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Textbook Recommendations, Questions, and Discussion

frootloop

Doctor
Moderator
As a resource for future pre-clinical med students, and seeing as there's only about a gazillion different anatomy/physiology/etc textbooks out there, and the book lists sent out by unis can look somewhat daunting and all I thought it'd be a good idea for people to post which textbooks they found the most useful in pre-clinical years, and what made them more useful than the alternatives!
 

Havox

Sword and Martini Guy!
Emeritus Staff
Here's what I thought was good, I'll list a main book then put a supplementary text in as well, the bold texts are my personal recommendations - As with all textbooks, buy the latest edition:

Anatomy

Primary Texts
Gray's Anatomy for Students/Netter's Anatomy Atlas - If you buy Gray's don't buy Netter's and vice-versa since they're the same.

Supplementary
Rohen's Color Atlas of Anatomy - Rohen's uses photos of cadavers which makes it great for revision
Netter's Anatomy Flashcard - Probably the best for exam revision, handy and to the point. This is why I recommend Gray's, if you buy this too then you have both.

Physiology

Primary Text
Guyton and Hall's Medical Physiology - Probably the most popular and widely used for good reason. It's written in a fairly readable manner and goes into about the right amount of depth. You'll need to use Boron's to add to this for certain topics.

Marieb Anatomy and Physiology - Very much a beginner text, very very easy to read but little in the way of detail. Health Science I think (some Unis) recommend this but it's not enough for medicine. It's good if you use it as a stepping block to Boron. 8th edition is pretty good.

Supplementary
Boron's Medical Physiology - Some might say that this is a Primary Text but I find it's far too long winded, too detailed and too boring to use. Use this for more indepth stuff and the pictures are probably the best.
Siegel's Essential Neuroscience - The only specific textbook I bought for any topic in pre-clin. This one's really easy to read (for a Neuro book) and breaks everything down in an easy to understand way. It's not wordy so it summarises a lot of info very quickly which I like. The diagrams are fantastic for understanding complex pathways. Highly recommended though don't buy this until you need to do neuro, borrow it to try it out first.

Pathology

Robbin's Pathological Basis of Disease - Very easy to read, pretty much my goto book for Path. Most lecturers from UWS use this and it's everything you need.

Pharmacology

Rang and Dale's Pharmacology - Goes into the right depth and good amount of info. Easy read and is very accessible for the pre-clin student.

Clinical Medicine

Primary Text
Talley and O'Connor's Clinical Examination - You WILL buy this book at some point and every doctor will refer to this text when teaching you clinical exams. Buy it and don't look back. Comes with a demonstration DVD which is great for revision.

Toronto Notes: Toronto Notes is a complete, yearly revised set of dot point summaries for nearly every medical subspeciality written in a level of detail that is perfect for medical students. This book is focused on clinical medicine only and devotes little time on physiology and anatomy but as a primary text, with lectures as a supplement, I cannot recommend any book higher and this was my most used textbook in all my clinical years. The paediatrics and psychiatry sections are completely adequate as a standalone. I recommend the 2013 edition if you need to read up on DSM IV TR and onwards for DSM V.

Common Clinical Cases - A Guide to Internship by Sanjaya Senanayake: A superb clinical case book written in an easy-to-read and often humourous manner dealing with situations commonly encountered by a JMO. This book walks you through a case, quizzes you on questions you should be asking and highlights the important things you need to consider in the encounter and what you should do. Highly recommended.

Supplementary
Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine - It's a summary text of physiology and anatomy and path with a clinical focus, not bad reading for pre-clin though I personally didn't use it as much as the others. You don't have to buy this one but some students found it helpful, other's less so. I'd imagine this would come in handy for clinical years.

ECG Made Easy - Reading ECGs 101. Short and easy to read, though the ability to read and ECG isn't stressed in pre-clin. Definitely get it for clinical years though.

Equipment

While I'm here I may as well throw in an equipment list as well. I recommend buying everything listed below unless stated otherwise.

