There are so many higher yield sources, like HippoEM, EMrap, EmCrit, and Rosh Review.

 

[Petypet]

rosh, emrap, emcrit, cases in emergency medicine, read 2-3 chapters of rosens weekly. plan your time and you can easily get it done

 

[doggydog]

rosh, emrap, emcrit, cases in emergency medicine, read 2-3 chapters of rosens weekly. plan your time and you can easily get it done

Lol

 

[TheComebacKid]

I have found EM:RAP to be hit or miss. I think as an intern the most important aspect of EM:RAP is the C3 content which is all MONEY. But the basic monthly EM:RAP content is more geared towards the practicing ED physician who wants to stay up to date.

Hippo EM and Rosh should be the bulk of your studying. Supplement with C3 while driving/working out. Tintinalli's/Rosens? Ain't nobody got time for that!

One helpful hint: it is very difficult to retain random facts that you study throughout the year if you don't routinely access it from your brain and apply it on a daily basis. In other words, if you study about some random tox overdoses and never treat a patient with it for many months when it comes time to use it in person or in the in service, you won't remember it. What I find helpful is that if you have an interesting case a work i.e. afib w/ RVR: go home and do the hippo EM videos on tachyarrythmias, listen to the C3 content on atrial fibrillation and it will really stick. As you get closer to the exam start cramming in the random rote facts that you have to memorize.

 

[Petypet]

Lol

? Most of that is passive learning while exercising or driving. I also have kids and do research and have plenty of time for studying.

 

[doggydog]

? Most of that is passive learning while exercising or driving. I also have kids and do research and have plenty of time for studying.

Congrats.

 

[lucid_leprechaun]

Congrats.

I have found EM:RAP to be hit or miss. I think as an intern the most important aspect of EM:RAP is the C3 content which is all MONEY. But the basic monthly EM:RAP content is more geared towards the practicing ED physician who wants to stay up to date.

Hippo EM and Rosh should be the bulk of your studying. Supplement with C3 while driving/working out. Tintinalli's/Rosens? Ain't nobody got time for that!

One helpful hint: it is very difficult to retain random facts that you study throughout the year if you don't routinely access it from your brain and apply it on a daily basis. In other words, if you study about some random tox overdoses and never treat a patient with it for many months when it comes time to use it in person or in the in service, you won't remember it. What I find helpful is that if you have an interesting case a work i.e. afib w/ RVR: go home and do the hippo EM videos on tachyarrythmias, listen to the C3 content on atrial fibrillation and it will really stick. As you get closer to the exam start cramming in the random rote facts that you have to memorize.

As a current intern, my strategy has been with Hippo EM periodically and reading Rosen’s for cases that I am not sure how to manage. Typically I will wade through during the shift, then read Rosen’s after the shift. Organized by chief complaint so easy to relate. Of course EMRAP, EMA good for recent changes, but you next to know basics first.

 

[engineeredout]

Board/Inservice studying? There is no substitute for questions. Questions and questions and questions. The actual fund of board exam knowledge is not changing to any significant degree from year to year, and there are only so many ways you can be asked about the same material.

For real life, absolutely go to blogs/podcasts as mentioned above, but they probably aren't going to be very helpful for board exams.