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Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes: Pocket-Sized Review for the Surgical Clerkship and Shelf Exams
Celebrated by medical students for over a decade, Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes is the highest-yield surgery review for the shelf and USMLE Step 2 CK exams.
Designed for portable prep, Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes reinforces the most important surgery information in a practical, easy-to-read review followed by 180 vignette-based practice questions. It fits perfectly in your lab coat so you can refresh your knowledge in between cases.
The Best Review
Expert Guidance
Designed for portable prep, Dr. Pestana's Surgery Notes reinforces the most important surgery information in a practical, easy-to-read review followed by 180 vignette-based practice questions. It fits perfectly in your lab coat so you can refresh your knowledge in between cases.
The Best Review
Expert Guidance
264 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2021
3 people are currently reading
10 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 30, 2024
I passed my shelf exam y'all.
I liked that this review was pretty lean, but at the same time the format was a bit repetitive and not super engaging. Question bank was solid but I would've liked more case based scenarios throughout.
I liked that this review was pretty lean, but at the same time the format was a bit repetitive and not super engaging. Question bank was solid but I would've liked more case based scenarios throughout.
September 30, 2025
This book saved me. I read it cover to cover in one day the weekend before my surgery shelf and it was incredibly helpful to consolidate my knowledge from UWorld and Anki in an organized manner. This book is more of a detailed study guide so I wouldn’t rely on it as a primary learning source.
I used UWorld (and a little of Amboss) + Anki for knowledge building.
After I spent one day reading the entire book, I continually referenced and annotated Pestana’s during my last week while doing a second UWorld pass on incorrects.
I watched Dr High Yield’s surgery shelf review the night before the exam.
There were a ton of practice questions (180!) at the end, which were not as helpful as UWorld or Amboss, but I do think if I had more time I would have tried to get through all of them anyway. I appreciated that the answer key also included the page and paragraph number for reference. They were more about really specific details and not so much shelf-style questions.
10/10 would recommend. It’s expensive for such a slim book but it’s worth it IMO.
I used UWorld (and a little of Amboss) + Anki for knowledge building.
After I spent one day reading the entire book, I continually referenced and annotated Pestana’s during my last week while doing a second UWorld pass on incorrects.
I watched Dr High Yield’s surgery shelf review the night before the exam.
There were a ton of practice questions (180!) at the end, which were not as helpful as UWorld or Amboss, but I do think if I had more time I would have tried to get through all of them anyway. I appreciated that the answer key also included the page and paragraph number for reference. They were more about really specific details and not so much shelf-style questions.
10/10 would recommend. It’s expensive for such a slim book but it’s worth it IMO.
July 17, 2022
I like how short and to the point this was. However, I feel like it was lacking some detail and is not sufficient for shelf exams.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews