
Pro Tip: Prior to starting residency do not buy anything. First, you’re likely to be living on credit cards until a paycheck arrives. Second, you don’t know what your residency, senior residents or faculty plan to provide for you until you get there. Amazon Prime exists, you can get everything you need within two days, so slow your roll.
After you’ve started residency consider these lists:
- Apps To Buy – Yes, as a real physician with a regular paycheck you will have to consider buying expensive apps. Welcome to residency.
- Books to Consider – Quick and not-so-quick references.
- Advice Across the Web – To be taken with a grain, or slab, of salt. Use at your own risk. YMMV.
General References
- The AAFP journal, American Family Physician, published every two weeks, with articles of a reasonable length. Easy to read a little every night, and it’s amazing what you’ll learn. Also allows for spaced repetition when paired with the podcasts
- UpToDate or Dynamed, whichever your institution pays for
- Free board review questions via the AAFP
- USPSTF. I frequently google “guideline i want + uspstf” most of the time, but you can actually search their website directly.
- American College of OBGYNS – the ACOG clinical page may be accessible depending on your institution. FM and OB don’t always agree, but we often do, and you can find helpful practice bulletins.
- American Academy of Pediatrics – again, access dependent on your residency. But they have brief articles on pediatric specific concerns that are wonderful for interns.
- MPOA, Advance Directives and End of Life planning? https://prepareforyourcare.org/welcome has state-specific guides for patients.
- @PrimaryCareChat‘s moments page archives the informative and educational chats they’ve done.
Podcasts
- The AFP Podcast (see above) is free
- Primary Care Reviews and Perspectives is not, but is totally worth the $95 a year
- Although I’ve never finished an episode, you can also enjoy The Curbsiders for free, which is created by our cousins in IM
- For your mental joy, consider these free options that are not educational in the #MedEd sense:
- The Nocturnists, which is narrative medicine in podcast form;
- This Podcast Will Kill You (with Erin and Erin) was telling you to wash your hands before COVID19
- Ologies by Alie Ward, which is delightful exploration of science and knowledge, for your spirit.
TEACH cards
This resource gives you info on excellent primary sources and helps you learn how and what questions to ask on inpatient or maternal-child health service as you learn. There are 50 inpatient cards, 43 OB/L&D cards and 12 Newborn cards. “TEACH Cards (Teaching Evidence-based medicine And Clinical topics in the Hospital) is an inpatient educational tool created at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Family Medicine Residency Program… to enhance core clinical knowledge and to improve patient-centered evidence-based medicine skills.”
COVID-19 Resources
- Front Line COVID guide – multiple updated resources, compiled by residents
- https://www.nejm.org/coronavirus – NEJM’s free resource, although we are seeing a lot of “case studies” with lack of control group, so think critically while using
- https://www.uptodate.com/home/covid-19-access – UpToDate’s free COVID-19 data
- ACOG’s COVID resources – OB/GYN specific
- AAP’s COVID resources – pediatrics specific
- https://www.onepagericu.com/ – “A one page summary of what I have read and seen caring for people with COVID-19. This is a distillation of data and guidelines available elsewhere complete with references”
- Surviving Sepsis Campaign’s COVID19 specific guide and CritCare for non-ICU docs.
- VitalTalk’s COVID communication skills – great resource for a lot of conversations you don’t feel prepared to tackle, yet.
- NEJM’s Resident360 free Critical Care rotation guide and virtual patient simulator aka “COVIDprimer“
- HippoED (of the PCRAP podcast above) has their own COVID19 page, including info on airway management for non-intensivists. Scroll to the bottom of the page for what looks like very nifty pocket cards.
- ACEP and CUCM made some helpful outpatient/urgent care guidelines for when to send someone to the ED, vs home management.
- http://covid19medapp.com/ – a compilation of COVID19 resources
- https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america – Data on COVID19 hospital use/peaks and deaths per day based on “Current social distancing assumed until infections minimized and containment implemented”
- One Pager Hospitalist guide
- AAFP’s COVID resources – FM focused and more for practicing docs then residents, included for completeness.

Last updated: May 3rd, 2020