Top 3 Text Books as OMSI you did not or cannot live without

Although many proclaim Netter as God, I've gotta go with the two following:

-Rohen's Atlas

-Mosby's Laboratory Diagnostic Manual (must have for PBL)

And for me personally (again, as a result of PBL)
-Harrison's Internal Medicine

Rohen's.
BRS Phys
Goljan Path

And a whole host of internet web sites - specifically ones for histology.

Costanzo Physiology
Robbins Path
Harrison's internal med

1. Netter
2. Clinical neuroanatomy made ridiculously simple
3. Robbins (big daddy, this may be TCOM specific, because I know alot of schools don't start path until year 2).

Looking back, I wish I would have known about and had a First Aid all through first year to mark up. *SIGH*

Oh well.

ShyRem said:

Rohen's.
BRS Phys
Goljan Path

And a whole host of internet web sites - specifically ones for histology.

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I'm not quite sure how as a 1st year people are reading HARRISONS. You're kidding, right? You've barely understood the Physiology at that point, let alone the Pathophysiology of disease.

Maybe you guys do Pathology/Pharm 1st year and Anatomy/Histo/Embryo at the end of 2nd year right before Step 1...

A good anatomy book - Netter's is okay although I found the clinical anatomy book we were required to buy to have excellent clinical correlations to disease that aren't found in your anatomy atlases.

BRS Physiology is written by Costanzo, so you guys are both talking about the same things, correct? I think this book is an absolute necessity when boards roll around and it's probably good to have this during 1st year so you can annotate it in preparation for the boards.

Once pathology starts you NEED Robbins AND Goljan. Robbins to really know your pathology and Goljan to synthesize and make the connections you probably missed.

We start pharmacology during out second semester of first year. I would suggest getting either of the Katzung's. I didn't use a book for boards and kind of regretted it when I started to study for the boards. I ended up buying Baby Katzung during second semester of second-year and reading it cover to cover including the questions and I found it to be put together quite well.

For first year:

1. Guyton Medical Physiology
2. BRS Anatomy
3. Robbin's Pathology

For second year:

1. Katzung and Trevor's Pharmacology Board Review
2. Rubin's Pathology
3. The perfect systems-based micro textbook....let me know if you find it, I never did. In the mean time I used Nath's Problem-Based Micro, supplemented w/ Rapid Review Micro/Immuno.

Honorable Mention: Goljan RR path, DeGowin's Diagnostic Examination, Lange CMDT, Interpretation of Diagnostic Tests, NEJM subscription, Savarese OMT Review, Patestas Textbook of Neuroanatomy, Robbin's Atlas of Pathology, Pharm Recall, and of course, First Aid

Dragon, I have to disagree on Guyton's. The only thing that book is good for is curing insomnia. It's ALMOST as good as Nelson's Pediatrics book for those sleepless nights. Faster sleep aid than any pharmaceutical around.

1. Python in a Nutshell.
2. NEJM subscription.
3. Lippincott's Biochem Illustrated Review.

DOCTORSAIB said:

I'm not quite sure how as a 1st year people are reading HARRISONS. You're kidding, right? You've barely understood the Physiology at that point, let alone the Pathophysiology of disease.

Maybe you guys do Pathology/Pharm 1st year and Anatomy/Histo/Embryo at the end of 2nd year right before Step 1...

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I know some here who use Harrisons (or Cecil) off and on here during 1st year. We're strictly PBL so we'll use an int. med book to make some of the clinical connections during a case that we couldn't get from the individual science texts. I don't have one yet, still deciding, so if I need more clinical info I'll hop on UptoDate or StatRef.

At this point all my books are important as that's what I learn from! Here's what I usually use daily:

Physio: Guyton physio and the mini-review book. Some parts I like, some I
don't.
Path: Robbins path (the big one), also use the small baby review version
Pharm: Katzung Pharm.... also just got the review "version" by the same
author and I like it.

ShyRem said:

Dragon, I have to disagree on Guyton's. The only thing that book is good for is curing insomnia. It's ALMOST as good as Nelson's Pediatrics book for those sleepless nights. Faster sleep aid than any pharmaceutical around.

