booklist

[D30417995]

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I'm just an M1. Please critique my booklist, as I can only afford one textbook in each of the major disciplines. Thanks!

Anatomy:
Netter and Moore

Biochemistry:
Lehninger (or should I get Stryer?)

Embryology:
Larson

Histology:
Wheater

Immunology:
Roitt & Brostoff & Male

Medical Genetics:
Nussbaum & McInnes & Willard

Medicine:
Kumar & Clark (I was told Harrison and Cecil are both excellent.)

Microbiology:
Mims & Dockrell

Molecular Medicine:
Cox & Sinclair

Pathology:
Kumar & Fausto

Pharmacology:
Katzung (or should I get Rang & Dale et. al. instead?)

Physiology:
Boron (My professor kept saying that Guyton & Hall is no good; Guyton is obsessed with the kidney, etc.)

Neuroscience:
Kandel & Schwartz & Jessell

Endocrinology:
Larkins

Thank you very much. By the way, does your school put the booklist online? I'd like to find out what books are generally being used by schools in North America. I believe you guys use board review books to supplement or, in some cases, replace your regular textbooks right?

 

[njbmd]

Hi there,
You need to tailor your booklist to the recommended texts at your particular school. Since no one text in any discipline is totally perfect, you should use the library for the rest.

I found that my second-year advisor gave me every text that I used for first year and I passed them on when I was done. I used books on reserve at the library and bought no textbooks (saved lots of money).

Your lectures and course syllabi are going to be far more valuable than a bunch of textbooks that you probably won't get around to reading anyway.

njbmd 🙂

 

[Law2Doc]

I used books on reserve at the library and bought no textbooks (saved lots of money).

Yes. You will find that in some courses you rely on texts far more than others, and thus might not even need the text other than as an infrequent outside resource, in which case library access would be adequate. Depending on your school, you may find that you need no text for some subjects, and yet would want access to multiple texts for others. You probably should not buy anything for any course until it starts, and then you can see what's what. (As it's already March, I presume you (OP) mean you are soon to be an M1, and not one already -- otherwise you should already have taken many of those courses...)

 

[angel80]

After all of 1st and 2nd year (I'm an M4 now), I would say that the only books I really needed for the first two years would be Netter and Rohen for Anatomy, and Robbins for Path. In the beginning, I bought Wheater for Histology and Langmans for Embryology, but I slowly wised up and stopped buying books. The course packs and lectures are sufficient for the exam. The only time I would recommend looking at a textbook is is you were struggling to grasp a concept and needed it explained in a different way. In that case, you could go to the library and check-out a book for a few hours.

 

[Ypo.]

Netter and Rohen for anatomy are good for anatomy and are necessary IMO.

Take my advice-if you have an undergraduate biochem and genetics book-use those instead of buying new ones.

Be wary of any text with the term "Medical" in it. I have found that textbooks tailored to medical students are often very general-and don't explain concepts in detail-so if you haven't already taken the class before in undergrad and are trying to learn it for the first time, you will be in trouble. I specifically mention Immunology and genetics. If I could do it again, I would not have bought the textbooks I used.

Also, don't buy all your books at once. Wait to see what the coursepack is like. Some of them are very comprehensive and thorough and you may not require a text.

 

[Koko]

Definitely speak with folks ahead of you at your school. They're the best source of advice for you when it comes to identifying what you need text wise. Study guides are more personal preference - flip through some at your book store. Have fun.

 

[8744]

I'm just an M1. Please critique my booklist, as I can only afford one textbook in each of the major disciplines. Thanks!

Anatomy:
Netter and Moore

Biochemistry:
Lehninger (or should I get Stryer?)

Embryology:
Larson

Histology:
Wheater

Immunology:
Roitt & Brostoff & Male

Medical Genetics:
Nussbaum & McInnes & Willard

Medicine:
Kumar & Clark (I was told Harrison and Cecil are both excellent.)

Microbiology:
Mims & Dockrell

Molecular Medicine:
Cox & Sinclair

Pathology:
Kumar & Fausto

Pharmacology:
Katzung (or should I get Rang & Dale et. al. instead?)

Physiology:
Boron (My professor kept saying that Guyton & Hall is no good; Guyton is obsessed with the kidney, etc.)

Neuroscience:
Kandel & Schwartz & Jessell

Endocrinology:
Larkins

Thank you very much. By the way, does your school put the booklist online? I'd like to find out what books are generally being used by schools in North America. I believe you guys use board review books to supplement or, in some cases, replace your regular textbooks right?

Silly Pre-med. Textbooks are a waste of money. You will probably need an atlas but for everything else, just wait and see.

The short answer is that if the text is redundant to your making good grades you don't need it.

For the long answer please visit my humble blog.

 

[D30417995]

Thanks guys!

By the way, I'm not a pre-med. I'm an Australian med student studying in Australia. Our school year begins in February each year. 😉

 

[emack]

Don't buy anything until you're at school & you get a sense of 1) what the lecturers recommend, 2) what upper-year students recommend, 3) what resources are available free at your library or online (this one is key), 4) how much you think you'll need to rely on a text for a given course, and 5) what books you can get cheap/free from upper-year students.

If all else fails, and you decide you need to shell out $$$ for a text for a class, dig around on these forums to find some (possible unhelpful) opinions, and at least go to your school's bookstore or library & take a look at the contenders to decide which one's best for you. Then you can buy or at least make an informed choice for an online purchase.

 

[tea4me]

Don't buy anything until you're at school & you get a sense of 1) what the lecturers recommend, 2) what upper-year students recommend, 3) what resources are available free at your library or online (this one is key), 4) how much you think you'll need to rely on a text for a given course, and 5) what books you can get cheap/free from upper-year students.

If all else fails, and you decide you need to shell out $$$ for a text for a class, dig around on these forums to find some (possible unhelpful) opinions, and at least go to your school's bookstore or library & take a look at the contenders to decide which one's best for you. Then you can buy or at least make an informed choice for an online purchase.

This is definitely good advice. Also, if you do buy a book you think you'll need but end up never using it, you can always sell it on amazon.com or half.com and you'll probably get the same amount of money you bought it for.

 

[Mike59]

As above...Do not spend money unnecessarily on books. If you'll be tested over lecture notes, it's a waste of effort and cash to plunge into hardcover books with fine print.

Mike59's Preclinical MED SCHOOL ESSENTIALS:

- Robbin's BASIC Pathology (baby robbins)
- Moore for Anatomy
- Clinical Micro/Neuroanatomy/Physiology Made Ridiculously simples
- Lippincott Pharmacology
- First Aid for Step I
- for others I'm at a loss or I don't consider it that important based on how I was evaluated at my school

Also, your school may have online access to things like uptodate, harrison's, OVID, etc. This should save you a ton of cash on books if that's the case...

Don't spend more than $50 on any book except the anatomy one....