Stethoscope
You may not use one of these till fairly late in pre-clin (second sem of firstie in UWS) but it's good to have one with you in case something cool comes up on the wards. They're durable, easy to carry and don't need to be replaced for years. For this reason, don't be a cheapass, get something decent to begin with or else you'll regret it like many in my year. I don't recommend pocketing these or just shoving them in the bottom of a bag, I had a key go straight through the diaphragm of a brand new Classic II All Black; some people may laugh at you but just wear it around your neck. It really is the best way of carrying one. As for colour, just choose the one you like the most, no one cares really if you have a bright pink steth.

Littmann Classic II SE - Probably the most common steth you'll see students carry (I've got one myself). It's relatively cheap, $80-$100 AUD, good and solid build quality and no complaints about it's sensitivity. The only thing I don't like about this is the join between the tubing and the head of the steth, the part that you twist to select between the bell and diaphragm, it doesn't feel like it would break, far from it and definitely good quality compared to other steths but it feels weedy to me and I'm not sure the way it clicks into each position is as solid as I would like. Wearing this steth, it's difficult to clip the earpieces into the bell sort of a like a lanyard but this is a very minor complaint. Highly recommended buy.

Littmann Cardiology III - The "Cardio" that all the students like to rave on about. It's definitely more sensitive than the Classic, noticeably so in fact. Build quality and solidity are a notch higher as well and ergonomically, I feel it's definitely better. It "clips" in around your neck better and the head just feels more solid. Comfort-wise using it, it's identical to the Classic. Caution that this costs $200AUD+ and most students would not "need" something like this. It's a good buy sure, but the price makes it difficult to justify as a student, get one when you're a doctor.

Tendon Hammer

In general, there are 2 types, the queen's square and the tomahawk. (Google image if you're confused). I use the former because I've never come across the latter but I'm sure they perform the same. These are cheap, easy to procure and are necessary to perform a proper neuro exam. Generally, there are stainless steel folding models and plastic flexy ones, the latter some people find easier to use but I prefer the folding models as you can easily just pocket these.

Sphymomanometer

Aka, the blood pressure cuff. Cheap, you can get these for about $20AUD or less. Just buy one to practice with.

Tuning Forks

Very expensive but necessary for neuro exams. In my experience, they're rarely used in practice and the School of Medicine should provide them when you need them. I was given a pair of these as a gift but I can't recommend their purchase.

Penlight

Basically an overpriced flashlight, you'll need one so buy one but expect them to break. They tend to be made cheaply. You might be able to get away with using a small, low powered flashlight instead.

Endnote
I own all the books on this list (and a few more) but I realise that not everyone can afford a library of reference books so if you're looking to purchase the bare minimum then accessing the rest off the University library or whatever then I recommend the following:
Gray's For Students or Netter's
Guyton's Phys
Robbin's Path
Rang and Dale
Talley and O'Connor
Littmann Classic II SE (don't get the Black Edition, costs extra and is usually special order)
 
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miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
I am pretty sure there are a bajillion threads which are super similar but I'll let it pass ;)

Physiology
Sherwood as it is good for basic physio and getting the concepts. Recommended for first year (and it makes nice reading anyway)
 

frootloop

Doctor
Moderator
I am pretty sure there are a bajillion threads which are super similar but I'll let it pass ;)
[offtopic]I know, but they're all under the specific uni forums, which makes them ludicrously difficult to find and whatnot, here they're all together :) We could even merge some of them/move some useful posts? (and by 'we', I mean 'you' :p )[/offtopic]
 

Havox

Sword and Martini Guy!
Emeritus Staff
I am pretty sure there are a bajillion threads which are super similar but I'll let it pass ;)

Physiology
Sherwood as it is good for basic physio and getting the concepts. Recommended for first year (and it makes nice reading anyway)

Sherwood is nowhere near enough for medicine.
 

miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
I will when I am not on an idevice. Moding is way too hard this way. But yes, I don't mind copying posts which are useful if you want to keep it all here
 

miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
Sherwood is nowhere near enough for medicine.

Ok sir, But you can't deny it wouldn't be useful for people coming out of high school.
 

greenglacier

Emeritus Staff
Emeritus Staff
Gray's Anatomy for Students/Netter's Anatomy Atlas - If you buy Gray's don't buy Netter's and vice-versa since they're the same.
Strongly disagree. I have both Gray's for students and Netter's Atlas and find them both highly useful, in different ways.

