(Part 2) Best products from r/medicalschool

Disclaimer: Some of this advice I consider 'no duh' but I figured I'd say it just in case.

On shelf exams:

1. Yes, all of the case files/blue prints/UW/OME are good resources.
   
   
2. Emma Holiday's clerkship review videos are all excellent.
   
   
3. If you're a DO peep and have to take COMAT shelf exams, go ahead and shell out for the COMBANK exam specific question banks. Some of those questions will show up verbatim on exam day.
   
   
4. If you haven't already, download the mobile app for UWorld, Kaplan, and/or Combank. Some of my preceptors actively encouraged me to do questions while they were charting and would jump in to work through some with me when we had downtime in the clinic.
   
   On electronic devices and apps:
   
   
5. I got an iPad mini at the start of the year and loved having it but it is not at all necessary.
   
   
6. Some people recommended starting off each rotation by saying to your attending/upper level "I have electronic textbooks/apps, is it okay if I use them while I'm with you?" (so that you're not accused of texting or being on facebook 24/7) but that was honestly never an issue for me.
   
   
7. Good apps to have: MDCalc (free), ASCVD Risk Estimator (free), Nodule (free), UpToDate (some hospitals will give you an institutional log-in if your school doesn't), GoodRx (free), Epocrates (free-ish), and palmEM ($10 but a decent investment if you're an EM gunner).
   
   On boards:
   
   
8. The best time to sign up for your Step 2 CS/Level 2 PE is the second you get authorization from your school. Those spots go quick.
   
   
9. DO peeps: the NBOME has affiliate deals with hotels for reduced rates. You can find the links and info here. Yes, this whole thing is stupid expensive but you might as well take advantage of what little silver lining there is.
   
   
10. If you need disability accommodations (extra time, electronic stethoscope), start those applications NOW. There's a lot of little parts to them (I have no idea why they needed a letter from my dean but whateva) and the committee to approve those things only meets once a month (so if your application arrives after they've met for the month, you're basically going to be waiting two months to hear back from them.) Anyone who needs help with this or has questions can feel free to message me.
    
    
11. I have no idea when the best time to take the written tests are. It will depend on your individual schedule and goals.
    
    On wards:
    
    
12. You'll probably get a lot of (pocket) book recommendations. You do not need to buy every book recommended to you. The two I found useful this year were The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine and Clinician's Guide to Laboratory Medicine.
    
    
13. Pre-round on your patients. Some people like the scutsheets from medfools but I found them a little constrictive once I knew what I was doing. If you are supposed to write an H&P, SOAP note, discharge summary, etc and your school didn't teach you, google it. There are a ton of decent guides out there.
    
    
14. You are there until your attending/resident explicitly tells you to go home. Your ability to ask to leave will depend on the culture +/- your gumption.
    
    
15. NEVER LIE. If you did not see the patient, you didn't see the patient.
    
    
16. Some people will tell you to always say "I don't know but I'll look that up and get back to you!" Honestly, my residents would roll their eyes and tell us to guess.
    
    
17. If you don't know where something minor is (cups, ice machine, extra pillows, extra blankets) ask to be shown so that the next time you can get it yourself. Yes, you will absolutely be asked to fetch people coffee, return that empty bed to the floor, help someone to the bathroom, grab an extra blanket, etc. Most people tend to think more highly of those that do this without groaning.
    
    
18. If you feel like you had a good time with a preceptor and they would be a useful addition to your application, consider asking them for a letter of rec at/near the end of your rotation. You don't have to apply every letter you upload for programs to see so there's really no harm in collecting more than three (but do not ask every single persona for a letter of rec - doctors talk about students, especially the ones they find sketchy or annoying).
    
    On evaluations:
    
    
19. I know the majority of this subreddit moans about how subjective and unfair evaluations are but my one point of pride this year is that every single preceptor gave me an honors level eval.
    
    
20. Yes, I am a woman. No, I am not attractive. I'm slightly below average to fair with a moderate amount of chunkiness.
    
    
21. Do anything you can to make your resident's life easier.
    
    
22. Be polite to every nurse, tech, nurse practitioner, receptionist, and office manager. Make small talk. Yes, I know you've heard this a million times. Yes, I did bake things and bring in boxes of donuts. Yes, you can call me a suck-up. I was still blown away when one office manager said to me "We really liked having you. None of the other students talk to us."
    
