Pre-med prereq textbooks - have you ever looked back?

[2010MD]

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I'll be starting med school in the fall and am very tempted to purge my bookcase of the 9 gazillion pounds of core science textbooks I have sitting there (especially since I will definitely be moving). Does anyone continue to refer back to their undergrad textbooks during med school? Or will the new textbooks I buy provide enough reference material on the basics that I won't ever need my old ones? I'm thinking the most obvious thing would be to hang on to my orgo book to use as a reference for biochem, but what about physics, gen chem, bio...? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[OnMyWayThere]

I'll be starting med school in the fall and am very tempted to purge my bookcase of the 9 gazillion pounds of core science textbooks I have sitting there (especially since I will definitely be moving). Does anyone continue to refer back to their undergrad textbooks during med school? Or will the new textbooks I buy provide enough reference material on the basics that I won't ever need my old ones? I'm thinking the most obvious thing would be to hang on to my orgo book to use as a reference for biochem, but what about physics, gen chem, bio...? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

You won't even have time to use the books that are assigned to you

 

[Law2Doc]

I'll be starting med school in the fall and am very tempted to purge my bookcase of the 9 gazillion pounds of core science textbooks I have sitting there (especially since I will definitely be moving). Does anyone continue to refer back to their undergrad textbooks during med school? Or will the new textbooks I buy provide enough reference material on the basics that I won't ever need my old ones? I'm thinking the most obvious thing would be to hang on to my orgo book to use as a reference for biochem, but what about physics, gen chem, bio...? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Agree with the prior poster. Lose em like a bad habit.

 

[robotsonic]

Just agreeing with the others. You don't need any of those books for med school. If you liked your orgo book so much that you want to save it for the memories, then go ahead, but otherwise sell it. You won't need it, just like you won't need any of those intro bio, chem, or physics books.

The only undergrad text I sort of looked at in med school was biochem, because what we learned in med school was pretty similar to what I did in college. But even that I should have sold, as I really only glanced at it a few times.

 

[2010MD]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback. I will happily toss them... memories schmemories.

 

[Ezekiel20]

Just wanted to say thanks for all the feedback. I will happily toss them... memories schmemories.

I dunno... I regularly refer to my physiology, microbiology and pharmacology books from my undergrad. But then again these are not quite 'core science'. If you are talking about chem, physics, bio etc, then yes - sell them and buy yourself an anatomy atlas or something.. 🙂

 

[Southpawz]

If you have the Solomon biology textbook, I would keep it. It's pretty useful IMO

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

I've been wondering the same thing.

I have "Principles of Neural Science" by Kandel...should I keep this one?

 

[PickyBicky]

I'll be starting med school in the fall and am very tempted to purge my bookcase of the 9 gazillion pounds of core science textbooks I have sitting there (especially since I will definitely be moving). Does anyone continue to refer back to their undergrad textbooks during med school? Or will the new textbooks I buy provide enough reference material on the basics that I won't ever need my old ones? I'm thinking the most obvious thing would be to hang on to my orgo book to use as a reference for biochem, but what about physics, gen chem, bio...? Thanks for any advice you can offer.

No, nothing is useful. Purge away, unless a book is over highlighted and can't be sold or has sentimental value to you (I'm serious...I loved my orgo book). Possible exceptions would be physio notes or text. I never took physio as an undergrad, but some collegues did and found their old book/notes useful. In short, much too much detail for what you'll need to know in medical school. To be honest, I rarely look at most of my MS1-->2 books (I'm an MS4), except perhaps Netter and the Lily cards book.

-PB

 

[Rogue_Leader]

I've used biochem and physio as a reference in med school. Chem, O-Chem, and core bio are only useful if you need to prop up your TV stand.

 

[cfdavid]

I've always held on to my texts. There have been a few times when I've been glad I did, too. Just keep em, you never know.