Studying during Pgy1 year

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

lildave2586

Full Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
May 12, 2008
Messages
293
Reaction score
5
So I'm about to start my internship, and my program only does one month of ENT in the first year. What books should I use to be studying during my intern year? I thought that maybe I would use different resources and just read on various topics throughout the year instead of just reading from the same book. What topics should I focus on? any other advice on how to study during intern year?

Members don't see this ad.
 
While on my ENT months I did a lot of quick reviews on topics (e.g. you're seeing a consult, etc) with Pasha's, focused reading in Bailey's, review articles (sometimes at attending direction), etc. A lot like a sub-i, but more in-depth. Try to read about anything that isn't familiar.

Once I left my otolaryngology months, I tried to do a systematic reading schedule. A chief when I was a med student once told me my goal should be between 5-7 hours of reading per week (or about 45 minutes to an hour per day outside the hospital). He said it didn't matter that you did it every day, just try to hit your goals and make it a habit. I think that was great advice and a reasonable goal, though I do admit there are some months I slacked off and focused more on mindless stuff when I got home (December was a long cold month on a busy gen surg service where I barely touched anything). I've tried to get through Bailey's this way and have made a pretty good dent in it. Also read some articles in Laryngoscope and Oto-HNS along the way.

But intern year is intern year, even with the new hour restrictions you'll have your times you're burnt out. You shouldn't feel pressured to read during those times, it'll only make things worse. The main thing is to make it a habit and try to cover a little of everything (Bailey's was helpful that way, and is easier to read than Cummings IMHO).

Caveat: Just finishing intern year, have no idea is this is a "good" strategy or not.
 
While on my ENT months I did a lot of quick reviews on topics (e.g. you're seeing a consult, etc) with Pasha's, focused reading in Bailey's, review articles (sometimes at attending direction), etc. A lot like a sub-i, but more in-depth. Try to read about anything that isn't familiar.

Once I left my otolaryngology months, I tried to do a systematic reading schedule. A chief when I was a med student once told me my goal should be between 5-7 hours of reading per week (or about 45 minutes to an hour per day outside the hospital). He said it didn't matter that you did it every day, just try to hit your goals and make it a habit. I think that was great advice and a reasonable goal, though I do admit there are some months I slacked off and focused more on mindless stuff when I got home (December was a long cold month on a busy gen surg service where I barely touched anything). I've tried to get through Bailey's this way and have made a pretty good dent in it. Also read some articles in Laryngoscope and Oto-HNS along the way.

But intern year is intern year, even with the new hour restrictions you'll have your times you're burnt out. You shouldn't feel pressured to read during those times, it'll only make things worse. The main thing is to make it a habit and try to cover a little of everything (Bailey's was helpful that way, and is easier to read than Cummings IMHO).

Caveat: Just finishing intern year, have no idea is this is a "good" strategy or not.


I've read a chapter or two in Cummings but haven't looked at Baileys. What would you say are the main differences? I like the goal of setting a time goal for the week, that will definitely help. Anyone else have any thoughts?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
While on my ENT months I did a lot of quick reviews on topics (e.g. you're seeing a consult, etc) with Pasha's, focused reading in Bailey's, review articles (sometimes at attending direction), etc. A lot like a sub-i, but more in-depth. Try to read about anything that isn't familiar.

Once I left my otolaryngology months, I tried to do a systematic reading schedule. A chief when I was a med student once told me my goal should be between 5-7 hours of reading per week (or about 45 minutes to an hour per day outside the hospital). He said it didn't matter that you did it every day, just try to hit your goals and make it a habit. I think that was great advice and a reasonable goal, though I do admit there are some months I slacked off and focused more on mindless stuff when I got home (December was a long cold month on a busy gen surg service where I barely touched anything). I've tried to get through Bailey's this way and have made a pretty good dent in it. Also read some articles in Laryngoscope and Oto-HNS along the way.

But intern year is intern year, even with the new hour restrictions you'll have your times you're burnt out. You shouldn't feel pressured to read during those times, it'll only make things worse. The main thing is to make it a habit and try to cover a little of everything (Bailey's was helpful that way, and is easier to read than Cummings IMHO).

Caveat: Just finishing intern year, have no idea is this is a "good" strategy or not.

If you do this, you'll likely be doing better than 95% of ENT interns in terms of studying.

I'd say as an intern, go with a review book such as KJ Lee or Lange. Pasha is great once you already have learned the information and need to review it, but it might not be the best for learning information the first time. Big textbooks like Baileys and Cummings are good too, but generally more dense. Skim through several options (hopefully they have a few at your medical bookstore) and find the one that looks most engaging to you.

If you can shoot for even 20-30 minutes per day of reading (consistently!), you'll be ahead of the vast majority of your peers.
 
Alternatively, I'm about to start neurosurgery residency and will have only one month of ENT. Any suggestions on how to maximize my time and get the most out of that month?
 
Alternatively, I'm about to start neurosurgery residency and will have only one month of ENT. Any suggestions on how to maximize my time and get the most out of that month?

If you can get in and watch any combined ENT/Neuro procedures (acoustic neuromas, skull base tumors, endoscopic pituitaries, etc), great.

Generally as an intern, you'll be spending most of your time (on all services) as a floor and/or clinic bitch. For most ENT programs, that means lots of head and neck cancer.

If you get a chance, ask some of the otology and H+N attendings what they hope you'll remember as a neurosurgeon about those combined ENT/Neuro cases.

Realistically, the best practical knowledge you'll get from an ENT rotation is a solid understanding of trachs. Get your chief to spend 10 minutes telling you about different options for trachs, how to manage common issues, etc. Get comfortable changing trachs and see if you can sneak into the OR to do a couple yourself.
 
It's a good choice for the oral boards so I am told. I just bought it so I can't comment specifically
 
After you have a look, let me now what you think.
 
Hey Zag, so did you just read ENT stuff while you were off service? Did you use any other books (aka Sabiston when on gen surg)? Or did you just rely on Dr. Google, NP Wikipedia and reading select articles on those services?
 
Top