Buy a Hoppenfeld's "surgical exposures" book instead of a rads book. I have Greenspan MS Rad. and I dont use it very often. You will learn practical radiology from working in the ER and clinics. Just try to read every film on your own and then ask a resident to help you. Residents have systems for reading pelvis/spine films...so have them help you and this will be much more cost and time effective.......

If you buy the hoppenfelds....look over all the approaches to the hip..posterior and lateral....they will be money in the OR...the other approaches I would read on a PRN basis....

Noone expects you to be proficient in film reading....just know your anatomy so you can describe fractures...that will get you a lot of points.

In the koval book....look over the following fracture classifications as they will make you look like a rockstar.

1. Tib-plateau (shatzker)
2. distal radius (frykman)
3. ankle fxr (loge-hanson??)
4. femoral neck fxr
5. pilon fxr
6. clavicle fxr
7. peds---elbow (super condylar) and distal radius
8. humeral/tibial/femoral shaft fractures

Unless you are in a major trauma setting you wont see many pelvis/acetabular fxrs...and they wont expect a med student to know much about them/....I also was expected to know very little about spine\

In general ANATOMY/ WORK ETHIC / and "fitting in" will get you a better grade than obscure knowledge....

Also the OKU series by speciality is a nice "quick and dirty" place to go before a case...and Campbells has some nice diagrams of the surgical procedure so you can have a basic idea of what the hell is going on in the OR....and if you know the surgery it makes getting the anatomy questions a lot easier.....by and large I was pinped very little or if I was pimped it was relatively simple and would have kicked my own ass if I missed it...

so dont stress too much... just have fun and you will get much more out of the rortation.

I agree that you will pick up most of your radiology from seeing films in clinic etc, but there is one book that I thought was pretty amazing for musculoskeletal radiology. Fundamentals of Skeletal Radiology by Clyde A. Helms (also known as the "pink" book)

It breaks things down into very simple terms, and the book is a very easy read. It is an intro book, so it isn't very useful once you are into your residency. But if you are looking for something easy, this is it:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/072160 ... e&n=283155

Hoppenfeld's is a great book, but it is very expensive (>$175). Most residents have it and are more than willing to let you borrow or photocopy from it. I would wait until you match and then use your book fund to buy a copy of your own. I would do that for most books. But one that I would pick up is Netter's Concise Atlas of Orthopaedic Anatomy (that may be the one that you are talking about anyway, DrHibbert). It has wonderful drawings as well as hints on physical exam, history taking, the most common fracture classifications, and some basic science info. I have been told by many residents that if you know the stuff in that book by the time that you graduate from medical school, you will be more than prepared to transition to residency.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/091416 ... e&n=283155

Thanks everyone! You've been tons of help.

I agree that the Hopp is expensive and that you can use on at the library...I just got one for x-mas of my third year and it was nice to use it on my own time...

I think approaches change very little with time and I bet you could pick up a later edition for not much cash and it would essentially be the same book....the most recent edition is 2003 for $199...