Study habits after becoming a field medic

rhan101277

rhan101277

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Wanted to see how all of the medics stay on top of information. So much is learned in school and can be easily forgotten. Do you browse back over your books, or use other ways to remember. Getting ready to finish school in two weeks and so many of my preceptors say it is tough to remember.

I guess you can always look up. My preceptor had to look up the pediatric dose for diphenhydramine earlier in the week.
 
continuing education. The fun part is you can pick and choose what you learn, so whatever interests you, you can focus on. For example, i recently took a class call "essentials of cardiac monitoring." At the ems expo, i'm going to take emergency pediatric care. I work with adults, so I feel weak on my pediatrics.
 
My last three clinicals I have had three pediatric patients. The more I can learn the better. What are the best websites where I can take some good classes and get CEU's? I know many services offer the continuing ed but just in case.
 
rhan101277 said:
Wanted to see how all of the medics stay on top of information. So much is learned in school and can be easily forgotten. Do you browse back over your books, or use other ways to remember. Getting ready to finish school in two weeks and so many of my preceptors say it is tough to remember.

I guess you can always look up. My preceptor had to look up the pediatric dose for diphenhydramine earlier in the week.
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I read journal articles and textbooks daily. Right now, I am proud to say my iTunes book list totals 4,125 ebooks in Emergency Medicine, Chemistry, biology, psychology, nursing, trauma, etc. I also attend as many EMS Night outs as I can as well as pursue CEUs at every opportunity I can.
 
I read textbooks:

Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide (McGraw Hill)

Emergency Pathophysiology: Clinical Applications For Prehospital Care

Are two of my favorites.

But really any medical / biology / physiology text will do.
 
I feel that I should add that where I am 99% of medics continue no education whatsoever, and laugh at the thought.

One of the many reasons Paramedicine lacks professional respect.
 
Few different ways, though not as much as I'd like. I am growing concerned about some areas that are getting rusty; not that I can't study, just how quickly it happened. (1 yr)

Anyways, my methods are:

- 4x 8hr CME days at work per year
- 2x self-study packages per year from Base Hospital (20-30 pages content and then a test. Each one on a different topic.)
- I'm in an online journal club at work; not a tonne of discussion, but I do get lots of relevant research sent to me
- We have an e-subscription to Prehospital Emergency Care (Peer reviewed journal) at work.
- I hit pub-med constantly on my phone
- ECG quiz and drug flash cards on my phone

The area I'm not great at is just sitting down and opening my text books again. I seem to do that the least and most inconsistently.
 
Veneficus just recently pointed me in the direction of, "Bate's Guide to Physical Examination". I must say, this is one of the best books I have read in the field of medicine. I would recommend it for anyone looking to learn new physical examination methods or refine the skills you already possess. Also, "Lippincott's Illustrated Pharmacology" is a must!
 
medicRob said:
Veneficus just recently pointed me in the direction of, "Bate's Guide to Physical Examination". I must say, this is one of the best books I have read in the field of medicine. I would recommend it for anyone looking to learn new physical examination methods or refine the skills you already possess. Also, "Lippincott's Illustrated Pharmacology" is a must!
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Ha! I literally have that book open on my dresser right now! GREAT book.
 
I have the Jarvis book: "Physical Examination and Health Assessment." It's one of the best books I read in my BSN program. Have you guys seen the Lehne pharmacology book? "Pharmacology for Nursing Care." This guy, Lehne, is incredible. He wrote this densely packed 1500-page book all by himself. Unlike every other pharm book I've seen, this one is actually written in an engaging way--he's actually a terrific writer. I will always have this book and the Jarvis one on my bookshelf.

Someone mentioned ebooks on an iPod. Are any of these actually read aloud?
 
I go through my protocols fairly often, and sometimes bring my Paramedic text with me to read.
 
medicRob said:
Veneficus just recently pointed me in the direction of, "Bate's Guide to Physical Examination". I must say, this is one of the best books I have read in the field of medicine. I would recommend it for anyone looking to learn new physical examination methods or refine the skills you already possess. Also, "Lippincott's Illustrated Pharmacology" is a must!
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I have the Lippincott's, but I keep getting outbid on EBay for the Bate's. I'm going to have to break down and buy it elsewhere.

A good refresher is Principals of Patient Assessment in EMS by Bob Elling.
 
Theo said:
I have the Lippincott's, but I keep getting outbid on EBay for the Bate's. I'm going to have to break down and buy it elsewhere.

A good refresher is Principals of Patient Assessment in EMS by Bob Elling.
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Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine is a great resource as well. I usually read at least a few pages in it daily as well as Brunner & Suddarth's Medical/Surgical Nursing.
 
Believe it or not...forums help out a lot. Seeing what other's have encountered on runs and what their treatment was. Don't believe every thing you read on forums, but a lot of people's stories and information can help you out a lot.
 
A few things that help me

-Medical textbooks: they tell it how it is, not how its been dumbned down. Ditch the paramedic textbooks.

-Forums are great because they challenge your local culture. Its easy to get swept up in the social norms of behaviour and treatments and forget that there is a whole world of medicine outside of your local protocols and on-call room banter.

-At the end of every job, I sit down and analyze what I did wrong. At this stage, if I can't find something I could have done better, I'm not looking hard enough. I'm pretty cocky..pretty full of myself..well read and all that, but I ballsed up a chest pain last night and I spent nigh on 2.5 hours going through it and looking at what I could have done better.

-At the end of every job I read up on the issue at hand. Its a good time to read because you have a lot of questions and looking for the answers to your own questions as opposed to some uni essay, is a great way to learn.

-When you have questions, eMedicine is the place to go for answers.

-Medscape/eMedicine CME classes are online, high quality and free.

-Make sure you're revision is cyclic. It's so easy to go off on a tangent of medical journals and critical care textbooks and forget, for example, your sequence and rhythm of assessment of a simple....say....chest pain :unsure:

- There is a hierarchy of learning, name of which I forget, but teaching a topic is the best way to learn about that topic. During exams I often sit down with a friend or my mum or dad and try to teach them the topic I'm trying to learn. If you can find a chance to teach people who need to be taught, or even those who don't (I doubt my mum cares about fluid & electrolyte balance) it really helps you to consolidate the knowledge you have. I've been doing a bit of teaching for the St Johns volly first aiders/first responders and its helped me immeasurably.
 
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