    
23. Be enthusiastic. Ask questions. Even if you're not interested in that specialty, you can still ask what applying to residency was like (for young doctors) or how things have changed since they started (for old doctors).
    
    
24. This is not the year to have debates. Some of my classmates got into arguments on guns, the president, or religion; sometimes the attending respected their chutzpah and sometimes they didn't. I preferred to play it safe.
    
    
25. Keep in mind every annoying social media professionalism lecture you've ever gotten. Techs, nurses, nurse practitioners, and more all wanted to add me as a friend on Facebook. Yes, you can choose not to add them (smartest move tbh) but I gave in after getting point-blank asked "why didn't you add me?!" Facebook is for that "magical feeling of wonder and joy" when you catch a baby for the first time or the "humbling awe" you felt when you first retracted the colon. Nothing else.
    
    
26. If you are sharing a rotation with NP student or PA student, treat them like another medical student and be cordial. Don't try to pimp them. Don't get into pissing contests. Doctors are expected to be leaders; now is your chance to actually demonstrate that.
    
    
    
    In general: Third year can be frustrating because it varies so wildly. Some of you will have cush rotations where you're done at 10:30 am. Some of you will enter the hospital before the sun rises and leave when it is setting. Some of you will feel like you're shadowing again. Some of you will be treated like interns (and abused because you don't have work-hour restrictions). Some will find out the thing they thought they wanted they hate and others will find out the thing they want is beyond their reach (because of family obligations, board scores, or another thing all together). Some of you will deliver 80 babies a month and some of you won't even do a Pap smear. Every hospital has a different culture; just be polite, professional, and let yourself be immersed. You'll pick it up soon enough.
    
    TL; DR: Life is short. Be excellent to each other.
    
    EDIT: Added some stuff, found out there's a size limit on comments, made a second part.

What is your price range?

The lowest range I would say you could safely go would be the Galaxy tab A which goes refurbished for $144 on amazon

The Asus Zenpad 8 for $129 would also get the job done.

Now, those will definitely get the job done on a budget. They won't be useful for serious gaming, but plenty good enough for anki and looking up stuff or doing qbanks and watching videos. A little patience and you can go with lenovo, which I'll discuss below with more mid-range tablets.

If you want to step up to the $250 range, you could go with the Ipad mini 2, which I hear still runs great, but I don't like that there is no expandable memory.

Now, as far as the latest and greatest, you have a couple of decent options. If you can wait for the Lenovo Tab 4 8 or 8 plus ($100-$250 depending on which version you get), which come out in July, I would wait for them (I don't think they'll have spyware on them, but whatever.)

Personally, I can't wait that long because I have to travel before they are released, so I went with the $300 Huawei MediaPad 3 which has great stats and the update to Nougat and EMUI 5.0 has improved the interface a ton. It has the best speakers on any tablet right now, 4GB ram, a 2k screen resolution, and expandable memory. The only downside for me is there is no USB-C, but that's really not a huge deal for my needs.

After that you start getting into high end tablets that are basically laptops like the Galaxy Tab 3 or iPad Pro.

Pen Light It's probably a little too bright but it's still awesome none-the-less
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00008BFS5 The stylus might be more appropriate

I have also heard great things about the book The House of God even if you are not religious. I have not had a chance to read it yet but it's on my list.

If you are trying to spend a little more money an engraves stethoscope (I recommend the Cardiology III) is always appreciated.

MS1 here:

Is she a coffee or tea drinker? If so, there are companies that do some really cool "coffee or tea" of the month deals. I've gone through quite a bit of coffee since I began...

Here are some really awesome books: House of God, Emperor of All Maladies, and Complications to name a few.

I wouldn't recommend getting her a stethoscope/medical supplies because they can be very personal. Sure, they're all roughly the same but it's an instrument you're going to be using for many years to come. "This is my stethoscope. There are many like it but this one is mine..." Just my 2 cents, at least.

I hope that helps! If I come up with any others, I'll post them here.

