Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes: Top 180 Vignettes for the Surgical Wards

Yes, this is that little book that fits in your whitecoat your 4th years or surg interns are talking about. It even (kinda) fits in your back scrub pocket. So when you're not scrubbed in on that 7hr case, you can "go see what anesthesia is up to", sit your ass down and start powering through that book. Try to finish the book before your first few weeks, and keep churning it. Sounds unreasonable in the age of anki, but I haven't found a decent Pestana anki deck yet.The book roughly corresponds to the Pestana audio case files. What audio files? Check your med school google drive for Pestana audio. Play that on repeat during surg (its 18 hours), then do the corresponding reading. It will sear that info in.Finally, do the problems at the back of this book.No one resource is perfect for surgery shelf. But w/ DeVirgilio (questions only), Pestana (book, audio, and questions), Online Med Ed, and some Dorian Deck anki you will have adequate coverage for the shelf.I studied with these resources b/c many people thought that Uworld and Amboss surgery questions didn't help them. Im sure there are plenty of people who used UW/amboss who did fine on surgery, but as with anything YMMV. Above all else, know when to do the celiotomy (Ex lap), intubate (GCS <8), ∆ shocks, and gallstone pathologies cold. The rest of surg shelf is a random assortment stuff you meant to study but never got around to, optho and derm crap you never started studying. Finally, I didnt get a question on fluids or Parkland criteria (but who knows you might)

This is all you need to do well on the shelf exam. I usually averaged around 79 or 80 on shelfs- nothing special. But surgery was my second highest score- I got an 86. All I did was read this book twice (it's short so you better be able to pretty much recite it) and did the 100-150 or so UWorld questions for surgery. And of course pay attention on rotation. But I didn't like start studying from the beginning of the rotation or anything like that. I'm just a middle of the road medical student. Excellent book

This is a must have for medical students rotating on general surgery. It is a super quick read full of common pimp questions. Some say this book was all they needed for surgery shelf exams, but I found that this book did not cover hernia repairs (like at all besides a sentence or two) and that is bread and butter general surgery. I would suggest buying this book for sure (nice small size that fits perfectly in your white coat) and also purchase Surgical Recall.

Must know stuff for surgery shelf. However, if you already have online med ed, I would not bother getting this book as the info is very similar. Would definitely go beyond this book if you want to honor the shelf and do well on the wards however

I basically read this book twice and did all of the questions at the end before my surgery shelf. Having just finished the surgery shelf and started Medicine, this book was a lifesaver for the surgery clerkship. Everything you need to know for like 80-90% of the shelf is in this book. Super high yield and I don't think I would have passed the shelf without this book. Every one of my classmates during our surgery clerkship also had this book in their white coats! If you have to buy just one book for the surg clerkship, I would recommend this one above all others.

This is a nice book to use during your surgery rotation because it is brief and to the point. Gives you a lot of basics that will help you navigate the rotation well and help with your shelf exam at the end of your rotation. It is also very light, which makes it nice if you have downtime for reading during your surgery rotation. Not comprehensive, but it is nice to use, especially with the recordings if you can get your hands on it, because it breaks things down into small chunks of digestible information.

High yield review for the surgery shelf. I used it to read whenever i had some down time during my surgery rotation. By itself, it is NOT enough for the surgery shelf imo. I used this along with master the boards for step 2 CK + uworld practice Q’s for my surgery shelf. Did great on the shelf!Would i recommend it yes but be sure to use it with other study materials

This book is very concise and high yield. I read this for my surgery clerkship. I read a complete surgery text and then read this to make sure I was focusing on the high yield information. If you use this book to supplement and review before the exam it will be very helpful. The questions at the end of the book are very easy, but still helpful at reinforces key knowledge. I would say this is a must buy for the surgery shelf.

The shortest yet highest-yield review for both gen surg and specialty surg that a non-surgical med student can get her hands on.In med school, we frequently amass a great deal of trivial facts that are forgotten soon after the exam, without a broad, systemic view to hang all those facts together. This book is the big tree, the overview.Saved me for my board exams.

Quick review, it is just a review. Nevertheless, Covering many topics. I use other books(like NMS) for more details

Great book and it’s highly recommended to survive surgery!And amazon did a great job delivering the book in a clean & good condition with a awesome deal!!

Not worth the cost. Also, if you have Kaplan surgery then you have the word for word copy of this book. Covers a few things that Step up to Surgery is missing but only scratches the surface of topics. The book is tiny and short and honestly a waste of money. I would recommend 100 cases in surgery which is detailed and feels much more like prep for shelf exams, ck or cs.

Clinical cases are presented in nice way