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REAL-LIFE CASES SHARPEN TOUR CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS FOR YOUR CLERKSHIP AND THE SHELF EXAM
Case Files: Internal Medicine presents realistic clinical scenarios to enhance and hone your clinical decision-making skills. Sixty high-yield cases illustrate essential concepts in internal medicine. Each case includes an easy-to-understand discussion correlated to key concepts, definitions of key terms, clinical pearls, and board-style review questions to reinforce your learning. This updated sixth edition features a new format with bulleted summaries, shorter paragraphs, and clearer headings.
New Cases on Metabolic Syndrome, Alcoholic Cirrhosis, Cushing Syndrome, Parkinson's Disease, Polycythemia Vera, and Opiate Overdose Realistic internal medicine cases with high-yield discussions aligned to clerkship guidelines USMLE-style review questions and clinical pearls accompany each case Challenge Questions help you assess your ability to integrate and apply your knowledge Primer on how to approach clinical problems and think like an experienced doctor
(Note: this review is largely copied and pasted from my Case Files surgery review, with small changes where appropriate. I've found the Case Files series to be pretty consistent in each book's content, explanations, questions, etc.)
I really like the Case Files series for shelf exam studying. I like how each "case" is presented, and how history/physical findings, diagnostic tests, pathophysiology, and treatment are explained. I also think that the format of the Case Files books is great - each case is short enough to read over the course of only a few minutes, yet you still feel like you're actually learning as you go through the book. I carried this book around with me when I was on the floors, just in case I had a few minutes to go through a case.
My only issue with this book (and with the case files books in general) is that it doesn't include everything you need to know about medicine. It definitely lists many of the bread and butter cases, but it still doesn't cover everything you need to know for the shelf. I would suggest supplementing with another book, like Step Up to Medicine. I'm also not a huge fan of the questions at the end of each case - they seem to be more of reading comprehension questions than actual knowledge based or application of your knowledge. I would definitely recommend doing other questions in preparation for the exam (I'm a big fan of the USMLE world question bank, and the question book published for medical students by the ACP).
Sixty medical cases, each followed by a section of teaching points and some review questions. IMO, this is the best style of learning-- connecting the textbook information with a "real patient" presentation. Case vignettes are also what most of the tests are based on nowadays. I actually enjoyed reading this book, and I feel that it was a good format for learning. The cases got me into the mindset of looking for the elements of the patient's history and physical exam that allow me to make the diagnosis, and find appropriate treatment options. Even more than passing tests, that's the skill that third year medical students really need to be developing.
I plan to use this book series to study for all of my rotations.
This was a nice BROAD overview of COMMON cases seen in internal medicine. It is not meant to be an in-depth internal medicine textbook. It is a relatively quick read with a lot of good salient take home points. Good if you are looking to brush up on internal medicine. The summary points at the end of each chapter are gold.