Books to study for Orthopedics Residency

The experience of an orthopedic residency is intense, challenging, but also incredibly rewarding for those passionate about musculoskeletal health and surgery. He/she will be looking at patients in outpatient department, inpatient patients, preparing patients for surgery including fitness, assisting and performing surgeries, preparing and presenting multiple topics, journal clubs and audits, sitting for multiple university exams and also writing a thesis. Hence, time management is of utmost importance and the selection of books is equally important.

Textbooks

1. Apley and Solomon’s System of Orthopaedics and Trauma

This book is very concise and conceptual and must not be under-rated or ignored because most people have gone through it during MBBS

2. Miller’s review of Orthopedics

This book is especially good for Basic sciences and Arthroplasty
It provides high-yield topics in bullets and tabulated forms and is easier for study and revision

3. Rockwood and Green’s Fractures in Adults/Children

By far, this is the best book for traumatic conditions.
“Handbook of fractures” is a baby Rockwood book & is still good enough if you don’t have enough time

4. Campbell’s Operative Orthopedics

This is the most recommended and talked about book during residency
Book is really good but finishing it off is a challenge during residency
Can be used as a reference book

5. Tuberculosis of the Skeletal System (S.M. Tuli)

This book is exclusively about the tuberculosis of the musculoskeletal system and covers the basic aspects of TB as well as TB of specific regions

Surgical Approaches

1. Surgical Exposures in Orthopaedics: The anatomic approach (Hoppenfield)

This is the best book with detailed illustrations and landmarks for learning surgical approaches

2. Campbell’s Operative Orthopedics

This book beside covering conditions, also covers the surgical approaches

Clinical Examination

1. Orthopaedic Examination Techniques – A practical guide

This book is laid out in the Apley’s system of “look, feel, move” and presents clinical examination sequence with illustrations and summaries

2. Orthopedic Examination – A step by step guide

This book also follows Apley’s system of “look, feel, move” and covers all the topics required from examination purpose and an appropriate sequence of examination that can be followed during examination
This book is published by Epomedicine and can be found here:
- Smashwords
- Amazon
- Apple Books
- Barnes & Noble
- Kobo
- Amazon India (Discounted price)
- Notionpress (Discounted price)

3. Clinical Orthopaedic Examination (McRae)

This book is popular among Orthopedic surgeons. It has sketched illustrations for all the clinical tests.
The sequence provided for examination is not very much in orderly fashion.

Fracture and Fracture fixation Biomechanics

1. The Elements of Fracture Fixation (A J Thakur)

Table viva and Bedside questions

1. Bedside clinics in Orthopedics (Upendra Kumar)

This book is comprehensive and covers surgical instruments, orthosis, prosthesis, walking aids, etc. that is not covered by standard textbooks but are often tested in exams

2. Practical Orthopedic Examination Made Easy (Varshney)

This book covers questions that are especially asked in exams following the clinical examination

Reference books and materials

1. Netter’s Concise Orthopaedic Anatomy

2. Tachdjian’s Pediatric Orthopedics

3. Green’s Operative Hand Surgery

4. Mann’s Surgery of Foot and Ankle

5. Rothman-Simeone The Spine

6. Other materials:

Dr. Sulabh Kumar Shrestha, MS Orthopedics

He is the section editor of Orthopedics in Epomedicine. He searches for and share simpler ways to make complicated medical topics simple. He also loves writing poetry, listening and playing music.