Know about Surgery Book

I really like this book. The book is presented in a case-based question/answer format. The book is written in narrative form (no bullets, or choppy info). I like the design of the book and it’s easy to read and understand. The cases presented are classic and in-depth. It’s a long read though, and may be too much for boards when its crunch time. I used it mostly for reference and when I didn’t understand something when I was studying for Step 2. It’s a great book for 3rd year surgery rotation and the shelf exam. Good luck!!

I decided to buy this book Exodus from Obesity, as I had heard about it from a friend. Once I started reading I found I was unable to put it down. It was very clearly written and helpful in so many ways. It gives you very specific actions to follow both before and after weight loss surgery.

After reading Exodus from Obesity I felt a whole lot better about my own decision to have this surgery. This book is a must read for those people who are considering gastric bypass surgery, have had the surgery, or for those who know someone who has.

Once you read this book you will have gained pracital, useable tools which will ultimatley make you feel so much better. If you decide to buy this book, it will give you piece of mind, and help you through this process no matter what stage of it you are in.

If you have any unanswered questions or are unsure of what questions to ask, then definitely buy this book.

 I used this book ten years ago to study for the ABSITE was very pleased. I am very disappointed with the current edition. There are many typographical errors suggesting poor editing. The question and answer format is very difficult to figure out if they are looking for one or more answers. I would recommend the book as a very basic guide to get used to taking a test but I would no longer hold it as an authority. Many answers will require extensive cross referencing to validate.

I did particularly well on the surgical subcategory of Step 2, and it’s owed to this book. Hands down, it’s the best, highest-yield 3rd/4th year review for surgical disease - including epidemiology, symptoms, signs, diagnosis, and management. Awesome for review before the big test; also useful for overview of surgical diseases during your clerkship. One small complaint: it costs lots of dollars for about 100 pages.

Book Info
Washington Univ., St. Louis, MO. Brandon/Hill Medical List first-purchase selection (#607). Pocket outline of practical guidelines and algorithms for the management of surgical diseases. Covers pre-surgical evaluation to specific procedures. Previous edition: c1999. Softcover. DNLM: Surgical Procedures, Operative. –This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

It’s a lot of help while you’re going through your surgery rotation. As much as I would have liked to have read the text book, there isn’t a lot of time due to the long hours of work. This book helps fill in the gaps. Some things might be too simplified, so it might be helpful to supplement with the required books.

I heard about the book, Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster, from a medical blog a week before I was scheduled for abdominal surgery. I ordered the book not realizing that the audio recording was an integral part of the preparation. I rush ordered the disc and was able to use the meditation just a few days before surgery. I also was able to listen to the recording in pre-op, in the recovery room, and during my recovery in the weeks that followed. I was much calmer going into the operation and in the days after surgery I felt I had an important part to play in my recovery.

My surgeon and anesthesiologists were very cooperative and followed the suggestions the book recommended during the surgery. After the operation, my surgeon admitted to being skeptical at first, but felt that I was recovering faster than anticipated, that the program helped. I spent less time in the hospital (anticipated 5-7 days I was out in 4) and was on less pain medication than expected. Primarily the suggestions in the book helped me to engage my mind in healing rather than in causing me anxiety.

I would recommend this book and CD to most people, those who are open to the mind/body connection. Others I have spoken to about this program were more reserved, and may not benefit as much. They seem to be heavily invested in the attitude that we are passive in the healing process. Note however that my surgeon, skeptical at first, was impressed by the results.

The difficulty level of many of the Pretest questions is appropriate; however, the content is off the mark with reference to what shows up on the NBME shelf exam. I found the pretest questions to be more challenging than those in the Appleton and Lange book (see my review), but too much attention is given to details of lyte management, chemotherapy etc. in pretest. The surgery shelf actually contains a fair amount of basic internal medicine type questions. I found surgical recall to be most helpful in preparation for this aspect of the shelf. I recommend doing the pretest questions, but advise caution. Use something to review basic medicine (again I relied on Recall and it worked).

This newer version of Alexander’s Patient in Surgery is not as useful as the older versions as they took out the list of surgical instruments set up lst for scrub techs to use as a guide line. This book shows a select group of instruments but the old versions had an actual list of everything you might need for that procedure.
I’m very disappointed with this change. Thank goodness I still have the older version to resort back to.