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Yeah, I felt that way at first, but I guess it's grown on me. The thing is that our test questions come straight from Guyton, so you absolutely have to read this book in order to do well here. If this wasn't the case, I'd probably be reading Costanzo, too, although, in it's defense, I do like the way Guyton is divided into very manageable chunks. And come on, are you telling me you don't you find the gristly descriptions of his animal experiments just a little engaging...?

My soporific of choice is Blumenfield's Nueroanatomy of Clinical Cases...a great concept, but way too verbose...

nlax30 said:

I know some here who use Harrisons (or Cecil) off and on here during 1st year. We're strictly PBL so we'll use an int. med book to make some of the clinical connections during a case that we couldn't get from the individual science texts. I don't have one yet, still deciding, so if I need more clinical info I'll hop on UptoDate or StatRef.

At this point all my books are important as that's what I learn from! Here's what I usually use daily:

Physio: Guyton physio and the mini-review book. Some parts I like, some I
don't.
Path: Robbins path (the big one), also use the small baby review version
Pharm: Katzung Pharm.... also just got the review "version" by the same
author and I like it.

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If you decide you want a paper int. med book, definitely check out the Lange Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment. It's perhaps less encyclopedic than Harrison's, but very readable and practical for PBL purposes. Especially for certain cases, it will be a great source...

I guess I fell asleep before I ever got to the animal experiments parts. Truly - I could never last more than half a page in Guyton without waking up in a pile of drool. Let me tell you: face stuck to Guyton does NOT endear me to the book.

DOCTORSAIB said:

I'm not quite sure how as a 1st year people are reading HARRISONS. You're kidding, right? You've barely understood the Physiology at that point, let alone the Pathophysiology of disease.

Maybe you guys do Pathology/Pharm 1st year and Anatomy/Histo/Embryo at the end of 2nd year right before Step 1...

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At TUCOM-CA we're doing path and pharm over two years (in addition to phys, histo, anatomy, etc), so Harrison's actually is useful. don't know about other schools, but it is relevant for us. or would be if we had time to read!

that said, Rohen's anatomy, Robbins path, and Goljan path are pretty much the only books I use. and Robbins is only because we are tested on the minutiae out of it by our path professors, and we don't really have a choice.

I See You said:

in addition to your top 3, what are your top 3 you feel or felt like they were a big waste of precious loan money...

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I'm not sure what everyone else is using their big robbins book for but mine sits on a shelf collecting dust. I think every single person that comes in and lectures, as well as most review books follow it nearly page for page. thus, I'de prefer to not carry it around.


at my school we have an abundance of lectures - so books are not going to be very useful unless they actually make your life easier.


my top 3?

Micro made rediculously simple
Goljian RR path
netter

I See You said:

in addition to your top 3, what are your top 3 you feel or felt like they were a big waste of precious loan money...

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I have to say with the exception of first aid i have regretted EVERY single book i spent money on in medical school.

I See You said:

in addition to your top 3, what are your top 3 you feel or felt like they were a big waste of precious loan money...

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1. Marks Medical Biochemistry
2. Mims Microbiology
3. Mosby Physical Diagnosis - inferior to Bates or Schwartz IMO

Hmmm, all books beginning with the letter M...

oreosandsake said:

I'm not sure what everyone else is using their big robbins book for but mine sits on a shelf collecting dust. I think every single person that comes in and lectures, as well as most review books follow it nearly page for page. thus, I'de prefer to not carry it around.


at my school we have an abundance of lectures - so books are not going to be very useful unless they actually make your life easier.


my top 3?

Micro made rediculously simple
Goljian RR path
netter

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I totally agree.

I used scribe notes from lectures, BRS Path (RR Path hadn't really hit the market yet), Goljan audio and Robbins Review question book. No textbooks. None.

I knew my path inside and out. Did well in class and on Step 1.

I have 4, but these are the only 4 books I used for first year(I bought a lot that I never used or needed)
Rohen
MMRS
The Green Savarese Book for OMM
Lippincott Biochem

I have to say MRS saved my behind for immuno. The cartoons just *so* stuck in my head.

Don't listen to DORoe...he always uses that Costanzo when Guyton and Hall is SO MUCH BETTER!

