Books to look over before med school starts?

[rachana]

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now I've ready everyone posting that you shouldn't do any studying the summer before you start med school, but I'm not talking about hardcore studying. Maybe just some books to look over, so it's not such a shock in the fall. I can take 'em to the beach with me. 🙂 Thanks.

 

[SunnyS81]

I book I enjoyed reading last month was "The Brethren" by John Grisham. I'm avoiding any books that are remotely academic. Anyone know any good fiction books?

 

[MSV MD 2B]

I don't have any links now but i am looking over books on how to study in medical school. There is one on success typs by Pelley from the Texs Tech University extended studies website. I lied about the links, here is the website.http://www.dce.ttu.edu/pubs/moreinfo.htm
THen i am also reading the tips on how to study in medical school.
Study Skills and Test-Taking Strategies for Medical Students: Find and Use Your Personal Learning Style (Oklahoma Notes)
by Deborah D. Shain, Oklahoma Notes

Medical School Companion: The Ultimate Guide to Excelling in Medical School and Launching Your Career (Princeton Review Series)
by Mary, Md Ross-Dolen

The Med School Survival Guide : How to Make the Challenges of Med School Seem Like Small Stuff
by Jennifer Danek M.D.
I want to read the book by norma saks but it seems to be out of print.
in addition, I have read teh medical specialty books by Anita Taylor and Kenneth Iserson.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

Originally posted by rachana
now I've ready everyone posting that you shouldn't do any studying the summer before you start med school, but I'm not talking about hardcore studying. Maybe just some books to look over, so it's not such a shock in the fall. I can take 'em to the beach with me. 🙂 Thanks.

The House of God

 

[jayhawk]

i just got done reading american psycho and highly recommend it. another good book is the rules of attraction (by the same author as american psycho). not happy light reading though (i like dark and twisted books).

believe me, don't study anything this summer!!! you will burn out that much quicker if you start early! read something enjoyable because you won't have time to do it while school is in session!!!

 

[motmas]

The House of God

Oh my goodness! I just finished reading The House of God about a week ago. I really found it to be quite funny and sad all at the same time.

Right now, I'm reading The Intern Blues, and I'm enjoying it. Next up on the deck will be something along the lines of Harry Potter. I'm trying to keep things mixed up for my reading pleasure.

I have a queue of books on my nightstand that range from academic to fun. I have read the Danek book - and it now sits on my desk shelf with my other texts. I also have read Shain, but I think I liked Saks's How to Excel in Medical School somewhat better. I'll probably take the advice from both books to develop my own study plan. I'm an ENTJ - how about you?

-Tomi

Class of 2007
Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
The University of Iowa

 

[pcl]

definitely something enjoyable.... skip the books to get ready, just relax and be mentally ready...

i wish i could read novels now!

 

[phllystyl]

Originally posted by Ophtho_MudPhud
The House of God

I concur. House of God is must read material.

I still want to read the sequel 😉

 

[MedPuck]

House of God!! Essential summer reading material. I didn't want it to end.

IMO stay away from academic texts/material because you will likely forget most of it and once medical school starts you will get more than you asked for! I didn't follow this advice and studied a lot of histology (a subject to which I had no previous exposure) a few weeks before the start of school and realized down the road that it helped me little and I could have spent that time reading more of the House of God!

Good luck in the fall!

 

[lady bug]

A friend of mine's beginning UM med school in the fall and she's got to read Tuesdays by Morrie as a summer reading assignment. Don't know too much about the book, but I've heard good things about it. If you want to read a really funny book, read The Cost-Effective Use of Leeches by Jeff Drayer. It's about his experiences at Duke Med School. It'll keep ya laughing!

 

[jekel]

Originally posted by motmas
Oh my goodness! I just finished reading The House of God about a week ago. I really found it to be quite funny and sad all at the same time.

Right now, I'm reading The Intern Blues, and I'm enjoying it. Next up on the deck will be something along the lines of Harry Potter. I'm trying to keep things mixed up for my reading pleasure.

I have a queue of books on my nightstand that range from academic to fun. I have read the Danek book - and it now sits on my desk shelf with my other texts. I also have read Shain, but I think I liked Saks's How to Excel in Medical School somewhat better. I'll probably take the advice from both books to develop my own study plan. I'm an ENTJ - how about you?

-Tomi

Class of 2007
Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
The University of Iowa

That is pretty strange because I also just finished House of God and started The Intern Blues. AND....I am looking forward to Harry Potter coming out to take on vacation with me!

 

[motmas]

[q]That is pretty strange because I also just finished House of God and started The Intern Blues. AND....I am looking forward to Harry Potter coming out to take on vacation with me![/q]


Very strange! I suppose it's true what they say..."birds of a feather flock together", and we just happen to be flocking on the SDN boards!

