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 you’d 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 you’ll do this month, so know it well! Bring your
scopes, tuning forks, Snellen charts and reflex hammers because you’ll 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 you’re 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 you’re 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. You’ll
receive a checklist. Go over it until you’re 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.
You’re 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. You’ll 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. Joe’s
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). Don’t miss Dr.
Silver’s 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, 8am-5pm.
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) Maxwell’s (Yellow Section): Admit/transfer, progress, and discharge notes. Blue section also has a
template for complete history and physical.