Guyton and Hall Med Physiology
Robbins Path
Cecil's Med

DOAnestMan said:

Don't listen to DORoe...he always uses that Costanzo when Guyton and Hall is SO MUCH BETTER!

Guyton and Hall Med Physiology
Robbins Path
Cecil's Med

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It all has to do with the exceptional way that Linda presents information. You were never able to fully appreciated her, and didn't deserve her.

I See You said:

I am trying to decide which is more useful for anatomy: Rohen's or Netter's. From what I understand, the pics in Rohen's are of cadavers and netter's are just drawings, is this description accurate? Just from this basic information, I would think Rohen's will be more useful. what do y'all think???

And what y'all think of chung's BRS (for anatomy)

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Pretty much right. I used both at times in anatomy. Used Netter's to get an idea of relationships among structures (idealized at least), and used Rohen's when I wanted to see what it actually looks like in the body, or when I needed help identifying something when in lab.

Sometimes one of the clubs or something gives you a Netter atlas for joining, might want to ask about that?

Can't comment on Chung's BRS, didn't use any sort of high yield review book. Just used Gray's anatomy for students text, our powerpoints, and the two atlas texts.

Guyton has been pretty good to me thus far...though we JUST started Phys..I also have the BRS Phys book. I find Guyton pretty easy to read compared to some of the other texts we've had...the Cell Bio book was particularly bad.

Loved having the Netter's Flashcards around. Used Netter's Text and the Flashcards...keeping Rohen's around for review during clinicals.

I would not have survived BioChem without the BRS review....and the Marks text.

I love Malanga's Musculoskeletal book, even though I'm not sure it's "necessary".

Guyton and Hall Physiology.
Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy
First Aid for Step One

If you do path/pharm/micro first year:
Lippincott's Pharm (It's in color people!)
Lippincott's Micro
The Big, Big Robbin's Path (not the basic.)

Also, I heard the poster say they read Harrison's. I would have said this was crazy too, but now, I see how important Harrison's is. It's really dense, but its like having the best medicine attending in the world by your side. Just practicing reading it is good preparation for the future, even though when you first glance at it, that seems impossible.

Another good habit to get into, subscribe to the New England Journal of Medicine. The have a on-line subscription for students that hella cheap. Every week you get new cases, videos of procedures, and lots of little tidbits that are tasty.

bth

bth7 said:

...
Another good habit to get into, subscribe to the New England Journal of Medicine. The have a on-line subscription for students that hella cheap. Every week you get new cases, videos of procedures, and lots of little tidbits that are tasty.

bth

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I'll also throw this little gem out there...join the American College of Physicians (ACP) for free and get free online access to the Annals of Internal Medicine. It's not as comprehensive as NEJM, but certain subjects, particularly anything from their "Physiology in Medicine" series, are very useful.

DragonWell said:

I'll also throw this little gem out there...join the American College of Physicians (ACP) for free and get free online access to the Annals of Internal Medicine. It's not as comprehensive as NEJM, but certain subjects, particularly anything from their "Physiology in Medicine" series, are very useful.

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Agreed.

I See You said:

thanks for all the responses.
I have a huge and I think very good undergrad biochem text (voet, voet), does it make sense to buy another biochem book for med school? This book is very concise and easy to read and covers every typical biochem topic.

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Yeah, I used my undergrad bio chem book too, at first. But, the issue is that there's a lot of medically specific biochem. It's really useful to actually have a medical biochem book, since it emphasizes things like enzyme deficiency diseases, interactions with drugs, nutrition, etc. You need these correlations drawn as you are going along, otherwise its just abstract knowledge.

Books like Baynes Medical Biochem do a real good job of this.
Lippincott's Biochem is also decent.

bth

bth7 said:

Yeah, I used my undergrad bio chem book too, at first. But, the issue is that there's a lot of medically specific biochem. It's really useful to actually have a medical biochem book, since it emphasizes things like enzyme deficiency diseases, interactions with drugs, nutrition, etc. You need these correlations drawn as you are going along, otherwise its just abstract knowledge.