• Pilot Hi-tec 0.25 pens...worked greats for making summaries of my class notes
  https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-G-Tec-C-Ultra-Black-Rollerball/dp/B00CXX74YM/ref=pd_sim_229_5?ie=UTF8&dpID=51d56f8TRKL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR115%2C160_&refRID=82KB1GPM4KKK7YTES0QG
  
• Good set of highlighters...I used the Sharpie click top ones
  https://www.amazon.com/Sharpie-Accent-Retractable-Highlighters-Assorted/dp/B000I0VMMC/ref=sr_1_6?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1464818517&sr=1-6&keywords=sharpie+highlighter
  
• Bose QC25
  
• Pigma Micron Pens -- great for writing in First Aid, no smudges, no bleeds. There are different sizes I prefer 01
  https://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30063-6-Piece-Micron-Assorted/dp/B001CRIGZQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1464818536&sr=1-1&keywords=Micron+01
  
• And...always try to find the "why" behind a concept...it will make things stick better...longer and will help on make weird connections..
  
  
  Edited -- Added a few more things as I thought about it during the day and links -- Good Luck :)

1. Study however works best for you. Firstaid is probably the most popular resource. Firecracker and Brosencephalon are the two most popular resources for flashcards.
   
   
2. You may wish to just skip to uWorld questions considering your clinical experience. There are about 2500 uWorld questions as well as two assessment exams. The questions are very representative of the actual exam.
   
   
3. Bien venido, sal si puedes, y buena suerte.

I've got super sensitive feet and need lots of arch support in shoes to make them even remotely comfortable. After a lot of money spent and probably 10+ pairs of shoes tried, I've found that "regular" flats with these 3/4 length insoles work the best for keeping my feet comfy.

Marino’s ICU Book is great. The latest edition from Amazon comes with an Inkling copy which is convenient on the go. The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics and Critical Care are both good quick references, though they have less explanation than Marino’s.

For Anesthesia, Miller’s Anesthesia is the standard Harrison’s-style specialty text. At the medical student level a lot of places recommend “Baby Miller” aka Basics of Anesthesia. I personally preferred Morgan & Mikhail’s Clinical Anesthesiology, but both are good introductory texts. FWIW, my school had both available online so it was easy to pick and choose.

This chair is awesome, I am very happy with it: Modway Articulate Ergonomic Mesh Office Chair in Gray https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00S3JRKF8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2x60CbFX5PVP3
(I recommend pairing it with an adjustable standing desk- alternating sitting/standing really helps with pain/stiffness while studying).

We tend to use MacLeod's Clinical Examination here in Scotland and it is pretty great! Good detail, nice simple steps and explains what findings might mean, and it has an online resource too. There's a new edition coming out in June 2013 though so if you want the latest edition I'd hang fire or pre-order it.

If you want to get a book (which is generally cheaper than courses), I've read this one and it is good:

http://www.amazon.com/Medical-Spanish-Fourth-Bongiovanni/dp/0071442006/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1453634368&sr=1-6&keywords=medical+spanish

I also think the most important things to do are:

1. Use multiple senses - talk out loud, listed, and read
   
2. Interact with other speakers, even if you're scared
   
3. Make a schedule and stick to it
   
   You could spend only 15 min a day and still progress if you're committed. Good luck!

Don't listen to people who tell you to buy the cheapest one. This is a tool that you will be using for several years. If you have a medical supply store that lets you test them out, buy the stethoscope that you can hear the best out of, regardless of price.

I've had the same stethoscope since medical school and I'm an attending now, its been well worth it.

If you are going into pediatrics I would highly recommend my current stethoscope the welch allen harvey elite, I can easily replace the diaphragm from adult to pediatric

https://www.amazon.com/Welch-Allyn-5079-125-Harvey-Stethoscope/dp/B000PSRQL8

I have the perfect book for you my friend.

The Patient History: Evidence-Based Approach (Tierney, The Patient History)

https://www.amazon.com/Patient-History-Evidence-Based-Approach-Tierney/dp/0071624945/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465792447&sr=8-1&keywords=the+patient+history

It has flowcharts for many common presenting symptoms, including even super broad ones such as "fever" or "headache." Abnormal vaginal bleeding flowchart is on page 512, jaundice is on page 382.

if you are looking for pens for annotating do yourself a favor and buy these

http://www.amazon.com/Sanford-Sharpie-Assorted-Colors-12-Pack/dp/B005LU2QAQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405297880&sr=8-2&keywords=sharpie+pens

I tried the Pigma ones and they take a while to dry

The Sharpie ones are very nice and dry quickly i annotated the ENTIRE Kaplan course minus Pathology videos and they are still working great

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0008G8G8Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 these are amazing with good quality tips that don't blunt after a lot of use and they don't smear when you highlight over them!

