Medical School at a Glance
At a Glance Series

Starting Medical School can be incredibly daunting, and the transition to being a medical student can be enormously challenging. Medical School at a Glance is an accessible guide to help give you confidence and to gain a running start to your medical school training.

Covering core areas such as medical training, developing effective learning strategies, understanding common principles, learning how to behave in the clinical setting and how to interact with patients and peers, this book will help to demystify the process and prepare you as you embark on your medical career.

Providing an insider?s view of useful information to build a solid basic foundation for your learning, Medical School at a Glance is essential for those considering studying medicine or are in their first years of study.

Preface vii

Acknowledgements vii

Part I Starting medical school 1

1 Starting medical school 2

2 Medicine and surgery 4

3 Understanding medical training 6

4 Different learning mechanisms 8

5 Dealing with stress 10

6 Solving issues 12

Part II Learning important principles 15

7 Important common principles 16

8 Ethics 18

9 Communication skills and teamwork 20

10 Balance 22

11 Evidence-based medicine 24

12 Understanding guidelines 26

Part III Starting clinical activities 29

13 Behaving on the ward 30

14 Behaving in theatre 32

15 Behaving in clinic 34

16 Learning practical procedures 36

Part IV Assessing a patient 39

17 Approaching a patient 40

18 Approaching an unwell patient 42

19 Taking a history 44

20 Examining a patient 46

21 Assessing a patient’s hydration 48

22 Assessing a patient’s nutrition 50

Part V Considering and managing a patient 53

23 Investigations 54

24 Considering diagnoses 56

25 Presenting a patient 58

26 Consent and capacity 60

27 Breaking bad news 62

28 Prescribing 64

29 Documentation 66

30 Discharge planning 68

31 Managing the acutely unwell patient 70

Part VI Completing medical school 73

32 Examinations 74

33 Electives and special study modules 76

34 Understanding foundation school 78

35 Understanding later training 80

36 Other uses for medical degrees 82

37 First day as a doctor 84

Further reading

Index