Books like Baynes Medical Biochem do a real good job of this.
Lippincott's Biochem is also decent.

bth

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I agree with this. The medical text books are filled with clinical correlations and it just helps to make the concepts clearer. We used Mark's Basic Biochem book which was a great help to me because I'd never had the class before and it spelled everything out and gave you all the clinical presentations if something went wrong.

DOCTORSAIB said:

I'm not quite sure how as a 1st year people are reading HARRISONS. You're kidding, right? You've barely understood the Physiology at that point, let alone the Pathophysiology of disease.

Maybe you guys do Pathology/Pharm 1st year and Anatomy/Histo/Embryo at the end of 2nd year right before Step 1...

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At SOMA we get a lot of reading from Harrisons as first years. It's a little overkill at times, but it does give you a great overview of specific conditions.

My picks would be:
1) First Aid for the USMLE
2) Kaplan's high yield guide to the USMLE
3) Netter's

Harrison's and Robin's are great texts, but most of the time I don't have the time to go through them. I stick to Wikipedia and review books....more time effective and higher yield.

Someone mentioned Savarese already, but I also wanted to add OMT Recall for OMM cramming. Wish I'd known about this book during MS1.

MD Consult or Access Medicine. Your school should provide it. No need to buy another book. Don't worry about using 'required texts' it's BS. The only books I own are Baby Cecil's (love it), Baby Nelson's, Lawrence Surgery, High OB/GYN, High Yield IM, Netters, FOM, and few scanty others.

Do I need Mosby and Harrison as a OMS1 at LECOM-B? I've got all the other books you guys have recommended...

Dreammona said:

Do I need Mosby and Harrison as a OMS1 at LECOM-B? I've got all the other books you guys have recommended...

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It's pretty nice to have a lab manual (ie Mosby or other), but not essential as long as someone else in your group has one. You'll want an internal med book (Harrison's, Cecil, Lange CMDT) at some point, but you probably won't use it a whole lot during first year. The few times when you might really need to look something up, you can just use StatRef, Emedicine, etc.

Thanks for the suggestions Dragon, but I probably will buy them anyway now that I still have money, I like to have everything at my disposal even when I'm studying at home.

I agree with DragonWell..... I had the Mosby's Diagnostic Lab Manual from the beginning and use it a lot when trying to get a quick interpretation of a lab result. There's another book in the library called something like "Interpretation of basic laboratory tests" (or something like that) that's bigger but is systems based and gives a quick physio overview of the system and then related lab tests/values. Just discovered it this semester.

Right now during 2nd semester I'm just now starting to use Harrison's some. It isn't a basic science but once you've looked at the basic science for a case it's nice to look in Harrison's (or another internal med book) and get a good overview of the disease along with it's physio, pathogenesis, diagnosis, tests, and treatment options. Especially now that some things are starting to overlap it can be pretty helpful. First semester I used my laptop a lot and would go to UpToDate or StatRef for that sort of overview/clinical info.

I think I've seen a couple slightly different versions of the Mosby lab manuals so I'm not sure what the latest is or what the differences are. If you can find one for a cheap/decent price then it's handy to have.

I also picked up the small ("baby") handbooks that go along with our Physio and Pathology books. I need some sort of overview structure before jumping into details so it's pretty easy (and quick) to read through several physio chapters in the baby book and then go to the big one to fill in the details. Could always find someone who has one once you start and see if you like it or not, that's what I did.

nlax30 said:

I agree with DragonWell..... I had the Mosby's Diagnostic Lab Manual from the beginning and use it a lot when trying to get a quick interpretation of a lab result. There's another book in the library called something like "Interpretation of basic laboratory tests" (or something like that) that's bigger but is systems based and gives a quick physio overview of the system and then related lab tests/values. Just discovered it this semester.
....

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I'm not sure if this is the book you mean - "Interpretation of Diagnostic Tests", but if so, this is the lab manual I've got and I find it extremely helpful. I didn't specifically suggest it 'cause Mosby is cheaper and seems to be most people's preference...Bakerman's is another really good lab manual if you want something pocket-sized.