Let me know what you think about The Intern Blues.

-Tomi

Class of 2007
Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
The University of Iowa

 

[latinfridley]

Ive read Intern Blues. Summary : Internship can be pure hell but you learn more during the internship process than the academic enviroment of medical school.

 

[KUB]

Don't study!!! Read for fun, or don't read at all. The only thing I wish I had read earlier in med school was Iserson's book on getting into residency. Maybe just skim this for ideas on how to distinguish yourself and excel during med school. But I repeat, studying right now will not help you and is a waste of time.
Peace out.
K-

 

[MSV MD 2B]

i wouldn't study iiether but those books about how to study and the ones that tell you a bit about medical school are good to read now. they aren;t that heavy duty and i don' think that you'll have time to read them once school starts. I pplan to read it, then go back over it and proctice soem of the concepts and then use them as a reference once in medical school

 

[Enkindu]

I am currently reading Cocktail: The Drinks Bible for the 21st Century. I am also working with a group researching new techniques for transferring the perfect pina colada from the blender to the inter-tidal zone.

 

[Docgeorge]

Originally posted by phllystyl
I concur. House of God is must read material.

I still want to read the sequel 😉

The sequel is't worth the time. Just think fondly of the House of God and leave it at that.

 

[lattimer13]

Originally posted by phllystyl
I concur. House of God is must read material.

I still want to read the sequel 😉

house of god was very good. i read the sequel "mount misery." i thought it was crapola compared to "house of god."

 

[Docgeorge]

Enkindu

Just currious are you in the Virgin Islands?

 

[Enkindu]

Originally posted by Docgeorge
Enkindu

Just currious are you in the Virgin Islands?

🙂 🙂 🙂

I was wondering when someone would look up my coordinates. Unfortunately I'm not there now (actually in Virginia) but I took that waypoint off of my GPS. It's for Cane Garden Bay, Tortola BVI- probably one of my favorite places on the planet.

 

[Lebesgue]

"Complications" is a really good read.

Behind the scenes of medicine and surgery.

 

[pathstudent]

Hey Rancha,

Start memorizing First Aid you tool!!!!!!

Get a life.

 

[phllystyl]

little early to be drinking, innit? I mean it is memorial day weekend and all, but still man....

 

[chewawa]

"Not an entreily benign procedure" by perri klass. It's pretty good.

 

[A_Shah]

Whats up rachana:

I read through old USMLE step 1 prep books in my spare time. THats all i will be doing b4 med school.

Atman

 

[jay c]

enjoy this summer. it's your last good one.

 

[rachana]

thanks for the suggestions, guys. it has given me lots of ideas on what might be useful (and what wouldn't be). 🙂

 

[Funshine0123]

The last good book I read, a little bit twisted and it does have some relevance to medicine, although it's a fiction book was "The Surgeon" by Tess Gerritson.
Supposedly there's a sequel, "The Apprentice," but the library has been out of it.

 

[DrMom]

I like Tess Gerritsen's novels. 😀

 

[xaelia]

Soul Mountain, by Xingjian Gao
Brief Interviews With Hideous Men, by David Foster Wallace
The Fixer, by Bernard Malamud
The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver
Interpreter of Maladies, by Jhumpa Lahiri
Pu-239 and Other Russian Fantasies, by Ken Kalfus
Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Travels with Charley, by John Steinbeck
The Diagnosis, by Alan Lightman
babel-17, by Samuel R. Delaney

...are the more recent books I've read. I'm also a bit of a literature snob; why waste time with Harry Potter when there's so many other rewarding books out there to read? 😉 I liked most of all of them. Along the lines of semi-medically related works, awhile back I read Not An Entirely Benign Procedure, by Perri Klass, as well as The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman. The former gets a "meh", and the latter gets thumbs up.

I would have to say I'm guilty of sitting in the sun paging through an anatomy atlas to get a little of a running start. It's been a couple years since I was in school, so I don't feel as though I haven't had time to read for fun.

 

[southerndoc]

Originally posted by rachana
now I've ready everyone posting that you shouldn't do any studying the summer before you start med school, but I'm not talking about hardcore studying. Maybe just some books to look over, so it's not such a shock in the fall. I can take 'em to the beach with me. 🙂 Thanks.

I personally wished I had read "How to Have No Life For Four Years" before I started med school.

Just kidding of course!

 

[FLgirl]

I just finished Complications by Gawande as well and I liked it a lot. Kitchen Table Wisdom by Dr. Remen is also good.

 

[cocoabutter]

Xaelia, all I have to say is Harry Potter is the best! 🙂

 

[jekel]

I second that!