What They Didn't Teach You at Medical School Book

During medical training there are certain parts of day-to-day tasks that are not taught at medical school nor in the traditional reference books. There are some skills that medical students are expected to learn by ‘osmosis’ while on placement and under the guidance of junior doctors. These skills are never officially taught or examined in medical school. They are, however, a fundamental part of being a safe, good and efficient doctor. This book includes ‘golden rules’ or important points to remember and case examples, both of which are given as displayed extracts.

This book is designed to help the junior doctor unlock their potential and improve their performance, cutting the time it takes to achieve certain medical objectives. It is meant to fill in the gaps where the medical school and clinical guides stop. It gives the reader the information needed to organise themselves so that they can hit the ground running. It is not intended as a clinical survival guide, but more a friendly hand to allow the reader to get ahead in medicine and how to keep on track and develop a career path.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Susan C. Weltz, MEd(Ed.Admin), BA(Hons.), DCh(The Michener Institute for Applied Health Sciences)
Description:The book is designed to be a resource guide for what is not taught in theory classes in medical school or in clinical rotations. It is mostly a guide to how to act and what not to do in a hospital/clinic in order to ensure success as a medical doctor. The book is a concise compilation of the author's learned experience as a beginning physician and contains useful summary charts, procedural algorithms, and paperwork samples.
Purpose:The purpose is to guide medical students and then new doctors as they begin their careers in a hospital setting. It is intended to serve as a functional map to put theory into practice in a more seamless manner. The author has tackled worthy objectives in writing this book, but many of the sections are overly brief and may leave readers wondering what else might be important to know.
Audience:The book is written for medical students about to graduate, or newly graduated doctors who are beginning their first job or residency. The author has experienced what he has written about.
Features:It covers the roles and responsibilities of the beginning doctor for various postings, and does the same for those in many of the professions that doctors would interact with in the course of their work. Particularly well covered are the political workings of various departments and the guidelines for what not to do to ensure that a successful working relationship is established with a specific profession, i.e. nursing. Some of the information reads as stereotypical, but it may be useful to those who have difficulty picking up on social and professional cues for appropriate action and behavior. Blue title bars highlight section headings to divide up the chapters, but the print is small and information is often overloaded into each section. The book is the opinion of the author, but it could benefit from the addition of more references.
Assessment:The book assumes that the new medical graduate has a minimal set of communication and diplomacy skills, which may turn away some readers. It could also go into greater depth in some areas, such as health professions other than nursing. Because it is written for a U.K. audience, some of the information may be irrelevant in other jurisdictions.