Tips for medical student neurology rotation?

[CuriousGeorge2]

Hi all,

I am a medical student who is considering Neurology as a potential career and I am starting my neurology rotation in a week. It's incredibly short at my school (Only 3 weeks) and we have a shelf at the end. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to do well, especially on the shelf. It seems like there is no consensus on a go to book to use. I am looking for a relatively short text (200-300 pages), something that hits all the major topics and is readable over the course of ~ 3 weeks. I am still very early on in my 3rd year and want to do well on this shelf. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

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[darksideone]

Hi all,

I am a medical student who is considering Neurology as a potential career and I am starting my neurology rotation in a week. It's incredibly short at my school (Only 3 weeks) and we have a shelf at the end. I was wondering if anyone had any tips on how to do well, especially on the shelf. It seems like there is no consensus on a go to book to use. I am looking for a relatively short text (200-300 pages), something that hits all the major topics and is readable over the course of ~ 3 weeks. I am still very early on in my 3rd year and want to do well on this shelf. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Mayo Clinic Essential Neurology was good. As well as Blueprints.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

Blueprints is the official text for our school's clerkship. High yield neuroanatomy is very helpful as wel, we weren't doing the shelf when I went through but I doubt you'd have neuroanatomy more detailed than what is in high yield. I always went with a question book for all my clerkships, I liked case files as it usually was good about explaining the answers to questions.

Do ok on the shelf to pass the clerkship but I honestly think showing up, participating, and making a good impression by being itnerested and curious while being helpful and not being a pain/making more work for people you can get good letters and endear yourself to at least one department you might be applying to. Much more helpful than burying your face in your ooks the whole time to do well on the shelf

 

[Narrative]

Mayo Clinic Essential Neurology was good.

I used this, thought it was great.

 

[QuacksterVu]

Never had to take the neuro shelf, but I've gone through three neuro rotations (one as a MS3 and two MS4).

I found Blueprints to be very helpful. Case Files was not too bad either. Agreed with the High Yield Neuroanatomy.

 

[CuriousGeorge2]

Thanks for the tips all; I was wondering if any of you has a good system for organizing the peripheral neuropathies - there are a ton of them and it's hard for me to keep track of them. Is there a good flow chart anywhere (akin to the gram + and gram - flow charts for micro) that provides an overview of the major neuropathies but splits them up by certain clinical characteristics; did a quick search on MDconsult/ accessmedicine, but the figures are either incomplete or not very useful.

Or any other tips to organize these in a meaningful way? Thanks in advance,

 

[typhoonegator]

Peripheral neuropathy? --> Diabetes? --> Whew, done.
Peripheral neuropathy? --> No diabetes? --> EtOH? --> Whew, done.
Peripheral neuropathy? --> No diabetes? --> No EtOH? --> Uh, heavy metals or something? --> NCS/EMG

That's pretty much how I roll.

 

[AmishMatt]

There was very little neuroanatomy other than knowing the basic tracts on the shelf, so don't bother spending much time on that for the shelf. It does help for rotation though. Blueprints, case files, and practice questions are a good mix. I actually looked back at my first aid for step one neuro section to remember the basics, and it helped quite a bit actually.

 

[Mattchiavelli]

Peripheral neuropathy? --> Diabetes? --> Whew, done.
Peripheral neuropathy? --> No diabetes? --> EtOH? --> Whew, done.
Peripheral neuropathy? --> No diabetes? --> No EtOH? --> Uh, heavy metals or something? --> NCS/EMG

That's pretty much how I roll.

something tells me peripheral neuropathy isn't at the top of the problem list on the NICU 😀

you can at least parse out poly vs mononeuropathy; sensory, motor, or combination; then after that etiology

so something like sensory polyneuropathy due to diabetes or motor mononeuropathy due to fibular fracture works

 

[typhoonegator]

something tells me peripheral neuropathy isn't at the top of the problem list on the NICU 😀

you can at least parse out poly vs mononeuropathy; sensory, motor, or combination; then after that etiology

so something like sensory polyneuropathy due to diabetes or motor mononeuropathy due to fibular fracture works

All kidding aside, length-dependent sensorimotor polyneuropathy in the ICU is heavily underdiagnosed, and is something MICU/SICU types might forget to keep on their differential when the patient they've had paralyzed for 2 weeks on a cisatracurium drip isn't weaning off the vent. Sure, diaphragmatic muscle loss is certainly there, but why can't they pick their head up off the bed?

The more you know...

 

[NCC27]

Like mentioned above, blueprints is a great starter for a neuro rotation or for basic overview before starting your neuro residency. Once you start residency, you need to pick out a book that you have to read bits and parts from on a weekly basis. Dont forget to read up on what you see, otherwise you'll just be memorizing pattern recognition

 

[Mattchiavelli]

All kidding aside, length-dependent sensorimotor polyneuropathy in the ICU is heavily underdiagnosed, and is something MICU/SICU types might forget to keep on their differential when the patient they've had paralyzed for 2 weeks on a cisatracurium drip isn't weaning off the vent. Sure, diaphragmatic muscle loss is certainly there, but why can't they pick their head up off the bed?

The more you know...

haha it's funny you mentioned that, a few months ago is when I was first introduced to critical illness polyneuropathy which was extremely cool for me since I'm interested in clinical care toward the end of the hospital stay regarding placement, return of function, and improved independence/less disability as an outpatient. It was cool that now I know there can be other things involved in a patient's loss of function other than just "debilitation"

 

[Dharma]

Bumping to see if anyone else has anything to add. I will not be taking a shelf, but I do want to get the most out of the rotation (while of course performing as best as I can).

 

[Neuro321]

If you just want an excellent neurology text that I have found really helpful, it would be Dejongs The Neurologic Exam. Its an easy to read text that describes the neuro exam. Overall its a good introduction to Neuro.

It is not something I would use to study for the shelf or any sort of STEP exam, but if your just interested in expanding your general neurology knowledge... I think this is a good place to start.

 

[Dharma]

Thanks 321!

 

[NYUyankeezfan]

Hey all, does anybody know of any neurology programs that allow third year medical students to rotate with them? Thanks!

*preferably in the NYC area, but any tip is appreciated*