First Aid for the® Wards: Fourth Edition
The perfect primer for the core clerkships written by students who excelled! Don’t begin third year medical school without reading this book! Written by students for students, this high-yield guide helps you move smoothly from the classroom to the wards. Thoroughly revised and updated, this comprehensive book explains what to expect in each required rotation and includes sample notes and reports, key facts, formulas, and protocols, and answers to “pimp questions” you will…
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Having used First Aid for the USMLE step I, picking up this book before starting third year was a no brainer for me. Too bad it’s not in the same league. Although the book has over 400 pages, it really has only 75 pages of useful info. Essentially that’s the first 50 pages and then 5-10 pages at the beginning of each clerkship section. The rest of the book is basically high yield topics in each clerkship. While that sounds good, the topics are not written in any depth. So, when you finally reach the clerkship, you won’t find the info useful. I don’t know of any students who did. My point is – why spend $ 40 for 75 pages of useful info. Better to borrow it from a friend.
A much better book is How to be a truly excellent junior medical student. This is a 125 page book that goes over the same info plus it’s only $ 10 or so!. The downside is that the print is really small but it is power-packed full of info. Another recommendation would be 250 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year Medical Students Make And How To Avoid Them. This is the only book that I know of that gives you a look into the attending’s head. What makes one student get a better evaluation than another? Covers everything including evaluation form, write-ups, presentations, talks, shelf exams, etc. Strong book. It’s about $ 20.
Okay, let me stop before I go on and on. Bottom line – first aid for the wards is not as strong as first aid for the usmle.
I love the fact that this book has just a few pages dedicated to each discipline which allows for it to be read rather quickly. It is perfect for those 10 minute periods of down time you frequently get on rotations. This book doesn’t dawdle on the tiny details, but it focuses on the key points needed to succeed without leaving important information out. A must have for any 3rd or 4th year student!
I agree with the other reviewers that when it comes time for each rotation, you probably will end up turning to more focused review books in each specialty.
On the other hand, if you are disciplined enough, this is a great quick read to do before each rotation. It’d be much harder to finish Step-up or impossible to read to Washington Guide in a weekend for internal med! The hard part is motivating yourself to sit down and work during your golden weekend!
Also, I find myself frequently getting bogged down in the nitty-gritty during each rotation and forgetting to get a big picture overview. It’s great to read uptodate all the time, but the shelf exams don’t really care about the most recent meta-analysis on prophylactic antibiotics for pancreatitis, for example. This is a good book to give you a quick broad-picture overview and make sure you know your basics.
I decided to write this review to give the book credit b/c right now I am doing an Emed rotation without having rotated in Peds. First aid for the wards is giving me just what I need – a QUICK reference on peds. I’m probably going to re-read the surgery part to review abdominal complaints. And maybe the ObGyn part too if I have time.
So, yes, you will get this info in other books. But it is useful. It covers 7 specialties, so even if you don’t read three of the sections, you’re paying about 10 dollars per specialty. It’s up to you if that’s worth it.
Oh yeah, other nice perks that I haven’t found elsewhere are their “ward tips” sections for each specialty – it tell you the general structure, what attendings expect, etc. Also, at the end it has a database of references/books. This is similar to the back part of First aid for USMLE I. I found it useful to see what other books are out there and how they are rated.