confused about books

[MDpride]

Hii

we just started cellular and molecular block which covers biochem, micro,genetics, immuno,path,pharm. AND other THREE classes.

i use online notes available from www.medicalstudent.com to understand powerpoint handouts as they mainly have pictures.

I'm confused about buying 6 books for classes or BRS ?

.1...Biochemistry:.. AD Marks and M Lieberman. 2009 Marks' Basic Medical Biochemistry, A Clinical Approach. 3rd edition. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. ISBN-13: 9780781770224 and ISBN-10: 078177022X.
.2...Genetics:.. Turnpenny T and S Ellardd. 2007. Emery's Elements of Medical Genetics. 13th ed. Elsevier..
.3...Immunology:.. Basic Immunology; Abbas and Lichtman. 2nd ed Elsevier 2006..
.4...Internal Medicine:.. Kasper DL et al. 2005 Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 16th edition. McGraw-Hill..
.5...Microbiology:.. Schaechter's Mechanisms of Microbial Disease. 4th edition 2007. Lippincott Williams and Wilkins..
.6...Pathology:.. Kumar, V et. al . ..Robbins Basic Pathology. 8th edition. Elsevier Saunders..
.7...Pharmacology:.. Basic and Clinical Pharmacology 10th edition by Bertram G. Katzung; McGraw Hill Lange.

what do u guys recommend buying or not buying ?

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[MsKrispyKreme]

You should probably ask an upperclassman at your school which ones they recommend (if any).

 

[meister]

I haven't used any books so far and feel like an idiot I blew $150 on old books from upper-classmen.

 

[TMP-SMX]

Get BRS for all the classes and study your notes.

But yes ask your upperclassmen.

 

[jackets5]

As for textbooks it really depends on the class and how the prof teaches and how they test. Do they test on little tedious information you could only pick out of their powerpoints or do they test on understanding the big picture. For me it depends on the class. For example in Path our prof's test questions are very vague and tests on very small details. Questions are harder than Robbins questions. For his class i read the section in Robbins, then go through the powerpoints, then go through RR path and add to my notes i have taken from the powerpoints.

As for review books see which ones you like better for example some BRS suck, like the biochem, micro and pharm one. RR Path is the best review book you will ever use. CCMRS is awesome as well. BRS anatomy is great. RR Phys=BRS phys personal preference on that one. HY neuro is very good.

 

[badasshairday]

Books are a waste of time and money. Just check them out from the library if you really need them.

 

[themudphud]

I too bought about $250 worth of books during 1st year for biochem and ended up using one of them for ~2 weeks (and never again--not even in grad school!).
I have mentioned this in other threads as well--find out exactly where questions on exams at your school come from. If they come from the notes, as they do at our place, then all you need are the notes! In that case, bigger texts are more like references to go to just for some extra knowledge to satisfy your own curiosity.
At some schools, however, questions tend to come from one textbook or another depending on who the course director is--and this you would have to find out from more senior students.

 

[MDpride]

Thanks for the replies.

Prof. at our college write questions which are based on OBJECTIVES written at the begining of each lecture.
They want us to be able to answer OBJECTIVES to be able to answer their questions.
I like that approach.

 

[WellWornLad]

On the advice of students above me I've never bought supplementary books, and I'm glad I didn't. There just isn't enough time in the day to learn the syllabus and lectures and then go on to read a third or fourth source for every single topic. If I don't understand a specific topic, I'll go to the library and spend half an hour looking at alternative sources. Cause hey, that's what libraries are for.