The Nerd's Guide to Pre-Rounding: A Medical Student's Manual to the Wards

By Richard A. Loftus

This 2006 book is a how-to guide for medical students moving from the classroom to the clinical/hospital setting; a particularly stressful transition in a student-physician's career. This handbook is made up of short, easily digestible passages that advise students on everything from reading an EKG or chest x-ray to tips on dealing with difficult residents and what to wear on wards. Passages are peppered with light-hearted anecdotes to bolster the spirits of students intimidated and overwhelmed by their responsibility as fledgling doctors. The handbook has been developed by Dr Richard Loftus, who wrote the first version of this guide after his 3rd year at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). It contains appendices of useful information, including a PDF file of full size forms that can be accessed from our website.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521676754
• ISBN13: 9780521676755
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 196 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.0" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

A nice little confidence boost

The Nerd's Guide makes the first few days on the wards a bit less intimidating, but other than that, it doesn't confer any great wisdom that an astute student will not pick up on within the first week of a rotation. The first half of the book provides the same type of useful introduction to clinical rotations as First Aid for the Wards: how to systematically read x-rays and EKGs, how to pre-round and important aspects of the physical exam for all hospitalized patients. But the second half of the book digresses into a discussion of end-of-life and code status discussions with patients. These are important, and they are well presented in this book, but I did not think it was the highest yield material for a student about to be thrown into the wards for the first time.

A Must Have Book When Starting The Wards

I love recommending this book to my students. Dr. Loftus has written the nuts and bolts book on making the transition from the classroom to the wards. This is one of those books I wish I had when I was in medical school. His writing style is friendly and to the point. His book is full of "pearls" on how to survive this important part of the transformation from classroom student to student doctor. My students have a better experience on the wards because of this wonderful book. -Mary K. Miller, PharmD, MD, author of "Aim Your Brain at USMLE Step 1"

Step by Step: How to be SUPERSTAR Med Student

Years ago, before it was published as a book, Loftus' Nerd's guide was THE step by step guide for UCSF students on how to be a superstar on the wards. He answers questions you wouldn't even know to ask yet: everything from the nitty gritty of team roles, time management, and facilitating dispo to choosing a specialty and staying human during a very challenging year. Great clinical pearls. I highly recommend it! I had no family in medicine, no close friends ahead of me in school, and this guide was invaluable to me.