101 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year Medical Students Make: And How to Avoid Them

Rating:
Summary: A Must for 3rd year med student!
Review: As someone who just matched into dermatology, I can tell you that residency
program directors look closely at clerkship grades, especially for the more
competitive residencies. '101 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year Medical Students Make
And How To Avoid Them' is a book that will help you get great clerkship grades.
When you first start rotations, it's tough. You're not always sure where you
fit in, what you should do, and how to handle yourself. That's where this book
comes in - it gives you great advice on what attendings and residents are
looking for in their students. It's done in the form of mistakes students make
year after year. The idea is if you know these mistakes beforehand, you won't
make them and you will come across as a better student. What many students
don't realize, however, is that a lot of the mistakes this book talks about are
REALLY easy to make. That's why I recommend referring to the book regularly
throughout the rotation (like on write-up or when giving talks) to train your
mind against making them. Otherwise, you'll find yourself unknowingly making
them and probably finding out you made them when your resident or attending
tells you so. By then, it may already hurt your evaluation. If you follow this
advice, work hard, and read, you will be in good shape for better evaluations.

Rating:
Summary: A must have book!
Review: Excellent book! It contained a tremendous amount of helpful information that went beyond the typical advice that I was given during rotations and that I had read. It had a great deal of information to make you become more efficient and struggle less.
One of the chapters that I gained a lot of information from was on presenting new patients. I think without these tips I would have ended up making those exact mistakes in my presentations.
The book did not go into a review of information for specific rotations like First Aid, however, by doing so this book focuses on its main purpose, doing daily work well and avoiding pitfalls.

Rating:
Summary: Easy to read and full of crucial info
Review: I am a med student who just started third year four months ago. My first rotation was Internal Medicine. During our clerkship orientation, the clerkship director recommended that we read this book. I had never heard of the book before then. He told us that if you follow the recs and tips, it will put you in line for great evals on all rotations. I can't speak for all rotations but it did the job for me during the Internal Med rotation. What was really helpful was the chapter on presenting newly admitted patients. I was really worried about presenting patients to my attending physician and resident but this book was a good guide, showing me where students have gotten into trouble before. It really helped me give good presentations from the get go. My attending physician even said that my presentation skills were better than most new students. I also liked the information on feedback (how to request it), how to set up meetings with the attending, tips to impress attendings, and suggestions for giving talks.

Rating:
Summary: a useful book
Review: This is a decent book. I think it's worth a read for any med student starting 3rd year. By no means does it make you a stellar student though! Overall, I'd recommend borrowing it from someone and reading it before your 3rd year.