Neurology Books

Student Recommendations: If you need to switch sites, Dr. Fakhouri (clerkship

coordinator) lets you switch sites on the day of orientation if there is space. Talk
to him in advance if needed.
What Students Said...
Review Books
- Neurology In a Page
- Blueprints for Neurology

Case Books
- Case Files for Neurology

Question Books
- Pretest for Neurology
- USMLEWorld QBank
(online)
Fill Your Pockets
- Neurology for House
Officers
- Mini Spiral Notebook

Greatest book. Covers each disease in a page.

A little simplified but a good overview. Questions at
the end were helpful. May want to supplement with
another question source as well.
Made me feel well prepared for this exam. Try to
read twice with rapid read through second time 2
days before test.
Questions model the SHELF exam questions.
Very good.

Useful to look up information on the floors.

Jot down notes from the day to jog your memory. You
can also write down assignments/tasks and stay
organized.

What to Do the Weekend Before/First Few Days

Organize your books into the different subjects that youd like to focus on. Figure
out if you want to read straight through your study materials or organize them
differently. Practice a comprehensive neuro exam (opthalmoscope included). This
is basically the only exam youll do this month, so know it well! Bring your
scopes, tuning forks, Snellen charts and reflex hammers because youll be using
them! If you plan on going into neuro, there are some fancy reflex hammers you
can look into as well. Neuro involves lots of imaging, so consider reviewing how
to read CT and MRI scans and when to use contrast.
Tag along with residents/attendings during the first few days to see how they do
things. If youre not seeing patients on your own after a few days with the same
residents/attending, show interest and ask if they mind you seeing patients on
your own or if they can observe you interviewing/examining the patient.

What to Do on the Floors

Your role can vary depending on which site you are at. Try to talk to the
attending and residents to see what they expect out of you in the beginning of the
rotation. Regardless of whether you see patients on your own or not, see as many
patients as you can because you will remember things better.
Regardless of what youre doing, ask what is expected of you.
It is great if you can get the team to go over some imaging studies with you. You
should take the opportunity to learn as much Radiology as you can throughout the
year.
Be proactive. If someone mentions an interesting neuro finding, ask if you can
see the patient to repeat that portion of the exam.
Attendings like presentations and some may ask you to make one. If not, this is a
good chance to take initiative and impress them (assuming they have time to set
aside for teaching). However, let the other students know. You want to make
yourself look good, not make others look bad. Teamwork is important.

Preparing for the Neurology OSCE & SHELF

The neuro OSCE simply involves a resident or attending observing you perform a
neuro exam. Youll receive a checklist. Go over it until youre comfortable, then
ask an attending or resident you like to observe and evaluate you.
The SHELF exam was very long. Learning how to manage long questions stems
would be a great idea before taking this exam.
Free time is site-dependent so use it wisely. Keep a book in your pocket for down
time (Case Files, Pretest, etc) and review cases that you see on the floors.
Patients are your best teachers.

Youre likely to have weekends off. This gives enough time to study and have a
life.
Try to spend some time in the ICU if possible. Youll see a good variety of difficult
to manage patients which will come in handy on the shelf.
Attend site specific lectures. If an attending specializes in a certain area, show
interest and you may be able to get a good lecture out of it.

Neurology Site-Specific Advice

Site
DRH

Harper
St. Joes
HFHS

Sinai Grace/Southfield
Office

Beaumont

What Students Said

I was lucky to have some great attending - Dr. Tselis
and Dr. Benson. I really liked this experience because
I got a lot of bedside teaching, the Neuro ICU week,
MRI/coiling of aneurysms, etc.
There is a lot of downtime so try to keep a book handy
so you can read.
Not much teaching.
You make your own schedule, which can be really
great. Can choose from neurosurgery, clinic, ICU,
neurophysiology, neuroradiology, consults and you can
request to do peds neuro. Must do 1 required week of
inpatient. Recommend doing 1 day of neurophys, 1
week of clinic (many great specialty clinics to choose
from) and at least a few days of radiology, consults and
ICU. Before you go to clinic, check careplus to see if
the attending has any patients scheduled (sometimes
they go on vacation), and e-mail them a few days
ahead of time to let him/her know you are coming.
Split up the rest of your time based on your interests.
Great teaching with most services. Try to schedule
the same activity for at least 3-5 days so you can get to
know residents/attendings & possibly take part in
patient care. You can choose who you would like to
evaluate you (most people chose their inpatient
attending b/c you work w/them the most). Dont miss
Dr. Silvers lectures, they are great.
The attending are all really great. Ask questions if you
do not understand something. The office is very busy
but if there is some down time, read or if time permits,
feel free to request the attending to discuss a topic.
You usually get free food too!
1 on 1 with attending, only med student in clinic, 8am5pm.

Useful Formulas

Useful Note Templates

1) There are templates available on medfools.com (under download section) to
help keep track of your patients while on inpatient.
2) Maxwells (Yellow Section): Admit/transfer, progress, and discharge notes.
Blue section also has a template for complete history and physical.