Useful MSI Textbooks

[OldLady]

Hey guys
Since we just finished our first semester, I was thinking we could do a thread on the books we found useful so far....Since different schools order their curricula differently, it may be helpful for next semester and/or future students....I'll start

Neuro: First 2, must haves, last 1 helpful but not necessary
Nolte, Study Guide to Accompany The Human Brain, 5th ed.
Nolte and Angevine, The Human Brain in Photographs and Diagrams, 2nd ed.
Nolte, The Human Brain: An Introduction to its Functional Anatomy, 5th ed.

Anatomy:
Moore Clinically Oriented Anatomy
Rohen Color Atlas of Human Anatomy
Netter Flashcards

Histology:
Wheater's Functional Histology
Hiatt & Gartner Color Textbook of Histology

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[8744]

Hey guys
Since we just finished our first semester, I was thinking we could do a thread on the books we found useful so far....Since different schools order their curricula differently, it may be helpful for next semester and/or future students....I'll start

Neuro: First 2, must haves, last 1 helpful but not necessary
Nolte, Study Guide to Accompany The Human Brain, 5th ed.
Nolte and Angevine, The Human Brain in Photographs and Diagrams, 2nd ed.
Nolte, The Human Brain: An Introduction to its Functional Anatomy, 5th ed.

Anatomy:
Moore Clinically Oriented Anatomy
Rohen Color Atlas of Human Anatomy
Netter Flashcards

Histology:
Wheater's Functional Histology
Hiatt & Gartner Color Textbook of Histology

There are no, repeat no, useful MS1 textbooks. Banish this thought from your head. If you are using textbooks then you are studying inefficiently. Concentrate on class notes. At most schools the tests are taken from the lectures. Also, get either "High Yield" or "BRS" review books for the different subjects, especially physiology and pathology. Textbooks are full of interesting but useless trivia from which you must glean the important information. Review books, at least BRS and High Yield, do a good job of separating the wheat fro mthe chaff, so to speak.

It would take most people a month to read Guyton's Physiology. I can read through BRS Physiology in about two days and still be better prepared for any medical school test you care to throw at me.

Rohen's is good, though. I swear by it. Same with Netter's.

 

[OldLady]

I can read through BRS Physiology in about two days and still be better prepared for any medical school test you care to throw at me.

I'm not just looking to prepare for med school exams, I am interested in learning the subject matter and using textbooks as a reference. Of course class notes are used. This thread is meant to compile specific books people found useful. Do not presume to know how or whether others study efficiently. I studied WAY less than many of my classmates and still did well.

Please don't flame me, I am just curious to hear what others have found useful in their coursework.

 

[X.O.]

Anyone know if theres a list of new editions coming out for Lippincott, Appleton, and anyone else that publishes medical books?

 

[8744]

I'm not just looking to prepare for med school exams, I am interested in learning the subject matter and using textbooks as a reference. Of course class notes are used. This thread is meant to compile specific books people found useful. Do not presume to know how or whether others study efficiently. I studied WAY less than many of my classmates and still did well.

Please don't flame me, I am just curious to hear what others have found useful in their coursework.

I'm not flaming you. As for learnng the subject matter, if you know BRS Pathology and Physiology inside and out you will have a pretty good grasp on the subject matter, at least as good as many physicians have on areas outside of their specialty. In other words, if I memorized the renal section in BRS Physiology and understood it I could do a pretty good impersonation of a nephrologist, at least good enough to impress the attending on a nephrology rotation.

 

[phoenixsupra]

Yeah, textbooks are really not where it's at for the first two years..or beyond. What you need are review books that fillet the info down to bite sized chunks for you to chomp on. Moore and dalley is a great book, but there's just no time to read it. Here's my list

Micro made ridiculously simple
BRS phisiology
Wheaters histology
BRS anatomy

And most important of all aquire old exam papers. Good luck.

 

[OldLady]

Yeah, textbooks are really not where it's at for the first two years..or beyond. What you need are review books that fillet the info down to bite sized chunks for you to chomp on. Moore and dalley is a great book, but there's just no time to read it. Here's my list

Micro made ridiculously simple
BRS phisiology
Wheaters histology
BRS anatomy

And most important of all aquire old exam papers. Good luck.

Ha! Our school doesn't release exams....guess they don't want to have to write new test questions. What do you guys reccomend for Biochem and Genetics (board reviews or high yield or textbooks??)

 

[OldLady]

Neuro:
*Nolte, Study Guide to Accompany The Human Brain, 5th ed.
*Nolte and Angevine, The Human Brain in Photographs and Diagrams, 2nd ed.
*Nolte, The Human Brain: An Introduction to its Functional Anatomy, 5th ed.

Anatomy:
*Moore Clinically Oriented Anatomy
*Rohen Color Atlas of Human Anatomy
*Netter Flashcards
*BRS anatomy

Histology:
*Wheater's Functional Histology
*Hiatt & Gartner Color Textbook of Histology

Physiology:
*BRS physiology

Microbiology:
*Micro made ridiculously simple

 

[phoenixsupra]

Ha! Our school doesn't release exams....guess they don't want to have to write new test questions. What do you guys reccomend for Biochem and Genetics (board reviews or high yield or textbooks??)

