Washington manual or Harrison's?

[DennisReynolds]

Have 12 weeks before I start residency in IM.

Day consists of sleeping, eating, working out, and more sleeping.

I need to get my brain juices flowing and have already started doing questions for COMLEX 3.

So... to all my residents or attendings in IM... which book do y'all recommend for me to waste my precious time on...

Harrison's or Washington manual...and why?

<3

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[MD46]

Harrisons is a text book and a good reference.

I would stick to Washington Manual ( which is also pretty detailed) for the day to day things in IM

Consider Pocket Book for Internal medicine , its quick and easy reference and is not too big either for the pocket.

Good luck.

 

[tantacles]

Have 12 weeks before I start residency in IM.

Day consists of sleeping, eating, working out, and more sleeping.

I need to get my brain juices flowing and have already started doing questions for COMLEX 3.

So... to all my residents or attendings in IM... which book do y'all recommend for me to waste my precious time on...

Harrison's or Washington manual...and why?

<3

I would suggest leisure reading. Choose a topic unrelated to medicine that suits your interests and dig in. As an intern, unless you were an excellent sub-intern at the place you are going to be doing residency, you will always feel behind. Embrace that feeling. It will motivate you to learn. Enjoy this time. Do things you won't have time to do later.

 

[aafisahar]

No one reads Harrisons. I scored 95th percentile on the ABIM and never opened the book.

Washington manual is marginally better. It's also obsolete once you get a few months of medicine wards in you.

 

[DennisReynolds]

No one reads Harrisons. I scored 95th percentile on the ABIM and never opened the book.

Washington manual is marginally better. It's also obsolete once you get a few months of medicine wards in you.

That's so boss. What did you do to "study"? Did you just learn from patients and use MKSAP? Appreciate your reply. It really means a lot to me. <3

 

[aafisahar]

That's so boss. What did you do to "study"? Did you just learn from patients and use MKSAP? Appreciate your reply. It really means a lot to me. <3

Read patients, get up to date on guidelines, did Uworld for ABIM. I'm a good test taker as well, scored 80th and 90th on my ITE 1st and 2nd year.

 

[shouldigomd]

Neither. You won't retain much by going through those books. They are meant to be used as references and nowadays all the info is at your fingertips with the internet / phone / uptodate.

Honestly I would practice / learn skills like ECG, CXR, CT's, PFTs prior to starting. It is useful to interpret your own studies and those skills often get neglected in the setting of internship stress.

I second leisure reading. You will miss it.

 

[DennisReynolds]

Neither. You won't retain much by going through those books. They are meant to be used as references and nowadays all the info is at your fingertips with the internet / phone / uptodate.

Honestly I would practice / learn skills like ECG, CXR, CT's, PFTs prior to starting. It is useful to interpret your own studies and those skills often get neglected in the setting of internship stress.

I second leisure reading. You will miss it.

Do you have any personal sources you recommend to learn said skills? Appreciate you doc.

 

[shouldigomd]

Do you have any personal sources you recommend to learn said skills? Appreciate you doc.

Dubin's for ECG is always a good one. Nearly everyone has pocket guide to internal medicine. For radiology I used a book called "learning radiology." I think it is overkill but I enjoyed having it. Other than that I would just hit up youtube / internet. Website called lifeinthefast lane has some useful ECG stuff.

 

[CopaceticOne]

Washington Manual and Pocket Medicine are nearly the same - the former uses whole sentences and paragraphs, the later just a few words or abbreviations. When I purchased Washington Manual for intern year I got the electronic version for free (which included the phone app) so I almost never carried the book. Either way, these are just quick guides.

Generally I tell people to enjoy this time off before starting residency (aka, do leisure things not studying). But in these COVID-19 days, I'm guessing that folks might actually be going stir crazy / rusty.

So, with that in mind, here are my suggestions for prepping for intern year:
1) Really learn how to do basic EKG reads - Dubin's EKG, ECGpedia, etc
2) Refresh doing basic self-reads of CXR and CToH - Radiology Masterclass (free tutorials)
3) Actually understand electrolyte repletion and dosing (K, Phos, Ca, Mag, etc) - if a patient with normal renal function has a potassium of 2.8, how much are you going to give (and route) to start? Any other labs to check? What guides your decision to replete calcium - when should you give calcium even if it is normal on morning labs?
4) Initial opioid dosing and considerations for choosing which one to go with - How's hepatic / renal function? Yes as a profession we are moving away from prescribing narcotics, but you WILL still be ordering them.
5) Insulin management - titrating doses up/down based on finger stick checks, switching between types (short+long vs 70/30 vs other)

Of course there are more - but these were the big ones off the top of my head

 

[Trogghunter]

Have 12 weeks before I start residency in IM.

Day consists of sleeping, eating, working out, and more sleeping.

I need to get my brain juices flowing and have already started doing questions for COMLEX 3.

So... to all my residents or attendings in IM... which book do y'all recommend for me to waste my precious time on...

Harrison's or Washington manual...and why?

<3

Up-to-date app and MKSAP questions corresponding to the rotation you're on. You need nothing else. If you have to read anything, Washington manual for critical care. I read/thumbed through Washington manual of critical care in med school and the Harrison's manual(shorter) of internal medicine in residency. Both are good, you need concise, not comprehensive. There is too much to learn from experience that is irrelevant to what is in the book. Don't get the massive texts. Don't read now, enjoy your time off. The best think that you can do is come into residency with a good attitude and energy. You're going to need it to get through those 3 years.

These next 12 weeks will be the last time in your life(until you retire) when you have no responsibility.