Will write a decent reply to this thread later.
 

Havox

Sword and Martini Guy!
Emeritus Staff
Added an equipment section to my recommendations post before anyone asks that inevitable question.

Ok sir, But you can't deny it wouldn't be useful for people coming out of high school.

I won't, but I'll make the point that I came out of high school and found that Guyton isn't too difficult itself and if you need something simpler still then Marieb was still a better port of call. As long as you attend lectures and try and pay attention, that should give you a good basis for self directed learning.

I recommend borrowing Sherwood then comparing it to the above though but my mate has Sherwood and I didn't like it at all even as a fresh newbie.
 
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Jordan

Regular Member
Im with gg as far as the anatomy texts go. I have Gray's for students, Netter's and Netter's flashcards and find each of them useful in different ways. Netter's is excellent for spot tests and to take to anatomy labs but I find that Gray's helps with the theory behind the anatomy and can help explain how something fits together if I don't really understand the diagram in Netter's. I feel that they are both invaluable texts but don't buy them from the campus bookstore, go onto booko.com.au and that'll tell you the cheapest place to buy them, it's saved me ~$500 last year.

ETA: I'm not a med student but a science student doing an anatomy major. As such the focus of my course is probably different to most med courses.
 

philistine

Regular Member
I am (very slowly) composing a list of text books I should be interested in. After browsing a few MSO threads (re text books) and I don't think anybody mentions any Histology ones??

My text book list lists: Title: Atlas of Histology Author: Cui

Will I require this? Is there any other (better) text books that are reccommended? (I am going to UTAS).

thanks^_^
 

JMHF24

Member
I second this, I haven't seen much in the way of recommendations for histology books. Are they worth purchasing or would it suffice using a library textbook?
 

miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
Looking at a library book for histology is way more economical. It's not a type of book you will need for the rest of your career nor will need to look up topics unless in specific modules of your education
 

Jordan

Regular Member
If you want one though, I really like Wheater's Histology. It's a combined text/atlas and really helpful for helping to integrate form and function. As other members have said though, probably not super necessary, wait until you start before you go madly textbook buying (I know they're all very exciting!).
 

katie2908

Member
Hi, I'm starting medicine at UNSW this year and the booklist recommends "Clinical Examination" by Epstein, Perkin, Cookson and deBono, however, I've been seeing a lot of Talley and O'Connor's "Clinical Examination" being mentioned (and recommended) in threads. Which would current medicine students recommend to buy?
 

Havox

Sword and Martini Guy!
Emeritus Staff
I second this, I haven't seen much in the way of recommendations for histology books. Are they worth purchasing or would it suffice using a library textbook?

I don't think you need one.
 

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philistine

Regular Member
Cheers.

I am going to get;

Clinical Examination-Tally and O'Connor
Principles of Anatomy and Phys- Tortora
Imaging atlas of human anatomy- Weir (Gray's would work well with this, later on, in 2nd semester​I gather?)
Robins and Cotran Path basis of disease- Kumar

Also contemplating a 'recommended' text: Pharmacology- Rang and Dale

As for the other ones on the textbook list (Good Medical Practice Professionalism Ethics & Law, Atlas of Histology, Basic & Clinical Immunology: With Student Consult Access) I will wait to see if I require them throughout the semester.
 

miss_universe

muse.
Emeritus Staff
I am ot convinced Totora is a good match fir medicine. I think you will find it too simple to the point it is not very helpful.
 

n33b

FIRST!!!
Hi, I'm starting medicine at UNSW this year and the booklist recommends "Clinical Examination" by Epstein, Perkin, Cookson and deBono, however, I've been seeing a lot of Talley and O'Connor's "Clinical Examination" being mentioned (and recommended) in threads. Which would current medicine students recommend to buy?
I would recommend Talley's - not necessarily because it's better (I can't compare since I haven't read the other), but because it's the standard that not only students will talk about, but even doctors will refer you back to (in my experience).
 

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