These have been really helpful to me so far:

1. Micro made Ridculously Simple
2. Physiology- Constanza (the actual textbook)
3. Neuroanatomy Made Simple & Blummfeild Neuroscience with cases
4. Rohen's Color Atlas of Anatomy (great pictures)

1) Netter (even though his head and neck is a complete cluster...but that's the way the head and neck is in real life, too).
2) Rohen (everything I learned in Netter, I then learned in Rohen - it was a good excuse not to go to the lab if I was feeling really lazy).
3) Lippincott biochem - saved my life. I'd never taken biochem and those algorithms at the end of each chapter were amazing.

I'm finding this "Concise Clinical Immunology for Healthcare Professionals" by Mary Keogan very helpful as well...

Anyone from CCOM care to provide some insight?

Thanks

Has anyone been using Comlex review by Moodi and Shah? I'm thinking about shelling out the dough for this book, but wanted to hear from someone who actually used it.

Anton Chigurh said:

Has anyone been using Comlex review by Moodi and Shah? I'm thinking about shelling out the dough for this book, but wanted to hear from someone who actually used it.

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In my search for the perfect OMM book, I think I've read around 5 different OMM review books over the course of the past two years, and while each may have their strengths, honestly none of them really stands out above the rest. Even though you only asked for the time, I'll tell you how to build the clock: here's my opinion on each...

Savarese is still probably the best, partly b/c of the practice questions in it and partly b/c it is well organized and actually does a pretty good job of highlighting high yield info. Yes, some of the questions are ridiculous, but really, isn't that just sometimes the nature of OMM questions...?

I like OMM Recall as mentioned above for quick cramming. Essential IMO.

Moodi and Shah is kind of nice because it does have some info about applying OMM to organ systems, which is notably lacking in Savarese. The anatomy is pretty redundant though, at least for our OMM tests and it's not nearly as well organized for studying as Savarese.

COMLEX OMM Review by Wm. Thomas Crow is *supposedly* the source used for some of the OMM questions on COMLEX and does seem to have some of that somewhat random info that seems to sometimes appear on OMM tests. It also includes short organ system chapters that seem high yield. Of course, being published by the AAO, it looks like it was typed on the last Smith Corona in existence...complete with dot-matrix style illustrations..and what a bargain at $40...

Dr. Simmons OMT Review book has the best section for explaining cranial, but is not too useful for much else.

Boards Boot Camp OMT Review is again, OK, not really anything to recommend it above the others.

First Aid for COMLEX is probably the worst of the bunch IMO.

In a nutshell, if I were to pick a book to buy, it would be Savarese, followed by OMM Recall. I'd definitely try to check any of the others out from a library before dropping any cash on them...

Rohen
Netter
BRS Gross Anatomy & Neuroanatomy
Wheater's Histology Atlas

The other books I didn't use. For Biochem & Micro, the notes from class were adequate. For OMM, the only book you need is Savarese, but you won't need it until boards second year.

Netter
BRS Physiology
BRS Pathology

I'd say the most important books/resources for 1st year are:
Anatomy: I agree with someone who posted above - I did well with having Netters flashcards and then I forget what book I borrowed from my friends that had cadaver pictures in it. UMich also has a GREAT anatomy website for looking at dissections and practicing questions.
Physio: BRS phys - definitely a must. I liked Guyton for more detailed explanations. It is long winded at times.
PCS/Physical Diagnosis: Bates Guide to Physical Exam. PCOM actually put out their own videos and gave them to us for us to study as well. That was pretty nice for review.
OMM: Savarese
Biochem: Lippencot Biochem (if you didn't have biochem in undergrad)

For second year:
Path: Baby Robins
Micro Made Rediculously Simple

We actually had online access to Harrisons - so I just read that online when I needed it....which wasn't very often. I plan to buy one eventually, but they come out with a new edition like every year so I think buying one in med school is almost a waste of money since you can find what basic info you'll need for second year online on wikipedia or in a journal if you want something you think is more reliable.

For Boards:
First Aid - know every word
RR Path and Goljan Audio
USMLE world
Find a good Behavioral Science book as well. They like these questions for some reason.
OMM - I heard reviewing Savarese and doing kaplan COMLEX Q-bank is sufficient for any kind of OMM COMLEX question you might encounter.

Just my 2 cents.

get pharm recall and micro made ridiculously simple. Both insanely hiyield. Christ im 6 yrs out and still remember how helpful those books were