Save your money and buy next to nothing. Also, buy as little equipment as possible. I wasn't going to buy all the expensive o-scopes and what not, caved, and then never really used them. My original approach would have sufficed.
Do not equate buying textbooks with doing something or being motivated. I did not like Netter's, but the majority of people seem to find it helpful. That is the only "science" textbook you should buy. Do not buy any histology, pharmacology, physiology, or biochemistry texts. I can't speak for any other school, but as a DMU student I can assure you that your class notes were written by the professor using the original text as a source material and that there isn't anything to be gained by going back to it. They've taken what are in many cases unapproachable materials and made them into something you can comprehend. Consider the following - some of those science texts are not actually made for medical students - they are made for biochemistry or physiology PhDs who will have an entirely different approach to the material than a medical student who will be more clinically focused. If a teacher instructs you to view a histology atlas because they are going to make you identify cellular structures on a test you do not need to buy the atlas - you simply need to check the atlas out from your library (guaranteed they have it) and spend an hour with it.
I liked First Aid and some find it helpful for both classes and boards. I've had classmates who occasionally felt it had given them the jump on what professors would test. If enough people post in this thread I suspect you'll find the reviews to be mixed. If you choose to buy it you must immediately begin to use it/navigate it because it has a learning curve due to how the materials are distributed. Some choose to buy the updated version every year - I wouldn't fret about this. Probably appropriate for USMLE takers - I doubt it will impact us.
I found BRS Phys to be a quick and straight forward review for boards, but it is no where close to sufficient detail to pass DMU's physiology class.
Do not rush out and buy a surgical text. Your school will have copies of the majority of the texts and may offer online versions of them (DMU currently offers Mann, Myerson, Easley, and McGlamry's online - I doubt we are alone in doing this). Spend some time with each of them because you may find you prefer one over another. If you are going to spend $300-400 you should love it. I'm drawing close to the end of third year and I have a sinking suspicion I could have gotten by fine without every cracking any of these texts. I enjoy reading a few of them, but I suspect I have classmates have never read any of them and are probably doing just fine. We'll see how fourth year goes.
Tldr. Save your money.
