First Year: Cost of Books

[Wee Free Woman]

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How much, ballpark, would you say you paid for books during first year?

Including assigned text as well as study aides for USMLE Step 1?

 

[logos]

Depends on how many of them you buy. I would absolutely recomend not buying any books until you are sure if you need that book or not.

Powerpoint slides and printed lecture notes are usually sufficient here...much higher yield than books.

I've spent maybe $350 so far for mine.

No board review books for me, boards arent till after second year, so no sense in picking those up until the new versions come out/it becomes time to study.

 

[synapse lapse]

Including sylabus I'd say I spent about $600, but that included a purves neuro book I didn't need, 2 BRS books I never used, a pretest book I never opened, and a 1/4 cost of Netters for lab copy.

 

[bmcgilligan]

I recommend that you purchase First Aid for the USMLE. You'll use it for board prep, and in the back of the book, all of the review resources are rated with letter grades.

I also recommend purchasing a First Aid rated A or B level board prep resource for each course. Read the required text before lecture, attend lecture, and then review notes and the board review book for study. This way, when you go to study for the boards, you'll already be familiar with the study books. I am a visual learner, and when I think of concepts, I picture diagrams, etc. I think it will be nice to review pictures and diagrams that I am already familiar with when studying for USMLE. I am hoping htat will allow concepts come back to me quicker.

All in all, I probably spent $750 for books, but I bought most all of them new as I don't like using pre-highlighted books.

 

[angel80]

Don't buy any books before you start class. Most people in med school don't really need textbooks. After attending lectures/labs, and reading the syllabi, there isn't enough time to read textbooks (unless you are willing to give up your entire social life). Some board review books come in handy, but I would wait until the actual class to see if you need one. Someone told me the same thing before I started med school, and I was really weary because I had always been a textbook learner in undergrad. It's a good thing I listened, because I saved hundreds of dollars. The only book I think is absolutely necessary for everyone in med school is an anatomy atlas (Netter's is most people's favorite). You can usually get one for free by joining AMSA.

 

[Law2Doc]

Don't buy any books before you start class. Most people in med school don't really need textbooks. After attending lectures/labs, and reading the syllabi, there isn't enough time to read textbooks (unless you are willing to give up your entire social life). Some board review books come in handy, but I would wait until the actual class to see if you need one. Someone told me the same thing before I started med school, and I was really wary because I had always been a textbook learner in undergrad. It's a good thing I listened, because I saved hundreds of dollars. The only book I think is absolutely necessary for everyone in med school is an anatomy atlas (Netter's is most people's favorite). You can usually get one for free by joining AMSA.

Agree with this. Everybody buys books they don't end up using out of paranoia. Wait until the class starts, talk to upper classmen, and limit your purchases to those things that actually are necessary. If a prof says something is "recommended", instead of "required", that usually means you don't need it.

 

[bjackrian]

Don't buy any books before you start class. Most people in med school don't really need textbooks. After attending lectures/labs, and reading the syllabi, there isn't enough time to read textbooks (unless you are willing to give up your entire social life). Some board review books come in handy, but I would wait until the actual class to see if you need one. Someone told me the same thing before I started med school, and I was really weary because I had always been a textbook learner in undergrad. It's a good thing I listened, because I saved hundreds of dollars. The only book I think is absolutely necessary for everyone in med school is an anatomy atlas (Netter's is most people's favorite). You can usually get one for free by joining AMSA.

Agree with this with the caveat that some people do need books. I am definitely a book-learner, and don't go to many lecture. While it's more expensive to buy books, for me, it's definitely worth it.

I think what everyone on this thread has sad basically holds: go to some classes, figure out how YOU study best, and then decide what resources you need to support your own method. Good luck!

 

[Kazema]

The books I found most useful (not counting Anatomy stuff) were Lippencott's Biochem (an absolute gem for metabolism), Costanzo's Physiology (tells you only what you want to know), Wheater's Histology (VITAL for histo), and Robbins' Pathology (love the online access, useful in just about every module if your school is systems-based). Other than those I've just used the BRS review books to supplement the lecture notes. I found most of the textbooks to be too dense and personally didn't find them useful, though some of my classmates liked to use them.

If you're going to go bare minimum with books, I'd recommend the 4 I mentioned - you'll use them in several classes. I have a couple other books that I wish I hadn't bought.

The main thing is just don't go crazy in the first week and buy every book on the "required" book list. Figure out whether you're a book learner (borrow books from friends, use the books on reserve in the library, etc) and which books you like before splashing out your hard-loaned cash.

 

[Kazema]

If a prof says something is "recommended", instead of "required", that usually means you don't need it.

Actually, a lot of times when a prof says something is "required", you still don't need it.

 

[Law2Doc]

Actually, a lot of times when a prof says something is "required", you still don't need it.

Yeah, I agree, but the biggest wastes of money are alway the "recommended" stuff. That's twice removed from what you will actually be looking at.

 

[Frijolero]

Almost finished with 2nd year and my book total is about $100. I don't know if all of your schools have libraries and an interlibrary loan system, but I would hazard a guess that they do. I've been able to check out every single book I've needed for years 1+2 besides the First Aid and Robbins that I bought and the Netter I had from ugrad. That includes high yields, BRS, ridiculously simple, and pretest, etc. along with the major texts. Even if you decide you need all the books consider checking them out from the library for free and save yourself some cash.

 

[drguy22]

almost finished wit 1st year🙂 and my total is about $500

 

[cdql]

same thing...$300

It depends from school to school though

There are some professors that love using textbooks and others that have a syllabus they like sticking to

I would recommend getting something like High Yield or BRS or whatever board review series you like just to follow from class to class. They can a) help you review for exams in that course and then b) highlight what is particularly relevant (I'm guessing your med school is going to test you on items that the board exam people find important too!)