third year clerkship study essentials

Third year can be scary, jumping from all classroom work to balancing a full time schedule at the hospital and studying for NBME shelf exams is definitely an adjustment. If you are unsure where to even begin, rest easy, because these resources will be more than enough to get you that Pass (and Honors) on your shelf exams. 

Most importantly you will need a UWorld Subscription that lasts the entire year. Same as was true for Step 1 it is the most useful resource for shelf exams and Step 2 CK. I've divided my list by clerkship, and I made this list by personal experience, classmates experiences, and research from other blogs.  The bulleted items are my "must-haves" and I've listed additional resources I looked at during the clerkship or resources you can use to dive deeper into the material. 

Pediatrics

• BRS Pediatrics is a favorite for med students on this rotation, and for good reason. It will be the only book that you must buy (and I recommend keeping it for a quick review for Step 2CK). 

• Uworld

Additional resources: PreTest    (excellent source of additional questions!!) , Holiday Quick Review PDF (good for last minute review)

Surgery

• Pestanas Surgery Notes is a quick review, and most say that every sentence is so high yield that it all needs memorized. Luckily it's a short book and easy to carry around in your white coat.

• Uworld

Additional resources: NMS Surgery Casebook (this was a very high yield book recommended by med students online - I wish I would have used it!) , some chapters from PreTest for more questions (a few chapters are just too specific), NMS Surgery book (I used this and it was a great outline but not necessary)

Family Medicine

• AAFP Questions (there are around 1000 - register as a student for access. I did these 2x through in between patients and was fine for the shelf)

• Casefiles Family Med

Additional Resources: Step Up to Medicine (Ambulatory Chapter)

Obstetrics and Gynecology

• Casefiles OB/GYN

• UWorld (try to get through these 2x)

Additional Resources: ACOG UWise Questions, Online Med Ed (entertaining and easy to understand free videos), PreTest if you want more questions

Psychiatry

• First Aid for Psychiatry (All you need)

• UWorld

Additional Resources: PreTest if you want more questions and Holliday's PDF

Internal Medicine

• Step Up to Medicine (This is gold! I read it 2x through and it served me well! Also can use for Step2CK) 

• UWorld (Tons of questions - make it a goal to get through these 2x through, you won't be sorry!)

Additional Resources: You won't need anything else. Take notes on your Uworld questions and get through those resources 2x! Some other people liked First Aid. 

For Step 2 CK :

• UWorld will be your main resource, reset the questions. Don't worry about doing the Internal Med questions already 2x through - you won't remember! Take notes and keep reviewing your missed questions. 

• I kept Step Up to Med, First Aid for Psych, BRS Pediatrics, Online MedEd Notes for OB/Gyn and Pestana's Surgery as my quick review for Step 2 CK.