Which textbook do you guys/gals recommend for Biochemistry?

[IllinoisStudent]

What do you guys think? I am mainly confused between Stryer, Lehninger, and Voet books? 5e of Voet is supposed to be an improved version.

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[IllinoisStudent]

More people gotta have an opinion. Help me decide on which textbook to buy..

 

[edgesofsanity]

I can only speak for two of the books:

Lehninger is a fabulous resource. It was the book we used in undergrad for peoples interested in a Biochem major or minor; it also goes into a lot more detail than you need to know for M1 Biochemistry.

Lippincott is pretty much the standard book for medical biochemistry; if you know it cold you should do well.

So in short, unless you already have Lehninger, I would go the Lippincott pathway.

 

[drdr2010]

well i had my lehninger book left over from undergrad. but i didn't actually use it except to review a few concepts i never bothered to learn in ugrad.

my school used lippincott's exclusively and it was a great resource (the newest version has pretty colored pictures, too!). it doesn't go in depth, but neither did the class.

i definitely would not BUY a textbook, except for Lippincott's. at least not until you see how the class is organized. chances are most will come from the lecture anyway.

 

[logos]

I use the two volumes of voet and voet for my undergrad biochem courses. Its a great book, but I couldnt imagine using it for medical school....it is a dense book with lots of non-medical information. Its really designed for a full go non-medical biochem course.

I like that it emphasizes structure-funcation realtionships by putting crystal structures everywhere. Its long though >35 chapter i think at about ~50 pages per chapter

 

[UCLAstudent]

I used Lehninger in undergrad and it was fabulous. I don't know if it will be as good of a resource for medical school, but I'm keeping it just in case.

 

[Nittany Lion]

I use the two volumes of voet and voet for my undergrad biochem courses. Its a great book, but I couldnt imagine using it for medical school....it is a dense book with lots of non-medical information. Its really designed for a full go non-medical biochem course.

I like that it emphasizes structure-funcation realtionships by putting crystal structures everywhere. Its long though >35 chapter i think at about ~50 pages per chapter

I just sold back my Voet and Voet even after my biochem prof swore up and down that it was the greatest book ever and we should definitely keep it for prof/grad school.... felt a little guilty about it, but honestly, that book goes into so much detail (including plant biochem) that I really don't think we're going to need for med school (in my humble MS-0 opinion). Honestly, I think my undergrad prof's pre-written notes are going to be sufficient..he gave us huge packets of notes for every chapter that are extremely comprehensive and easy to follow. Hopefully I can put them to good use next year.

 

[sacrament]

Don't buy a textbook specifically for med school biochem, except maybe Lippincott's, maybe.

 

[debvz]

If you find that you are desperate for a textbook, try your med library's reserve section. If you absolutely must buy a textbook, try amazon.com for good deals - I just unloaded Lehninger there dirt cheap, just to get the useless doorstop off my hands.

 

[omarsaleh66]

Use the lecture notes and master Lippincotts.

 

[gschl1234]

In addition I also use BRS for problems.

 

[DrWuStar]

lippincotts practically is a textbook. it is much more detailed than a lot of board review books for other topics, and is practically the same size as the marks textbook my school uses. you will do just fine with only lippincotts. someone in the class above me gave me their copy of marks. it seems pretty good, but i think i only looked at it once or twice. mostly stuck with lippincotts and lecture notes. and i had never had and biochem before.

 

[logos]

I just sold back my Voet and Voet even after my biochem prof swore up and down that it was the greatest book ever and we should definitely keep it for prof/grad school.... felt a little guilty about it, but honestly, that book goes into so much detail (including plant biochem) that I really don't think we're going to need for med school (in my humble MS-0 opinion). Honestly, I think my undergrad prof's pre-written notes are going to be sufficient..he gave us huge packets of notes for every chapter that are extremely comprehensive and easy to follow. Hopefully I can put them to good use next year.

Agreed. I've heard a number of profs praise the Voet book as the best one out there, but the detail is extreame. The thing shows, in detail, pretty much every pathway it mentions, and the crystal structure/mechanism of most of the enzymes.