Book to prepare for med school??

[ocdoc]

Can anyone recommend a book to read to prepare on how to get ready for being a med student...i want to mentally prepare so I dont burn out, etc.?

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[Critical Mass]

Burn out is inevitable. Enjoy your free time.

 

[deuist]

The House of God

 

[megadon]

take your pic on your political flavor, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Atlas Shrugged (allow some time for that one), communist manifesto, Mao Tse Tung, Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, whatever you want.

Just read something you want to read, cause it's gonna be a while before you allot (sp?) yourself time to do it again. Unless you purposefully make time to read books during med school, the only book you will read has MD or PhD after the authors name. You will spend way too much time reading their works to read it before med school, so DON'T.

 

[MarzMD]

Buy an investing book. I also second House of God.

 

[naegleria brain]

doesnt harry potter come out soon? either that or Robbins Pathology. i say the former

 

[Shredder]

Medical Student's Survival Guide by Steven R. Polk

Just remember what's important at the end of the tunnel--lifestyle and money. That's it.

 

[Mr. Freeze]

The Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness

 

[steppwolf]

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

 

[Critical Mass]

The House of God

That was my first thought, but I'd just as soon recommend R&R.

 

[45408]

Complete World Bartender Guide: The Standard Reference to More than 2,400 Drinks (Mass Market Paperback)

 

[nightowl]

I second reading something unrelated. I read Atlas Shrugged, Catch 22, and Love in the time of cholera and I'm really glad I didn't read anything related to med school. Because, honestly, nothing you read is going to prepare you for what med school is going to be like. No book at least. So enjoy your summer! people told me that before I started, and I sort of didn't believe them, I was so ready to just start, but now I see exactly what they were saying. Once school starts you are going to feel at times like they own your soul. So do what you what, when you want now, while you still can.

 

[Katya00]

If you REALLY feel you need an intro to medicine, I'd recommend watching the dissection vids on UofM's website. It might help you feel a bit more prepared for dissection, especially if you have reservations about cutting up a human body

 

[pagemmapants]

i'd recommend the entire 3-volume Calvin & Hobbes collection.

 

[Law2Doc]

Can anyone recommend a book to read to prepare on how to get ready for being a med student...i want to mentally prepare so I dont burn out, etc.?

Since your post suggests an overeager gunner type I'm thinking The Art of War by Sun Tzu.

 

[pballa24]

why read when you can be hittin up the gym, drinking, and adding more notches to the bedpost??? seriously, cuz you know all thats gonna go down the drain once you start...

 

[pballa24]

i really do sound like a drunken chauvinist....so be it.

 

[daeojkim]

If you don't have anything to do over the summer, study some Spanish / medical Spanish. If you can find some book or take a course, or watch a lot of Telemundo.

Knowing Spanish will be very very useful later.

 

[Law2Doc]

or watch a lot of Telemundo.

This doesn't actually work -- You just sit there and think -- boy I wish I understood some spanish so I knew what the heck was going on in this show...
There are some good audio-tape courses that might help.

 

[Shredder]

seems like ppl are posting things irrelevant to the OP, if it were me id be flustered. its pretty clear what hes looking for. OP check amazon, might have better luck there

 

[pseudoknot]

seems like ppl are posting things irrelevant to the OP, if it were me id be flustered. its pretty clear what hes looking for. OP check amazon, might have better luck there

This looks like it might be relevant, although I haven't read it and I'm not yet a med student.

The Med School Survival Guide : How to Make the Challenges of Med School Seem Like Small Stuff

 

[Random]

The most complete people tend to be the best doctors... or something equally Yoda-ish. If you haven't already read it, I'd read Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen.

 

[daeojkim]

This doesn't actually work -- You just sit there and think -- boy I wish I understood some spanish so I knew what the heck was going on in this show...
There are some good audio-tape courses that might help.

That was meant to be a joke (probably not so well placed and not obvious)... But you are right. You really need to get some basics before you can actually get something out of watching TV to learn another language.

 

[JHU1984]

Since your post suggests an overeager gunner type ...

says the person with 11,000 posts on SDN

 

[JustPlainBill]

There is nothing you can do that will prepare you for medical school, save one.

Get some sleep. No matter what you read, how much you memorize, etc. it may only gain you a few points on exams. However, your precious sleep, time spent doing activities you enjoy and time spent with those you love are priceless.

Not having been there, you cannot know the sheer ecstasy of going to a movie for an afternoon after a major neuro exam/practical. Or establishing the tradition of treating yourself to wings at Hooter's after a major exam. You'll learn to take the little things, like a walk in the park or even going grocery shopping and being able to walk around the store and see sights you haven't seen in months -- like new music CDs that have come out while you've been buried elbows deep in a cadaver during GI or cardio. Medical school becomes your life and your minute breaks are few and far between.

We're in school starting the last week of July and going until the first week of July with a 3 week break between 1st and 2nd and no break thereafter.

Don't waste your free time prior to the opening gate by trying to 'prepare'. If your undergrad prep was good, that's really all the prep you'll need.....

Note: I am NOT at the top of my class but I hit the average or slightly above it in most classes. The people at the top are either crazy smart or OCD about studying-- at least in my school.....

 

[pagemmapants]

Back to the OP. If you want stuff that's semi-fluff but also relevant to medical school and haven't gotten to them yet (although I can't imagine you haven't heard about them before) may I suggest the following:

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - Atul Gawande
House of God - Samuel Shem
The Lost Art of Healing - Dr. Bernard Lown

If you want something actually preparative, the Survival Guide listed above is probably gonna help you.

If you want something to get you geared up for what you want to do for "the Next Step" there's also Iserson's Guide to Getting In to Residency. I think they're up to the 7th ed now but it might still only be in hardback.

And if you're a superhero, you might want to just go ahead and pick up First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, but if you do, don't share the fact that you own it with your classmates or they might never speak to you again or just make fun of you incessantly.

(I don't think it's such a bad idea, though, depending on when you take your Step 1)

 

[Pontifex Maximus]

This looks like it might be relevant, although I haven't read it and I'm not yet a med student.

The Med School Survival Guide : How to Make the Challenges of Med School Seem Like Small Stuff

I have this book, and its a neat little read, but certainly not worth whatever they're charging for it in the Amazon marketplace. 48 bucks?!

It basically boils down to: don't sweat the small stuff, be balanced, don't complain, and don't leave your family/friends behind.

 

[Arsenic]

moving to pre-allo

 

[Eric Lindros]

House of God is so overrated.

 

[emaj1n]

Blue Like Jazz. Non-religious thoughts about Christian spirtuality. A well-written book.

 

[mdm2fly]

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

jeez, what a downer