OK some basics. Haven’t had much luck with IV cannulation yet? Read these tips and watch the videos embedded, put together by Aidan Baron aka littlemedic.

Probably one of the most important things to do is to learn how not to annoy the nurses.

 You will need to do Pre-admission clinics (or PACs as we call them in Australia) as an intern, which is daunting if there isn’t a pre-created form for you to fill out in front of the patient. To make this a little easier, try coming up with your own proforma for PACs prior to getting in clinic. You can keep it on a USB and just stick it into the computer in the room you’re working, or if you’re in a clinic without computers, you can look at it on your smart phone to ensure you don’t miss any important peri-operative questions. An example can be seen here.

Mini-intern bootcamp pdf’s from emDocs are gold.

Interview preparation? Actual real-life preparation? Check out these cases.

CV sorting. Check out BoringEM’s take on how to write them right.

“Albinoblackbear” is a nurse turned medical student who blogs at Asystole is the Most Stable Rhythm, and gives many hot tips from the former-inside.

If you haven’t got your head around fluids yet, Jesse Spurr gives a fantastic post with helpful links.

If you haven’t yet shadowed an intern at your hospital or future hospital, have a read about life as an intern here, with part 2 here. Also there’s a message from AcademicLifeinEM, a “preventing nightmares guide” for medical students and residents.

Pagers are something you’ll have to get your head around. Apparently you should NOT write ASAP or :) in a pager note. More on pager etiquette.

And um… you should probably watch this:

(Thanks to Iain Beardsell for putting us onto this video)