I used Doctors In Training videos! I put myself on a schedule using Cram Fighter . Then I would read that section in Step Up To Medicine. Lastly everyday I would do a random set of UWORLD questions. The actual test will be random so make sure to practice this way. During the last 4 weeks of studying (I studied for 7), I did an NBME or a UWSA. These are good to show you how the questions will be asked and what topics are important. DO NOT take your score to heart, I never scored above a 230 and I got a 262. Most important thing is keep learning from your mistakes and moving forward!

Personally I've always wanted one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/Whitecoat-MedInfo-Clipboard-Medical-Black/dp/B00C2EG826/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525306865&sr=8-3&keywords=clipboard+medical

Also a nice set of pens like https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Retractable-Premium-Roller-Dozen/dp/B001E6D3W6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1525306908&sr=8-5&keywords=gel+pens will be clutch and they're on sale right now too!

Besides that, just lend an ear when she needs to rant after a long day. Prepare meals for her. Take her on dates. And don't get upset when she's working long days and has to come home and study. But honestly if y'all made it past M2, you're probably in the clear in terms of understanding her busy hours.

You the real MVP

Marino's ICU Book. It was recommended to me for an ICU rotation I'm doing soon (I'm interested in the field). It's really an excellent book, does a great job explaining concepts that I always had trouble with (like shunt vs. dead space, a-A gradient, etc), and they added little snippets like this to keep things interesting.

Step-up to Medicine, it's a review book on Internal Medicine (Amazon). It's one book in the "Step-up series", but its the most well-known and respected.

​

I personally did not use the Step-up books because I felt Q-banks were a better use of time. Up to you though...

One of those foldable metal clipboards are helpful to keep everything together. I keep all my PHI on easily throw-away-able pieces of paper in the clipboard, and then a separate small notebook for notes I have on diseases, treatments, things to look up for the next day etc.

That way its just Clipboard for PHI crap, Notebook for Stuff to Learn.
What I need help with is how to organize my PHI half-sheets. Some residents have beautifully organized half sheets on their pts.. mine are always kinda scattered.

https://www.amazon.com/Whitecoat-MedInfo-Clipboard-Medical-Black/dp/B00C2EG826/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541019177&sr=8-1&keywords=foldable+clipboard+medical&dpID=61tmNneUejL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

https://www.amazon.com/Moleskine-Sketching-Journaling-Sketchbook-Composition/dp/8883704983/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1541019279&sr=8-11&keywords=small+cahier

Everyone is going to say Dubin's, but The Only EKG Book You'll Ever Need is very good as well. Both are introductory EKG books. I skimmed Dubin's at first along with 90% of my classmates, but I ended up ditching it because the organization wasn't very good and the explanations left something to be desired. You should check your library to see if you can compare them.

This is all you'll ever need. Macleod's Clinical Examination



You can also find the videos here

Good luck :)

Sidman's Neuroantomy is an amazing workbook. I used it as my primary method of studying and got great scores on my exams.

these are just as good as bose, don't have crazy good noise canceling, but can't see why that's necessary if you're just as home. Lots of studio people/artists use these too. Love them. Half the price of Bose https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000AJIF4E/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I can endorse this one.

Very bright, and very useful for checking wounds for morning rounds on whatever surgical clerkship one might be on.

Practicing will obviously work the best, maybe volunteer at a clinic more likely to have spanish patients?

I think this is the most helpful medical spanish book: http://www.amazon.com/Medical-Spanish-Fourth-Bongiovanni/dp/0071442006/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1464016441&sr=8-6&keywords=medical+spanish

For This is the book you want, First Aid for the USMLE Step 1:

https://www.amazon.com/First-Aid-USMLE-Step-2017/dp/1259837637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502900505&sr=8-1&keywords=first+aid+step+1

For a pdf version, message me your email and I share.

Figuring out how to tell what's important and what's not is a skill to develop. It takes time and multiple rounds of tests. First aid will direct you to what is truly important information, at least for boards, and likely for your class exams.

What material are you studying currently?

