What book should I buy?

[DannMann99]

I know everyone says to not study before med school...

But I work fulltime in manhattan and make a commute everyday via bus. The commute home I end up stuck in traffic and it takes me ~2hours to get home from the city. I spend my time sleeping, spacing out, or reading a newspaper.

I was wondering if anyone knew an easy read book. I'm not thinking a textbook at all per se but I was thinking about picking up maybe anat for dummies or something to that effect... Any suggestions?

I just want to get down the simple basic stuff really at a casual pace. I'm not trying to cram i'm just trying to make my commute alittle less painful.

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[phrygian]

I was in a similar situation as you with a long train commute to work. Netter flash cards were a good buy and did not require the attention and focus that an actual textbook requires. They won't help too much for the actual practicals, but just being familiar with the names and innervations is helpful. When it came to anatomy lab, all I really had to do was ID parts on the other cadavers since I already knew the names, function, and innervations.

 

[Boner]

Don't waste your time studying, no matter what the excuse. Your money and time is better spent on a Nintendo DS or PSP or something to that effect.

 

[DragonWell]

If you have a good background in physiology, you might want to check out Pathophysiology Made Ridiculously Simple.

USMLE Step 1 Secrets would be another option. It gives a short case and then uses a question and answer format to illustrate basic principles. Also, since it's novel-sized, it's nice and portable.

Third suggestion would be to pick up some old copies of NEJM and read through some of the case presentations, preferably with a pocket medical dictionary handy.

Whatever you choose, don't get hung up on the details - if you can just start to get some of the terminology and some of the basic principles down, you're doing great. A lot of stuff will probably be over your head, but you have to start somewhere. The brain also has a funny way of holding on to stuff even if it doesn't know what to do with it - and then you see it again, and a light bulb goes off and you're like, "I've seen that before - now I get it."

Just don't attempt to memorize any details - they won't stay with you.

 

[DannMann99]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Unfortunately i'd rather not spend money to get a PSP or DS as i'm saving up for a new laptop instead. A 10$ book is much cheaper then a 200$ + Games for one of those systems. Plus 2 hours in traffic every night is painful... lol.

See I might go that flashcard route maybe. I have no background in biology at all really... I got my undergrad in biochemistry, which was focused much more in the chemistry aspect...

So i'm thinking 10hours a week commute * 6 or so weeks till school = 60 hours of time i would have wasted...

Atleast now i'll brushup on some general concepts which I may not be familiar with and get some form or working knowledge...

Thanks again for the tips.

 

[gasapple]

Nm

 

[spicedmanna]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Unfortunately i'd rather not spend money to get a PSP or DS as i'm saving up for a new laptop instead. A 10$ book is much cheaper then a 200$ + Games for one of those systems. Plus 2 hours in traffic every night is painful... lol.

See I might go that flashcard route maybe. I have no background in biology at all really... I got my undergrad in biochemistry, which was focused much more in the chemistry aspect...

So i'm thinking 10hours a week commute * 6 or so weeks till school = 60 hours of time i would have wasted...

Atleast now i'll brushup on some general concepts which I may not be familiar with and get some form or working knowledge...

Thanks again for the tips.

Actually, that's 60 hrs of time that you could be reading for pleasure rather than diving into medical books or looking at flash cards that won't help you that much. You won't have much time to read non-medical material when you start school; now's the time.

 

[DannMann99]

Yea. I picked up the book "The DOs" by Gevitz. Cost a suprising amount of $ for a paperback but its worth it. Almost done with it. I also bought those flashcards but I dont think those are reading material... Ill hold onto them for med school though.

The DOs is a great book though and I'd recommend everyone who is planning to become a DO to pick it up.

 

[JasonUD]

I know everyone says to not study before med school...

But I work fulltime in manhattan and make a commute everyday via bus. The commute home I end up stuck in traffic and it takes me ~2hours to get home from the city. I spend my time sleeping, spacing out, or reading a newspaper.

I was wondering if anyone knew an easy read book. I'm not thinking a textbook at all per se but I was thinking about picking up maybe anat for dummies or something to that effect... Any suggestions?

I just want to get down the simple basic stuff really at a casual pace. I'm not trying to cram i'm just trying to make my commute alittle less painful.

If you must...

The DOs by Gevtiz will give you the history of Osteopathy if you're looking for something along those lines.

Clinically Oriented Anatomy by Moore and Dailey. This will most likely be the anatomy text you will use to understand what muscle does what, where it is, what innervates it, etc... You can buy this and just learn the basics of anatomy for now (such as definitions of words like supination, innervation, deep, etc...). These are things you'll have to learn on day 1 of anatomy so it may make your life a little easier to learn them now.

Other than those two I can't think of anything you'd want to study before you start. If you must study/read, keep it light. We all worked hard as an undergrad to get into med school but once med school starts you'll think of premed as kindergarten in terms of the amount of work you did.

 

[DannMann99]

I wasn't really looking to "study", more or less just brush up possibly... I didn't want to get into anything serious its summer afterall.

When I saw the DOs that looked like a good read and I picked it up, I'm almost done with it though, bout another day left, so i'll have to be on the lookout for a new book. We'll see what I find.

 

[307Doc]

I know everyone says to not study before med school...

But I work fulltime in manhattan and make a commute everyday via bus. The commute home I end up stuck in traffic and it takes me ~2hours to get home from the city. I spend my time sleeping, spacing out, or reading a newspaper.

I was wondering if anyone knew an easy read book. I'm not thinking a textbook at all per se but I was thinking about picking up maybe anat for dummies or something to that effect... Any suggestions?

I just want to get down the simple basic stuff really at a casual pace. I'm not trying to cram i'm just trying to make my commute alittle less painful.

I've been reading a bunch of different novels this summer. So far, my favorite author has been Dean Koontz. He goes into a lot of detail with his characters and their lives. You should enjoy his books. I just finished "The Good Guy" (by Koontz), I would recommend it to anybody with some free time. Good luck with the boring commute.

 

[medschoolsoon]

If you really must "bursh up" on something medical. Get a BRS review book on something you know the least about (i.e immunology, anatomy, biochem, phys, nueroanatomy, histo/embryo, etc.). They are easy to understand and give a concise overview.

But again, you're best bet is to stick to leisure reading.

Good luck

 

[laboholic]

Ill bet you $50 that you look at the cards once and thats it.