Tough luck about the old exams. You might want to get some from another school. There's not much difference from school to school.

BRS biochem is ok, lippencott is pretty good too but it's very wordy.
Genetics was a weird web based course at my school but most of the review books seem similar.

For second year
BRS is the only thing you need for path, That and some kind of slide show, schools usually supply one.
Neuro - there's a whole thread on it below.
Psych - notes are fine, it's always pretty easy
Pharm - DANGER....Nothing out there is adequate, lippencotts is not all it's cracked up to be. I recommend flash cards. Whatever you do get to working full speed on day one. Pharm is HARD.

Good luck

 

[4 Ever]

Anatomy:
*Moore Clinically Oriented Anatomy (big moore, NOT the little one - don't use it to read the white pages)
*Netter's Atlas- I dont recommend Rohen only because no dissection will ever look that clean. There is no real substitute for hitting up the lab. I say this because i was an avid Rohen advocate but I did much better on practicals by reading netters and understanding structures in relation to what is around them in a cartoonish manner and then going to the lab to look at real life structures
*Netter Flashcards 2 thumbs up
*BRS anatomy

Biochemistry:
*BRS biochemistry it was GREAT for questions for the shelf exam and for quick references
*First Aid if you read the high yield stuff in this and complement it with something like lippincotts, its real great. a MUST read before shelf exams
*Pre-Test once again, mostly for touch questions for the shelf exam.

 

[docmemi]

frankly, i personally think brs path sucks because its too concise. i would go with "pathophysiology for the boards and wards." i love that book.

 

[DoctorWannaBe]

Ha! Our school doesn't release exams....guess they don't want to have to write new test questions. What do you guys reccomend for Biochem and Genetics (board reviews or high yield or textbooks??)

I'm taking biochem, genetics, and physiology next semester and am wondering what textbooks/review books are good. I barely had time to use my textbooks last semester except for clearing up difficult topics. However, I was told by the educational resource people at my school NOT to buy board review books until it comes time to study for the boards. Yet I read on SDN that everyone recommends buying the board review books now. Do you guys find the board review books much more helpful than textbooks, and if so, what do you recommend for the specific courses I mentioned above?

 

[Lactic Folly]

Acting on suggestions posted, I borrowed Lippincott's biochem and BRS Physiology from the library. They have been great due to their outline format.. the textbooks I had from undergrad are nearly impossible to skim quickly, and the excessive level of detail makes it difficult for me to achieve the overall conceptual picture which I need to retain info effectively. For nitpicky details, there's always online references.

 

[zeloc]

Tough luck about the old exams. You might want to get some from another school. There's not much difference from school to school.



Good luck

How would I get some from another school? Are there any online resources anyone knows of?

 

[shocker]

BRS Anatomy
HY Histology

 

[bmischen]

I bought into the "you don't have enough time to read textbooks so you should buy review books" theory.....I concur!
Actually I bought TOO many review books and did not have enough time to even get through them!!

Anatomy: NETTER'S FLASH CARDS (I survived with these)
Rohen Photographic Color Atlas (no substitute for the real thing but it is close)
Netter's Atlas (there REALLY is a difference between Netters and Rohen and it REALLY is personal preference...it is almost love-hate)
I also bought BRS anatomy (did not have a moment extra to use it) anatomy made rediculously (useful on the first time through to get things going in memorizing) and High Yield Gross Anatomy (again, I had not time) Obviously I bought TOOOOOO many anatomy books (it didn't help that we had a horrible book that the prof wrote that we HAD to read to pass the written exams)/ it seems like each of the review books has its own style of teaching and thus each one is for a different type of learner

Physiology: Costanzo 2nd ed. Physiology (GREAT!!/ it IS a textbook but it was not overwhelming)
BRS Physiology (the questions at the end of each chapter are great way to test what you know and the quick outlines ties things together when getting close to test day)

Embryology: High Yield Embryology/ the subject matter is so dense and not much of it is needed in the context of medical school that this book was perfect for cutting through to what was important/ embryology for us was included some in physiology, gross anatomy, and neurobiology)

Neurobiology/Anatomy: High Yield Neuroanatomy (very helpful)

I bought Step-Up USMLE Step 1/ I rarely use it bc it is systems based and I don't find it has enough info./ it is all in outline format with few chart and almost no pictures
and First Aid: I did not get as much out of this book as people told me I would/ I usually used it when I was done studying (4am the night before) and wanted to just see what are the SUPER important points

 

[erin682]

I have BRS physiology and my class is far more extensive than what is presented in that book. I've had to read Guyton's to get the full picture. Its actually pretty good for a text book though it still takes forever to read. I recomend it if you need more than BRS. Otherwise I agree that most text books are a waste of time.