Surgery Posting

An experience shared by Nabilah Hisham (A senior of mine in CUCMS)

Surgery is an awesome posting and in terms of the stuff you study during this posting, they're quite easy. Everything is quite direct and once you get the idea, you won't have to read up on the diseases again. A good grasp on anatomy is of course important, but it's more about recognizing relevant clinical anatomy. So if you're starting with the surgical posting, make sure you brush on your knowledge in regards to the anatomy of the breast, neck (thyroid), abdomen, adrenal, and the vascular system. Having Dr. AAA during the posting is the best part. Make a point to really listen to the things he says cause those are the important stuff. Dr. AAA might seem scary at times and he will call you out on your game, so as long as you don't have a bad attitude, then he's really cool :)

My favourite books during this posting:

1. Bailey's and Love Short Practice of Surgery

This is a really really thick book and it's mainly full of writings. I would advise against buying It unless you plan some sort of career in surgey in the future:p or if you can be sure you'll be reading it most of the time. What my housemates and I did, we just borrowed one from the library and sort of shared it amongst ourselves. The book might seem daunting, but when you read it you'll see that the topics are written about in simple language and it very well organized. Good for when you're preparing for your TBL's.

2. Browse's Introduction to the Symptoms and Signs of Surgical Disease.

This is a must have. Surgery is a specialty that deals with lumps and bumps and like I mentioned earlier on, it really is very direct. This book tells you what to look for in the history and pe of a patient with certain types of diseases. Being able to master the core topics in this book will make sure that you sail through surgery, sebab bende you nampak kat ward lebih kurang same la.

3. Burkitt's Essential Surgery: Problems, diagnosis, and management

This is a reference book in a more toned down version if compared to Bailey's. Easy to understand, byk jugak diagram, and used by most students. I wouldn't say this book was really amazing tapi it is quite sufficient enough to cover for your surgical posting :)

4. Churchill's Pocketbook of Surgery

This is like your oxford handbook and you'll be bringing it with you everywhere you go. The book is awesome and very nice to read. It really highlights the important points well and gives you the differential diagnosis for most cases. Just like mase IM, the best way is to make a point to read a few random pages a day to add on to your knowledge.

5. Surgery: Problems & Solutions Revision Questions (Imperial College Press)

One thing I like about this book is that the answer and discussion for each question is put after the question itself. Bestla, senang nak buat revision. It is broken down nicely into relevant topics, the questions are relevant to the syllabus you learn during you posting, and they also include EMQ and SAQ format which is similar to the exams you'll be having.

6. OnExamination and BMJLearning

Really use these two free(!) resources. Very very helpful. The information is updated regularly so you know you're getting the latest ones and is highly recommended by tripleA. And for those of you who are exam-conscious :p, triple A is known to put in the exams questions that are same as those found on the site :)