What Goes In Your Pockets:

•  Tarascon Emergency Medicine Handbook or Pocket Medicine: Emergency Medicine
• Code Runner Cards for ACLS algorithms
• Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy
• PDA/phone with drug reference
• notepad
• cheap pens
• stethoscope
• alcohol swabs to clean your stethoscope between patients
• roll of bandage
• bandage tape
• bandage scissors
• +/- white coat clipboard

What to Study:

• Emergency Medicine Manual – Great resource. Comes in a pocket version and encompasses everything you might encounter in EM. While a text is not strictly necessary for this rotation, if you want a brief but comprehensive text, this is it.
• Pocket Medicine: Emergency Medicine – Great reference to have around for study and to help formulate plans.

Other Advice:

• EM is a fast-paced, procedure-oriented rotation. Volunteer for procedures as much as possible. Watch a procedure and see how it’s done, do one supervised, then practice as much as you can.
• Many schools don’t let you take EM until fourth Year, leaving you little time to apply for an EM residency if you like it, so consider shadowing earlier if you can.
• EM is all about brief H&P’s, polishing the skill of redirecting the patient in a time-limited setting, and giving pertinent details when you present.
• Always come early, leave late, and give a good sign out to the students/residents/attendings on the next shift.