While not must-haves, two books I would recommend are "Practical Ophthalmology" and Kanski's textbook. The first because it has good diagrams and explanations of how to use the various doodads that you'll see in the clinic (oh so THAT'S how I unlock the slit lamp from the table). The second is a nice reference when you want to look something up at home and you want a relatively complete, but not overwhelming discussion. It has really nice photos and drawings. You might be able to borrow one or both from your med school/medical center library.
One book that I just saw recently and is nice for medical students starting general ophthalmology is "Ophthalmology at a Glance" by Jane Oliver and Lorraine Cassidy. It's clear, concise, nicely organized with lots of color pictures and drawings, and written from a med student training point-of-view. It goes through 50 topics and capturing the breadth and depth of the field without being overwhelming or obtuse. Some are thematic, like "the red eye" or "writing an ophthalmology note, others are more specific like "inherited retinal dystrophies and ARMD." One section is "medical student aims." It provides a concise list of things that med students should be able to do or detect by the end of their rotation. I think I'm going to copy this list for the med students who rotate with me and tell them that we need to figure out how to accomplish each one. You can probably read it in under 2 weeks. It won't tell you which corneal dystrophies are related to Big-H3, but if you know that as a med student you're way too advanced for me and should consider getting outside more often. At 32 bucks, I think it's a nice buy, even if they do spell some words that funny British way.
