Reading and Scholarship
Because you are responsible for the care of your assigned patients on wards, you will need to learn many details of their illnesses. You should also look at your patients' illnesses as specific examples of general medical problems. Being assigned a patient with iron-deficiency anemia, for example, should prompt you not only to learn in depth about that specific disease but to acquaint yourself with the more general approach to the patient with anemia. You should do likewise with other patients admitted to your service but not specifically assigned to you. For example, if a patient with a pulmonary infiltrate is admitted but not assigned to you, you should use the opportunity to read about this common clinical entity. Some of your patients will have a variety of problems, some esoteric and challenging. Be sure to master the common problems in these patients before reading about the esoteric ones. You should begin your initial or general reading on assigned patients with a recent review article found electronically or with one of the standard medical textbooks, such as Beeson and McDermott, Harrison, Kelley, or Stein. Hurst seems a little light. Your POM text is good only as a basic starting point. You are urged to augment your fund of knowledge whenever possible by reading appropriate specialty texts and articles in the medical literature. The housestaff and attendings are valuable resources for references. Many students find one of the pocket-sized textbooks useful. A decision regarding which one to use is highly personal. Here are some old statistics.
Survey of textbook use by the Clerkship Directors in Internal
Medicine
PERCENTAGES OF USE ON THIRD YEAR CLERKSHIPS
| Required | Required | Recommended | Discouraged | Students Use |
| Cecils Essentials | 10.3 | 54 |
1.1 |
22 |
| Cecils Long | 3.4 |
43.7 |
1.1 |
9.2 |
| Cecils online | 0 |
13.8 |
1.1 |
3.4 |
| Ferri |
0 |
17.2 |
3.4 |
21.8 |
| Fishman |
1.1 |
11.4 |
12.6 |
25.3 |
| Gorroll |
1.1 |
16.1 |
0 |
1.1 |
| Green |
0 |
6.9 |
0 |
3.4 |
| Harrisons Long | 5.7 |
59.8 |
1.1 |
16.1 |
| Harrisons Online | 0 |
17.2 |
1.1 |
9.2 |
| Harrisons Short |
0 |
16.1 |
3.4 |
16.1 |
| Kelly short |
0 |
8 |
2.3 |
1.1 |
| Kelly standard | 26.4 |
2.2 |
0 |
|
| Kochar |
2.3 |
11.5 |
1.1 |
6.9 |
| Lange |
2.3 |
6.9 |
1.1 |
17.2 |
| Merck |
0 |
1.1 |
9.2 |
12.6 |
| MKSAP |
2.3 |
49.4 |
1.1 |
10.3 |
| NMS |
0 |
8 |
13.8 |
40.2 |
| Pauww |
5.7 |
8 |
0 |
1.1 |
| Stein |
0 |
17.2 |
1.1 |
2.3 |
| Wash Manual | 1.1 |
40.2 |
5.7 |
37.9 |
Please note that the standard (long) versions of Cecil's and Harrison's are the most widely recommended. The MKSAP book is a useful study guide. NMS, Ferri, and Fishman are generally well received (here as elsewhere).
