what resources to use for shelf clerkship exams

How can you lot prepare for your General Surgery Shelf Test?

The general surgery clerkship is known for existence one of the most challenging rotations for third twelvemonth medical students. It ofttimes requires long hours on the wards and in the OR, with relatively frequent call. Subsequently weeks of this (usually 6 to viii weeks, depending on the med schoolhouse), you lot will then be faced with the Surgery Shelf Exam, which has a reputation as existence one of the more challenging Shelf Exams. This examination is more often than not a significant component of honoring your surgery rotation. Those who are because a residency in a surgical field, or those who plan to apply to competitive residency programs and therefore want to award as many rotations every bit possible, will definitely want to do well on this test.

How can you prepare for the Surgery Shelf Test?

What resources are best for studying for the Surgery Shelf Test?

Although this is officially a surgery examination, information technology'southward mutual for students to written report that information technology felt more like the Medicine Shelf than they expected. This is because the exam doesn't merely focus on what happens in the OR itself; information technology includes pre-op and mail service-op patient direction, as well as deciding whether a patient needs surgical care or not. If you've already taken your medicine clerkship, that will assistance; if not, then studying for the Surgery Shelf will help you lot afterwards on the Medicine Shelf.

Direction of trauma is another loftier-yield topic. Retrieve that a patient must be stable (ABCs – Airway, Breathing, Circulation) before yous send them for any imaging studies. Focus on the near urgent aspects of the patient'southward condition earlier you worry virtually making a detailed diagnosis.

UWorld

As with other Shelf Exams, UWorld is the go-to resource. You tin can use the Step 2 CK Qbank, and filter for the Surgery questions. Try to go through all of them at least once, and preferably twice, before you take your Surgery Shelf. We generally recommend doing your offset pass through UWorld at the beginning of the clerkship, which will prepare you to shine in your clinical evaluations equally well every bit starting your preparations for the examination. So move on to other resources. In the last calendar week or two before the examination, go back through UWorld over again to solidify your noesis.

Remember to use UWorld equally a learning tool, focusing on learning the most possible from each question. Whether you got the answer correct or wrong is less important than learning from the question and its caption.

AMBOSS

This resource has multiple parts integrated into ane platform. There'due south a Qbank, with USMLE-manner questions and explanations. The questions on AMBOSS tend to be a little more detailed than on UWorld, and then we recommend finishing up your commencement pass through UWorld first in guild to establish your knowledge base of operations, and and then going to AMBOSS afterwards to fill in more details and reinforce your learning.

AMBOSS also offers a series of evidence-based articles on clinically relevant topics. This tin can be very useful for learning the about from each of your patients, and impressing your residents and attendings during your rotation.

Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes

This is a great surgery textbook. It's short and concise, but total of high-yield information. Information technology besides contains a few exercise questions (although you'll have plenty of those with UWorld and AMBOSS). Nosotros'd recommend getting through this book at least one time during your rotation. Information technology'south a small book, so it's easy to go along in your bag to read whenever you manage to find a trivial downtime on the wards.

OnlineMedEd

OME has a great video series, which can exist useful for all of the Shelf Exams. These videos exercise a bang-up job of summarizing content in an easy-to-sympathise way. For some students, if y'all're studying while tired, it may experience easier to sentry videos rather than to read a book or do flashcards. (Just make certain you lot stay awake and pay attending!) There are also notes available for each video lecture. These are extremely loftier-yield, and can be a great manner of reviewing important content quickly, specially right earlier the test.

Step Up to Medicine

Information technology may seem surprising that we have a medicine textbook on a listing of resource for the surgery exam, but as we mentioned earlier, there's actually a lot of overlap between the Surgery Shelf and the Medicine Shelf. Studying Pace Up to Medicine can be very useful for doing well on your Surgery Shelf. Go on in heed that this book is very dense with information, and then information technology'south not a crammable resource. (Nosotros don't recommend cramming anyhow, for a variety of reasons!) If you want to really smoothen, or if y'all're finding yourself a little lost when dealing with the medical aspects of caring for your surgery patients, Step Upward can be helpful. The sections that are most relevant are those on the cardiovascular and GI systems.

How can you create a report schedule for your Surgery Shelf Test?

The surgery rotation tends to be one of the busiest in terms of the number of hours spent in a clinical setting. We definitely recommend scrubbing into as many surgeries every bit you lot tin can, and participating actively in the care of equally many patients as possible. These experiences will help yous acquire in a lasting mode, since y'all'll have direct experience with the information. Don't miss out on any clinical experiences in order to have more study fourth dimension.

At the aforementioned time, this rotation can be one of the virtually difficult in terms of finding fourth dimension to study. You'll need to be diligent from Day i about spending some of your spare time studying each twenty-four hours. At times, you lot may discover it impossible to stick to your study schedule considering you simply go too decorated with patients. It helps to decide upon an corporeality of studying that you lot'll do per solar day; for instance, a number of UWorld questions, or a number of pages in a textbook. This gives y'all a goal to aim for. If y'all happen to autumn brusk on one twenty-four hours, just make up for it on a different mean solar day. Be flexible and don't get overwhelmed, only also stay dedicated to your Surgery Shelf Examination test training.

Because there's so much overlap between the Medicine and Surgery Shelf Exams, students who have already done their medicine rotations tend to practise better on the Surgery Shelf Exam (and in the rotation itself besides). If yous're because going into a surgical field for your residency, and you want to improve your chances of honoring your surgery rotation, then you lot should definitely attempt to exercise your internal medicine rotation first.

Ask for advice from others

Unless surgery is your very start clerkship, yous'll probable have some friends who went through it earlier y'all did. You can inquire their communication on studying for the examination, simply be wary of their specific subject suggestions. Recall bias makes it easier to remember the questions that felt more than difficult to you, then if they say that a certain topic was overemphasized, that doesn't necessarily mean that information technology really was; it might have simply felt that manner. All the same, it can be very useful to assistance each other out; some students even trade books or other study resources as they switch clerkships. MS4s and residents tin as well be valuable sources for data about the exam.

You might also desire to consider seeking professional advice. Here at Medlearnity, each of our Surgery Shelf Test tutors has scored 250+ on Step 2 CK, and is extremely well prepared to help y'all get set up for your Surgery Shelf Exam. Existence guided by someone who has successfully navigated this process can exist extremely valuable, helping to relieve stress and ensure that your study plan is as constructive as possible. It's often hard to find much time to report during the surgical rotation, so ensuring that you're efficient and that you stay on track is fundamental. If yous want to see what it would be like to learn with a tutor, y'all can endeavour out a free i-hour tutoring session.

snoddycitionabous77.blogspot.com

Source: https://www.medlearnity.com/how-to-study-for-the-surgery-shelf-exam/