Family Medicine Books

Student Recommendations: A few weeks prior to the start of the rotation, you
will be sent an email asking you where you would like to be placed. If you should
end up somewhere COMPLETELY inconvenient, politely inquire if there are other
sites that are closer to where you are. Ms. Blackwell is AMAZING and tries to make
sure that students are placed at good sites and have a good experience.
Advice
Review Books
First Aid for Step 2 CK
Essentials of Family
Medicine
Case Books
Case Files for Family
Medicine
Question Books
NMS Family Medicine
USMLEWorld QBank
(online)
Fill Your Pockets
Pharmacopeia
Mini Spiral Notebook
Maxwells

Because this is a review source and FM is a very broad

area, this source will give you a good overview of the
patients that you would see.
Dense but covers all topics in depth. This is not the
book to read cover to cover because it is just a lot. Use
this source to fill in the holes in First Aid.
This is a good source because it covers all parts of FM
including Peds, OB/Gyn and Prevention topics.
If you use this book, be sure to use the most updated
version.
Very good. Dont forget to cover Peds and Ob/Gyn
topics.
You will learn lots of commonly prescribed drugs.
Dont leave home without it.
Jot down notes from the day to jog your memory. You
can also write down assignments/tasks and stay
organized.
Lots of small tidbits get you through the day when you
need to have your memory joggedsuch as the
developmental milestones, etc.

What to Do the Weekend Before/First Few Days

Make sure that you have all of your study sources organized. FM is a challenge
because you will cover almost every organ system to some depth. You need to
make sure that you have your stethoscope, pocket guides, reflex hammer, Snellen
chart, diagnostic kit (especially if your office does NOT have them on the wall). In
general, everything that you were told to purchase for 2nd year is going to be used
during this rotation at some time or another. Pay attention to the things that are
stocked in the office because this decreases how much you have to put in your
pockets. Make sure that you find your way around the office and learn how things
are done. If not, you might find yourself in the hot seat with the nurses and/or
medical assistants.
Tag along with residents/attendings during the first few days to see how they do
things. If youre not seeing patients on your own after a few days with the same
residents/attending, show interest and ask if they mind you seeing patients on
your own or if they can observe you interviewing/examining the patient.

What to Do on the Floors

As a student, you will be expected to go and see patients on your own and present
that patient using the SOAP format to your attending or resident. This, as always,
is site dependent. If you feel that you need more guidance or would like to have
someone show you how to do things, ask. If you dont ask, it will be assumed that
you know and when you dont perform you will be regarded as lazy rather than as
an unsure student (these are drastically different things).
Regardless of what youre doing, ask what is expected of you.
Be honest about what you have done. For example, if you did not evaluate leg
swelling, dont say that you did. If you didnt, just be HONEST! You are a student
and you are going to forget things. If your forget, just say I did not evaluate that
but I will be sure to do so the next time I am evaluating a patient with
hypertension.
Be proactive. If there is something that you want to do, speak up and make it
known that you are interested in doing as much as you can.
Typically on FM, you will be the only student or may have one other student with
you. This is important to learn now: showing up the other student(s) does not
make you look good, it makes you look horrible. Your character will be
questioned if you are always attempting to show someone up. Third year is
about teamwork and NOT being the star.

Preparing for the FM Shelf

The FM shelf is tough because it is broad. You will be given a list of core topics.
Know them inside and out. Be sure that you do practice questions. The FM rotation

is only 1 month so be sure to hit the ground running with the studying. Always
make time for questions. If there is time in your preparation, time yourself. You will
be given 110 minutes to do 100 questions and the question stems are very long.
If you have free time during the day, USE IT TO STUDY. Believe it or not, your
attending observe how you spend your free time. Under no circumstance should
you study when there are patients to be seen. BAD IDEA! Patients are your best
teachers. Use your opportunity to interact with them as the best learning source.
Youre likely to have weekends off. This gives enough time to study and have a
life.
Attend site specific lectures. Unlike 1st and 2nd years, LECTURES ARE MANDATORY
and attendance is taken. Be aware that the group is small and it will be notice if
you are not there.
The Key in FM: FM is an honorable clerkship but you HAVE to put in effort. Do not
assume that because FM is not a competitive specialty that you do not have to
work that hard. With this and any other rotation: YOU GET OUT WHAT YOU PUT
IN!

Useful Note Templates

1) Maxwells (Blue Section): complete history and physical.