Neurology books?

jyglee said:

I'm about to finish my PGY1 in internal medicine and heading to the first year of neurology. I wonder what good neurology books I should read ? Thank you for your information!

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IMO, these are the "gold standard" texts:

Starters (PGY - 1 and 2):
1. Patten - (This should be the first book to read; it's reader-friendly and a good start - light-blue hard cover book.)
2. Brazis' Localizations in Clinic Neurology - (It may seem like a dry read, but it has great information that truly needs to be understood by a neurology resident - small but dense dark-blue hard cover book.)
3. Haines atlas - (As a supplement ... which you probably read through in medical school - I still have my spiral version from undergraduate school, and, in my opinion, all versions are just as good.)

Core texts (PGY - 2 though 4):
4. Bradley's Neurology in Clinical Practice - (It's long, but it's also the best. Don't waste time reading with trying to reading this along with Victor & Adams/Ropper, Aminoff, and Merritt; stick with one good text. The new/dark-green covered Bradley's text can also be read on-line with a code that you get from the inside of the first volume.)
5. Osborn's Diagnostic Imaging: Brain - (The best neuroimaging text available; a new edition came out this past year ... although it is it's own "1st edition;" it's a black cover, rather than Osborn's old brick red text.)
6. Fuller's Practical Review of Neuropathology - (Not many pictures, but this is the gold standard for neuropathology at our level; the text is a soft-cover and gray colored.)
7. Cummings cognitive text - (Of UCLA fame)

For those interested in neurophysiology/EMG:
8. Preston and Shapiro Electromyography and Neuromuscular Disorders - (Kimura's text and Shin Oh's text out of UAB are classics, but - IMO - Preston and Shapiro's text is the best.)

Daily updates:
9. join the AAN and read Neurology (green journal) regularly ... along with a couple other of your favorite journals (ie. Muscle and Nerve, etc.)

If you know these texts, you will set for your residency and the boards. Have fun.

-274

my favorites, and i have seen several neuro residents in my travels with them as well:

Neurological Diagnosis 2nd edition -John Patten
Fundamental Neuroscience - Haines
Localization in Clinical Neurology - Brazis, Masdeu, Biller
Neurology for the Boards - Geyer, Keating, Potts

Patten's book is a very good read, great clinical slant, and filled with excellent illustrations and patient case stories.

Haines is a med school textbook, but i liked it so much that it was one of the few that i did not put up for sale @ amazon.

the Brazis book was gift, and a great one at that. it's neurology from the anatomical perspective and runs to the clinical correlation. great drawings too.

the Boards book is not detailed, but it hits everything. a good stepping stone to read abridged version topics (all which will be on the neuro boards) and allows you to did deeper from there on.

hope this helps.

and if you really have some free time on your hands.... I just finished this great little book from Carl Zimmer called "Soul made Flesh: The discovery of the brain and how it changed the world". a great historical read on the some of the big milestones of medicine and neurology. it follows the the history of tom willis and his buddies and how they revolutionized how we examine the human body. really great read....

jyglee said:

I'm about to finish my PGY1 in internal medicine and heading to the first year of neurology. I wonder what good neurology books I should read ? Thank you for your information!

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For the most part, I agree with Game274 (especially about Bradley's general neuro text and Preston and Shapiro for EMG (new edition will have CD ROM EMG tool). Would make the following tweaks:

Neuropath: If you want to spend the $ (maybe you can get it cheaper used) get the neuropath atlas by Ellison & Love. Fabulous!

Journals: Don't spend too much time on the green journal (If I see one more article like "Genetic Analysis of Hallervorden Spatz Disease in Bantu tribesmen Living in Rural Lichtenstein" I'm gonna scream. Most of the stuff seems to be of little to no clinical value. Just a pet peeve. Instead, subscribe to Continuum and Neurology Clinics of North America. Yes, some of the issues will be more or less B.S. ("Ethics for Neurologists" never even made it out of the shrink wrap) but they are usually great learning and 1st line reference sources.

I am a MS4 about to start my internship. These are books I read to help with neurology during med school.

1. Clinical Neurology by Hankey and Wardlaw
- VERY good reference book. Written in a very helpful format that breaks down a disease into epi, etiology, differential, diagnostic approach, among other things. Explains how a given disease is differentiated from others. A staple among our residents

2. Harrison's Neurology in Clinical Medicine
- Given to me by a second year resident who used it during her intern year. Said it was spectacular. Her credentials: top of her medical school class, 260+ on both Steps, and generally known around our hospital as having "upper level" resident knowledge.

3. Neurology Secrets
- great Q&A book to mix things up. Put it somewhere you have idle time (toilet, coffee table, etc) and just peruse on occasion. Good way to stay sharp

This topic has been addressed ad nauseum in previous threads as well. If you search, you will find a fairly comprehensive list of texts from a few months back.

cmk said:

I am a MS4 about to start my internship. These are books I read to help with neurology during med school.

1. Clinical Neurology by Hankey and Wardlaw
- VERY good reference book. Written in a very helpful format that breaks down a disease into epi, etiology, differential, diagnostic approach, among other things. Explains how a given disease is differentiated from others. A staple among our residents

2. Harrison's Neurology in Clinical Medicine
- Given to me by a second year resident who used it during her intern year. Said it was spectacular. Her credentials: top of her medical school class, 260+ on both Steps, and generally known around our hospital as having "upper level" resident knowledge.

3. Neurology Secrets
- great Q&A book to mix things up. Put it somewhere you have idle time (toilet, coffee table, etc) and just peruse on occasion. Good way to stay sharp

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Ok for med student, not adequate for neurology resident.

For a PGY 1-2 getting into Neurology, reading the entire first volume of Bradley and the Neuroanatomy text of Brazis are the best things to do. Bradley's first 400 pages - An approach to the patient, review the differential diagnosis as we do the neurological exam. Read and re-read those pages. Localizing lesions require the understanding of neuroanatomy. Brazis (or Patten) are good choices.

Again, the first 2 years are to keep patient care safety and come up with appropriate differential diagnosis. As you see a case of Krabbe or Fabry, then you read about those conditions. If you miss the basis of neurology, you will miss those diagnosis.