Surgery Shelf: High-Yield topics?

[Daiphon]

For those of you who've already taken the surgery shelf exam, what did you think were the high-yield topics? I already know that trauma & acute abdomen is definately something to know, but what about other subjects? Should i know the umpteen different cancer staging/grading schemes? Which subspecialties are hardest hit? I ask b/c my attending is hitting me pretty hard, and i don't know how much more in-depth study time i'll have.

thanks!
-tim

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[GO_MEDPEDS]

I mentioned before that the Surgery shelf exam is much more like a Emergency Medicine/Internal Medicine exam than really a surgery exam. I would concentrate on stabilizing a patient after trauma or other event that may require surgery eventually, but will more promptly require fluids, electrolyte replacement, etc. Know the surgically correctable forms of hypertension, how they present, and what diagnostic test you would like to do.

This tends to be a more difficult exam... not necessarily because of the material, but more likely due to the fact that you have no time to study on your surgery rotation, and the test really is more a medicine/EM test than the surgery questions you've been pimped on in the OR.

Good luck! You'll do fine.

😀

 

[Daiphon]

Thanks, medpeds... i probably should've done a thread search, but was having an episode of hypo-panic attack. d=)

-tim

 

[GO_MEDPEDS]

No reason to panic... it's just another test (we seem to have to take a lot of those... and I'll have to take that many more with the double board certifcation... what's wrong with me!!!). I'm not sure how your school works it, but our Surgery test was actually worth only ~20% of our grade (thankfully for me... but then again that didn't give me any initiative to study).

So, 1) take a deep breath 2) review the stuff that you feel you know the least 3) get plenty of sleep and eat a good breakfast !!!



😀

 

[Blade28]

Probably advice too late, but I've always been told by my classmates (who already went through their surgery rotation) to just learn Recall and Lawrence really, really, REALLY well. Especially Recall.

 

[Daiphon]

yeah... i'd heard that too... but i'm not a fan of recall's style... but am trying to cram that junk in. d=)

-tim

 

[doc05]

Originally posted by Blade28
Probably advice too late, but I've always been told by my classmates (who already went through their surgery rotation) to just learn Recall and Lawrence really, really, REALLY well. Especially Recall.

actually, recall is a piece of crap and is only good for pimping. lots of practice questions are your best bet for the shelf.

 

[IdahoDO]

I just took the surgery shelf exam. My advice would be to read the surgical complications, physiological monitoring, and GI portions of Schwarz in depth. I also did lots of questions mostly out of Pretest-Surgery. Passing at our school is 66 and I got a 75 so you can take this advice for what it's worth.

Good luck,

AZCOM class 2005