Washington Manual Guilt

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clement

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We have an attending that strongly believes that as part of becoming a good physician, all students should get through the Wash Manual and then use Harrison's as a reference for more in-depth reading on certain topics.

I don't do well with thick books, period. Should I feel bad that I am instead using Step Up to Medicine (maybe gonna get through it twice during the IM rotation)? And then use Pocket Medicine as a reference book or for down-time quick reading at the hospital (it's actually not "quick" for me to read Pocket Medicine and originally I was going to convince myself to read the whole thing @ like 5 pages per day, but not gonna happen right now...Just on a patient-by-patient basis).

I'm planning on shelling out the cash for the year-round World subscription too.

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If it doesn't work for you, don't do it. Unless it's required. I didn't even get all the way through Step-Up to medicine.

Get the UWorld subscription though. I should have.
 
There's always 4th year. I plan to at least study Cecil's Essentials of Medicine during 4th year while I prepare for a residency in internal medicine. I should be able to do it because I won't have any shelf exams to worry about and I'll be way more motivated because of that. I plan to focus mostly on Step-Up to Medicine, MKSAP 3+4 and USMLE World during my IM clerkship (I'm actually starting to read Step-Up to Medicine ahead of time now, so that I will have already read it a few times before starting my IM clerkship).
 
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If it doesn't work for you, don't do it. Unless it's required. I didn't even get all the way through Step-Up to medicine.

Get the UWorld subscription though. I should have.

OK, thanks for the relief. I just wasn't sure if Step-Up was a cop-out and how much I would be cheating myself or my patients. I figure there is somewhat of generational-gap between myself and the attending that suggested all students get through the Wash Manual and specific reading in Harrison's...I take it he hasn't heard of Step-Up. Granted, I know they're not one and the same, but I've never been able to learn well with thick + dense.
 
We have an attending that strongly believes that as part of becoming a good physician, all students should get through the Wash Manual and then use Harrison's as a reference for more in-depth reading on certain topics.

I don't do well with thick books, period. Should I feel bad that I am instead using Step Up to Medicine (maybe gonna get through it twice during the IM rotation)? And then use Pocket Medicine as a reference book or for down-time quick reading at the hospital (it's actually not "quick" for me to read Pocket Medicine and originally I was going to convince myself to read the whole thing @ like 5 pages per day, but not gonna happen right now...Just on a patient-by-patient basis).

I'm planning on shelling out the cash for the year-round World subscription too.

What an IM weenie your attending is.;)
Do what works for you (as long as you get the job done). I hated the Wash Manual. Type is too dense and it's not particularly a straight-forward read. I never had the Pocket Med book but many like it. Ferri's Guide To The Medical Patient is a great handbook to give you the quick read and I think highly of Cecil's Essentials (to the point where I've pondered getting a newer copy..I'm a pediatrician but my subspecialty has brought me back into clinical contact with a lot of adults) for more in depth reading perfectly geared to a med stud.
 
There's always 4th year. I plan to at least study Cecil's Essentials of Medicine during 4th year while I prepare for a residency in internal medicine. I should be able to do it because I won't have any shelf exams to worry about and I'll be way more motivated because of that. I plan to focus mostly on Step-Up to Medicine, MKSAP 3+4 and USMLE World during my IM clerkship (I'm actually starting to read Step-Up to Medicine ahead of time now, so that I will have already read it a few times before starting my IM clerkship).

are you a 3rd year? how do u have time in other rotations to be reading Step Up a couple of times prior to starting the medicine rotation? wowzers. i'm a firm believer of the theory of diminishing returns...what's the point of reading something 5 times? why not substitute your 3rd or 4th go round for washington manual or something else...
But hey, to each his own! hope it works for you.
 
are you a 3rd year? how do u have time in other rotations to be reading Step Up a couple of times prior to starting the medicine rotation? wowzers. i'm a firm believer of the theory of diminishing returns...what's the point of reading something 5 times? why not substitute your 3rd or 4th go round for washington manual or something else...
But hey, to each his own! hope it works for you.

I'm a 3rd year and there is plenty of time to read outside material.

I will read Step-Up as many times as I can because I'd rather memorize the best book there is for 3rd year (and obviously IM) than just have a glancing understanding of a few other books. I can't memorize by reading just once or twice and memorizing is what it takes (it worked for Step 1).
 
I'm a 3rd year and there is plenty of time to read outside material.

I will read Step-Up as many times as I can because I'd rather memorize the best book there is for 3rd year (and obviously IM) than just have a glancing understanding of a few other books. I can't memorize by reading just once or twice and memorizing is what it takes (it worked for Step 1).

Sounds like a good idea to me if you're advancing each time you read. How are you attacking it? I'm just reading through the 1st time, and then the 2nd go through I'll highlight the key points, then 3rd time I'll just write out short blurbs for disease state based on the reading. However, I'd also like to get ideas on how you or others may be attacking Step Up to Med.
 
Sounds like a good idea to me if you're advancing each time you read. How are you attacking it? I'm just reading through the 1st time, and then the 2nd go through I'll highlight the key points, then 3rd time I'll just write out short blurbs for disease state based on the reading. However, I'd also like to get ideas on how you or others may be attacking Step Up to Med.


Sounds like you've got a winning plan. Right now I'm just casually reading through it. Second time around I plan to be more active in memorizing groups of signs/symptoms/lab tests/radiology findings etc. that are associated with each specific disease (anything that will help me make a diagnosis). Everything else in my second time around will be another casual read. Third time around my main focus will be on memorizing therapeutics for each disease, but I'll also make sure I revisit my main focus of my second time around. Anything after that (4th time, 5th time, etc.) will be like the 3 weeks before I took Step I (memorize every single thing in that book).

I really do believe that Step-Up to Medicine is the best book ever written for 3rd year clerkships. I worked really hard to memorize as much of First Aid for Step I as I possibly could and it paid off in my score and also in terms of what I can still remember to this day from that book that's been helping me in the hospital. I'd much rather memorize such a great book by reading it over and over again than read several different books written in different ways that interfere with memorization.

In 4th year Cecil's Essentials of Medicine will most likely be my main focus just like Step-Up to Medicine will be my main focus for 3rd year. Since I won't have any shelf exams during 4th year and I'll essentially be doing whatever rotations I want, you can bet I'll be reading Cecil's Essentials of Medicine as much as I possibly can (a pretty big book though, I'm not sure how many times I'll get through it). Other books I would like to use mainly on the wards during 4th year will be similar to those written by Saint-Frances or Medicine On Call. These would be good because they are organized based on symptom rather than system. Blueprints Family Medicine is organized in a similar way (one of the books I'm considering using for family medicine clerkship). I've got Saint-Frances Guide: Clinical Clerkship in Outpatient Medicine ordered on the way from Amazon.com used for about $6 plus shipping so I'll see how much I like it before getting the other one for inpatient medicine (my bookstore didn't have these books, but I figured with it being so cheap used on Amazon.com it's worth a shot).
 
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