Fast Track Surgery: General, Vascular and Urology - PasTest

USING THIS BOOK AND STUDYING FOR SURGERYThis book was written for you, the medical student on surgical rotations,by registrars and senior house officers (people who are not too far offfrom where you are right now). Its aim is to serve as a summary ofcommon surgical conditions you are likely to come across during thattime. It serves as a rapid-access study aid and is not meant to be acomplete surgical text.Surgery is a logical and practical science, and studying it should be thesame. Ideally, after seeing a case on the ward, you should read about itextensively in your standard surgical text and then use this book torefresh and highlight salient points and concepts. Reading should bedone daily (or nightly!). The average surgical attachment isapproximately 10 weeks. That equates to 70 days. Reading an averageof 10 pages a day (approximately 1 hours worth of reading), and 20 aday on Saturday and Sunday mornings from a standard surgicaltextbook (and this one!), equals 900 pages by the end of the rotation:enough to give you a broad, sound base of surgical knowledge and stillleaving adequate time to go on take, and even squeeze in a social life(just about). Sorted!The book is designed in a question-and-answer type format, and makesuse of questions commonly asked on the wards, with the answers givenin the succinct and structured way they should be answered. Thequestions are largely derived from what the authors remember beingasked when they were medical students themselves. Applied anatomy isincluded where relevant (an essential survival tool in the operatingtheatre!). The book also makes use of tables and mnemonics whereappropriate, and gives management plans in list form as you might seewritten in patients’ notes. Blood investigations and radiology are listedwith explanations on why they are ordered, as the reasons usuallyevade medical students! Keep this book with you at all times duringyour clerkship and use it for a bit of cramming from it in your sparemoments on the wards. Its two-columned format makes it useful forrevision as the answers can be covered up while you test yourself withthe questions.3