That's really probably a lot to do/ask, especially before next week. Just as or more important, is to have the right resources to get them quickly. There are a few great medical calculator apps, but just about as fast is getting the "Purple Book" (formerly the green, then red, then blue book) for internal medicine and [Tarascon's Internal Medicine and Critical Care pocket books](Tarascon Internal Medicine & Critical Care Pocketbook). Between those two, I've only needed to look up extra calculators/equations for fairly obscure things.

The Purple book runs $40-60 usually, but I got my Tarascon for like $20-30 a couple years ago. For some reason it's more expensive than rent/a week of medical school/etc at about $485. No idea why.

*edit formatting

Along that same vein, for those of you about to start annotating FA, these Sakura marker pens are perfect! They don't bleed and having multiple colors is really helpful.

If the rest of your devices live in the Apple ecosystem, the iPad mini is a great device. If you prefer to have the same 7-8" form factor in an Android device, I love my NVIDIA Shield K1. Unfortunately, it's sometimes difficult to find it in stock. The new Huawei Mediapad M3 is another 8" Android device that's getting very solid review.

http://www.amazon.com/Emperor-All-Maladies-Biography-Cancer/dp/1439170916/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1458615678&sr=1-1 Emperor of All Maladies is a great biography of cancer :) it's basically the history of cancer, really excellent.

Also any New Yorker articles and books by Atul Gawande - my favorite books by him are Complications and Being Mortal. There's also a great (albeit really sad, warning you) Frontline documentary based on Being Mortal - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/being-mortal/

Another interesting Frontline documentary is The League of Denial - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/league-of-denial/ it's a documentary about the neuropathologist that Will Smith played in the recent movie Concussion and the real story with the NFL behind that movie.

The movie "Wit" with Emma Thompson is also a fantastic movie but it's incredibly depressing (she plays a professor with stage 4 cancer) and it's about her stay in the hospital. Couldn't stop crying when I saw this movie lol.

I tried Dubin's, did not like it that much. Much more preferred Malcolm Thaler's book, was super useful during a cardiology elective I did.

https://www.amazon.ca/Only-Book-Youll-Ever-Need/dp/1451193947/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1478375011&sr=1-1&keywords=the+only+ekg+book+you%27ll+ever+need

Edit: Also, Life in the Fast Lane (EM/Crit Care-oriented blog) has a massive set of ECG cases and examples to go through for specific conditions.

yes they are. That's why I'm pretty desperate to find a way to lock them into my memory. Here you go. Amazon UK for your convenience.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Macleods-Clinical-Diagnosis-Alan-MBChB/dp/0702035432/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394311545&sr=8-1&keywords=macleod+clinical+diagnosis

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Patient-History-Evidence-Based-Approach/dp/0071624945/ref=sr_ob_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394311514&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Sidmans-Neuroanatomy-Programmed-Learning-Lippincott/dp/0781765684

Sidman's for neuroanatomy. It's the basics, but it'll do a really good job of clearing things up. I don't know what level of detail you need so you might need to supplement.

This is the pen you seek; I use this and it works amazing

https://www.amazon.com/Sakura-30062-6-Piece-Pigma-Micron/dp/B0008G8G8Y/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1502723685&sr=8-3&keywords=pigma+micron

I like these programmed texts too and know of two:

Sidman's Neuroanatomy: A Programmed Learning Tool
https://www.amazon.com/Sidmans-Neuroanatomy-Programmed-Learning-Lippincott/dp/0781765684

Felson's Principles of Chest Roentgenology, A Programmed Text, 4e
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1455774839

I use the Sakura 30062 6-Piece Pigma Micron Ink Pen which has worked well for me.

I came across it through this thread if you wanted more suggestions.

• Maxwell Quick Medical Reference
  
  
• WhiteCoat Clipboard
  
  
• Multiple small notebooks
  
  
• Pen light
  
  
• Cheap decoy pens for the attending who asks to borrow one and never returns it

This one?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015UC17E/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apap_K59JgidqtIce6

i usually keep mine fashionably clipped on my scrub neckline

UFAP

Bruh, did you even try?

https://www.amazon.com/First-Aid-USMLE-Step-2017/dp/1259837637/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479081198&sr=8-1&keywords=first+aid+2017

Marino's ICU Book is the ICU bible

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Medicine-Massachusetts-Hospital-Handbook/dp/1451193785?ie=UTF8&keywords=pocket%20medicine&qid=1463463929&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Could not recommend it more. It has been invaluable so far on my inpatient medicine rotation.