How old is too old? (We're talking textbooks)

[Itsame]

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I'm looking to save money on textbooks and there are a lot of books for sale by older students at my school.

What are your experiences with older books?

How long is a medical textbook book "good" for? Is having a version of a textbook that is is one or two editions out of date going to cause problems? Are there some subjects that change more quickly than others?

I don't mind highlighting or wear and tear, I'm just worried about the content.

Thanks for the wisdom!

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

I'm looking to save money on textbooks and there are a lot of books for sale by older students at my school.

What are your experiences with older books?

How long is a medical textbook book "good" for? Is having a version of a textbook that is is one or two editions out of date going to cause problems? Are there some subjects that change more quickly than others?

I don't mind highlighting or wear and tear, I'm just worried about the content.

Thanks for the wisdom!

Some of the pictures might change and the page numbers will be off but typically there isn't a lot of difference between a new book and the last edition. I'd only start buying books though if you know you're a big textbook reader. Otherwise, you can wait until you actually start the class and figure out if a textbook would be helpful or not. I would get an anatomy atlas for sure because its helpful during anatomy but I think I bought three books this year and one of them was a board review book (BRS physiology).

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

I'm looking to save money on textbooks and there are a lot of books for sale by older students at my school.

What are your experiences with older books?

How long is a medical textbook book "good" for? Is having a version of a textbook that is is one or two editions out of date going to cause problems? Are there some subjects that change more quickly than others?

I don't mind highlighting or wear and tear, I'm just worried about the content.

Thanks for the wisdom!

For most people Textbooks are used as references only. Schools provide the books in the their libraries

 

[obgyny]

What about board review books (or question bank books)?

 

[VisionaryTics]

What about board review books (or question bank books)?

The only thing that needs to be relatively recent are pharm books. Stuff like LMWHs, direct thrombin inhibitors, and a lot of the recombinant antibodies won't be in review books from even five years ago.

 

[cowme]

If it's a textbook, it's too old

 

[RestoreSight]

For USMLE review older texts are fine. Most of the exam questions are 'classic' questions that don't change substantially from year to year. Try to keep it less than 5 years. Textbooks are not really used for studying in medical school, at least they weren't at my institution. Generally textbooks are a few years out of date even when published recently.

 

[Alvarez13]

If it's a textbook, it's too old

Agree. Get with the program people 😀

 

[QuizzicalApe]

I think I'm probably set with my old medical editions. What are they going to do, add a third color of bilious humor?