personally, i don't like to get steel anywhere in the vacinity of pus...but that being said.

i think that mandatory reading prior to an away is a good ortho physical exam book. personally, i read reider's physical exam book and loved it. howver, hoppenfeld may suit you better. another thing that i read was ONLY the basic science section of miller's review (the rest is low yield at this point in your career).

I agree with knowing the orthopaedic physical exam. I thought Hoppenfeld was very good for this. He also has a book which is terrific if your on the spine service entitled "Orthopaedic Neurology" which details examination of the spine.
Above all other priorities, know your anatomy: this will be expected; it will not be expected for you to know how to do an ulnar nerve transposition, but it would be a good idea to know where the ulnar nerve is and what it does.
I'm not sure how high yield Miller is. Miller is a review text and therefore assumes that you already know stuff (I did not and really question if I do now). Moreover, I don't think I was ever piumped about basic science during any of my rotations. However, if you really want to know basic science, let me advocate for the Baratz book: I'm reading it right now and will finish it during my intern year. It's a little expensive, but I think it's a good investment.

Good luck on your rotations: show up to play and then play to win.

Number one priority is know your anatomy! Hoppenfelds PE is a great book. Everything else is gravy. When doing the rotation I would recommend hitting the library for Hoppenfelds surgical exposures to prep for cases. You might buy it but it is kinda $$$.

What up,

I'm starting my ortho rotations in July and just bought Essentials of Ortho. Surgery by Wiesel. It's a good book, about 300 pages with some decent pictures and charts mixed in. I like it because it gives the basics of the major topics, assuming you're just starting and don't know all the acronyms for fractures, etc. It's REALLY good on diagnosis and treatment, but maybe a little lacking in actual surgical techniques, etc. (which I don't think are as important as a rookie anyway.) I have 6 weeks of psych now and plan on getting through it before July. :smokin:

Hoppenfeld PE is overrated, although I'll admit that I have it and read it, but still overrated. The book doesn't even talk about Lachman's test. Rider's is a better choice. I also recommend "Special tests for orthopedic examination" for a quick review of the high-yield aspects of the ortho exam.

What was the best way to review the important anatomy? I can' remember much from 1st year except the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone (or something like that). Is the Surgical Exposures book good for this or do you just go over Netter/Rohen before a case? thanks...

Although I haven't seen it myself, I've heard that the House Officer Series can be helpful during rotations. Any comments regarding the House Officer Series would be appreciated.

Colles-
Exposures is a good book, will help prepare you for cases, and help you learn incisional anatomy. The only problem with Exposures is that it costs about $200. I'm in the same boat as you with regards to boning up on anatomy. My approach to this is to hit Netter and supplement with Exposures. You'll never go wrong with Netter! Best wishes

Agree that Exposures and Netter are best for anatomy. If it's not in exposures, it's not important.

Wiesel's Essentials is excellent. So is Baratz's essentials but much longer. I read Wiesel's essentials before starting. During my rotations, I would do what the residents did -- see a case in the ER and read up on it in Rockwood and Green in the library. It was a lot of reading but at least i knew i was using the right source. They asked me more ortho than anatomy i think and on more than one occasion they put up a film in a conference and called on me to read it. I thought this was unfair and sometimes quite frustrating because i knew all the anatomy like the back of my hand but was asked to read a film...too bad, so sad. You probably won't get the ortho questions unless you're a sponge or if you've had prior experience, but do know the basics of how to read a film -- view, angulation, displacement, etc..especially for common fractures (tibial shaft!, femur, etc.)...this is covered in Wiesels. Know the carpal bones and bones of the foot and how to identify them on xray. Also learn to identify what view the film is (oblique, AP, lateral)...this is very basic but can be confusing for the foot, ankle and wrist if you don't have experience. I recommend Rockwood and Green's early chapter on nonoperative treatment (chapter 5 in new edition) -- a lot of fractures you see are treated nonoperatively and this chapter covers all of them, along with basics of casting, splinting and skeletal traction. If you're ambitious, chapters 7 and 10 are good too (external fixation and open fractures). Rockwood and Green may be intimidating to pick up but these early chapters are written in a way that a beginner can understand them and i found them very helpful. This may be the only chance for you to learn ortho before your pgy2 year so it's a good idea to approach it like that and be serious about reading up on cases you see in the ER or clinic.

Good luck.

There's also an earlier post which talks about this topic also.

Know your anatomy. Hand can get a bit confusing, especially remembering what tendons run through what compartment, ect. Know how to examine the hand. Some of the physical exam books listed will help. I use the Hoppenfeld's myself, but I've heard good things about some of the others. I'm sure the ortho library at your school will have a specific Hand book that may help prepare for a case. I wouldn't focus on surgical technique for reading. I'd focus on anatomy and mechanism of injury or disease. Sounds like an enjoyable month.

i read the hand surgery secrets book before my month of hand as a fourth year. just memorize the anatomy and physical exam. you will no doubt get confused regardless, but it helps to be in the ballpark when they point to something in surgery and say "what's this?"!

This book was recommended before I started my hand rotation...haven't had time to read it yet but it looks good. It's small enough for the white coat. Anyone have any experience with it?

The Hand: Examination and Diagnosis 3rd Ed., American Society for the Surgery of the Hand
ISBN: 0443087156

You can find it at bn.com, note there is a newer edition but it's too big to carry and not comprehensive enough to be a desk reference...so what audience were they going for??