Guides for reviewing clinical skills

[deleted642188]

Hello everyone,

As the title suggests, I am interested in reviewing clinical skills before Spring/Winter Semester. I find that I need every minute in Med School to prepare for the physiology aspect of my curriculum. Hence, the week after the New Year's festivities will be the ideal time to catch up on my deficits. What sources/videos/(preferably) study books do you guys use for prepping for mock patients, physical exams, and other clinical skills needed for first year?

For some context, I mean what books do you use to learn about teh various breathing issues (Cheyne-stokes vs Apneustic) or the different heart beats and their arrhythmias .

Merry X-mas and Happy New Years, BTW!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[deleted642188]

Bump

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

Also would like this information.

 

[cbrons]

Hello everyone,

As the title suggests, I am interested in reviewing clinical skills before Spring/Winter Semester. I find that I need every minute in Med School to prepare for the physiology aspect of my curriculum. Hence, the week after the New Year's festivities will be the ideal time to catch up on my deficits. What sources/videos/(preferably) study books do you guys use for prepping for mock patients, physical exams, and other clinical skills needed for first year?

For some context, I mean what books do you use to learn about teh various breathing issues (Cheyne-stokes vs Apneustic) or the different heart beats and their arrhythmias .

Merry X-mas and Happy New Years, BTW!

First you say "Clinical Skills" then you talk about obscure exam findings. Which are you looking to review? Performing the physical exam or preparing for questions they ask on Step II CK?

 

[deleted642188]

First you say "Clinical Skills" then you talk about obscure exam findings. Which are you looking to review? Performing the physical exam or preparing for questions they ask on Step II CK?

Thanks for the response, I should have said physical exams

 

[cbrons]

Thanks for the response, I should have said physical exams

It's very difficult to review physical exam skills via textbooks.

There are videos you can watch, but this is not much better.

Honestly the only way to get good at it is with a good solid teacher who can invest time in correcting your technique. Sadly, such people are often >70 years old and retired (from the generation when history and exam skills mattered). One of the reasons U.S. medical education is so low-quality today.

 

[Akecheta]

https://meded.ucsd.edu/clinicalmed/

 

[deleted642188]

Thank you so much!!!

 

[Hangry]

The Stanford 25 always seemed like a great resource to me, although I never cared enough about the finer points of the physical exam to actually delve into it much.

http://stanfordmedicine25.stanford.edu

 

[bashwell]

1) You can use almost any physical examination book (e.g., Bates, DeGowin, Oxford Handbook of Clinical Examination and Practical Skills, Talley, Macleod, Sapira if you want to be crazy). Just pick a book you like and that works for you. Personally, I mostly used Talley's.

Other related books I found helpful were Browse's Intro to Symptoms and Signs of Surgical Disease, Oxford Cases in Medicine and Surgery, and Clinical Skills for OSCEs.

By the way, most books should come with access to their own physical examination videos.

2) Then make sure to practice on lots of patients. Practice, practice, practice! This is key.

3) There's plenty of stuff online too (e.g., Geeky Medics, UVA, Michigan).

 

[GoodWillShunting]

Bates and The Only EKG Book You'll Ever Need


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile

 

[Mad Jack]

It's very difficult to review physical exam skills via textbooks.

There are videos you can watch, but this is not much better.

Honestly the only way to get good at it is with a good solid teacher who can invest time in correcting your technique. Sadly, such people are often >70 years old and retired (from the generation when history and exam skills mattered). One of the reasons U.S. medical education is so low-quality today.

>implying history and physical skills don't matter today

 

[neoevolution]

Bates has a series of videos too; you can probably get institutional access for them

 

[cbrons]

>implying history and physical skills don't matter today

No, that is the opposite of what I'm implying. They are extremely important, but aren't well-taught in American medical schools. That's not my point, either. There are plenty of articles in NEJM, JAMA, and elsewhere making this point. This is one of the chief reasons why they started administering Step II CS to all U.S. seniors (despite the fact that the exam doesnt really test H&P skills).

A large reason why they aren't taught well is because the physicians with decent exam skills who could teach it are retired. The CT/MRI/Ultrasound generation has a well-documented deficiency in this area, despite the fact that improving said deficiency could theoretically reduce unnecessary tests.



Sent from my SM-N910P using SDN mobile

 

[deleted642188]

My main issue is with understanding clinical symptoms and to what syndrome the symptoms are associated.

For example what is Cheyne-Stoke breathing, what is the sound and what illnesses have cheyne-stoke as a symptom

 

[GoodWillShunting]

My main issue is with understanding clinical symptoms and to what syndrome the symptoms are associated.

For example what is Cheyne-Stoke breathing, what is the sound and what illnesses have cheyne-stoke as a symptom

Again, Bates. Bates answers the question you posed, and many others. Read bates, watch YouTube videos, and practice with classmates and on people you know.

You'll do a ton of physicals 3rd/4th year, and that's where repetition comes in. These will also be focused, so you'll learn pertinent tests. As you get to second year, you'll have the physical exam steps and findings integrated into your pathology/cases, hopefully, like our school does. Right now, read, watch, and practice on/with whomever you can.

Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile