Cardiff Specific Textbooks

[sparky21]

Just a list of some textbooks that were recommended as course texts. These are so far year one books, if you are in any other year in UWCM feel free to post any books that you found useful or necessary.

:arrow: Anatomy
Clinical Anatomy For Medical Students - 7th Edition, Snell
Anatomy and Physiology - Tortora and Grabowski
McMinns Colour Atlas of Human Anatomy
Lecture Notes in Anatomy - D.B Moffat (this is available in pre-clinical library, so purchasing a copy isn't necessary, however be aware that it is a V.Good book for learning basics)
Self-assessment Colour Review of Clinical Anatomy - Edward J Evans et al. (a very small book which is excellent for spot exams)


:arrow: Histology
Human Histology - Stevens and Lowe

:arrow: Biochemistry
Biochemistry - Stryer

:arrow: Cell Biology
The Cell - Cooper
Molecular Cell Biology - Alberts et al. (a bit indepth and expensive, but it covers quite a lot, more a scientific book!)

:arrow: Physiology
Anatomy and Physiology - Tortora and Grabowski
Human Physiology - Vander

:arrow: Sociology
Sociology as applied to medicine - Patrick and Scambler

[jon_thurlow]

Whoa - they might be the 'recommended' texts but DON'T DON'T DON'T buy them all!!

Especially not:
The Cell / Molecular Cell Biology (you'll use them for a couple essays and never again)
Stryer (loads of copies in the libraries, loads at the book and bone sale, and you only use it once, and even then no one can understand it)
Stevens & Lowe (copies in library and in histology labs, and you look at it about once and fall asleep instantly)

2nd and 3rd year can be more-than-passed using Baby Kumar and Clarke and the OHCM (the yellow one that the MPS sell for about £10). Oh, and a few pharmacology and DGR notes.... and, most importantly, past exam papers.

[sparky21]

These textbooks were listed as a guide to new medical students. I used the word recommended as that is what is printed in the subject panal booklets that are issued to every medical student who enters UWCM. As I wouldn't advocate buying them ALL I do believe having your own textbooks are an invaluble resource, simply because biosi is not just full of med students (currently 310 0f us) - it has science students (I don't know how many... loads) and around exam times books become scarce ( I speak from experience as I was an anatomy student prior here prior to starting medicine - I got slightly annoyed by the lack of books and gave in and bought my own). As for the reason for this post - it was started as the question is always asked about what textbooks are useful at Medical school 'A'... it is only a ref. tool as are our course manuals...
It is also a useful tool for people from other medical schools that may have been recommended one textbook (which they hate) and want to see what other schools use.

Your advice about 2nd/3rd year books is much appreciated - having not gotten there myself yet!

X

[jon_thurlow]

Sorry if my post came across a bit over-enthusiastically, I didn't mean to sound harsh on sparky's recommendations, I just wanted to warn people that you can spend a lot of money on textbooks you only use once or twice.

But I'd also forgotten that there's about 80 more people in each year now, so finding books in libraries isn't going to be anywhere near as easy as it was a couple years ago.

Definitely go for second-hand options, you can sell them on and only lose about £5 after a year or two.

(And I'll repeat my recommendation of getting hold of past exam papers - the exam boards don't seem to have enough creativity to write new papers so you can be fairly sure at least a third of any exam will have come up before, word for word).

All the best in your studies!

[sparky21]

No problem, we do have a book and bone sale at the beginning of each year for new med students to buy 2nd hand - the older books being just as much use as the newer - if a bit less colourful!!! :lol:

Wow - fourth year... ahhhhhh I wish I was nearly there!....

I would say best wishes for your studies - but by all accounts you've done the hardest part (intermediate MB!) :mrgreen:

X

[hipponax]

Not entirely sure I agree- i bought stryer in first year and wrote one essay on HIV - since then its never been opened- its nigh on useless for learning from only useful for essays - please note whoever it was in 1995 who said it was great - we no longer have any exams worthy of stretching students minds hard enough...at least according to any of the doctors of the firms I have been on :shock: The only thing i coud think of doing with it now is dropping it from a great height above the med school cos its terminal velocity would destroy most of the admin area who are nigh on uselesy anyway

• I have however been working for the company that produces most of the medical books out there including Crash Course and anything by Harcourt or Churchill Livingstone and have been sent a load of nice books by them recently to review.
  
  the yellow book is a must have...its there for sneaking a quick peak in when the consultant is grilling your comrades about 11 reasons for clubbing etc. For finals its is useful only in that if itsnot int he yellow bok it wont be asked and if youlike learning learning lists then reading it twice is enough to get you through long or short cases....yellow book is not any use for learning the processes of disease.

I have bought a lot of books - why? cos I enjoy reading them and I like the chance not to enter the library apart from at gun point.

My recommendations for books are as follows

Yellow book

Mini Kumar or Big Kumar (but dont attempted to read all of this - you will die in the attempt

A mixture of crash course books although some of them are strangely not up to par or impenetrable

A mixture of EMQ/MCQ books (although we dont have MCQs anymore they are still useful for triggering memory)

For finals there are some old books doing the rounds i.e. 1 million boring medical questions for list learning geeks but I got to review a few new new books recently and they include Pass Finals (see http://intl.elsevierhealth.com/catal...SBN=0702026530

and clinical problems in General Medicine and Surgery (see http://intl.elsevierhealth.com/catal...SBN=0443073236

THe latter is excellent as presents patients in OSCE style and then asks you what you want to do next and grades you on your response

This is not a plug for harcourt/elsevier I just found both of them very very useful but they are only really useful for people who have been on the wards and seen a lot of patients rather than list learners. for those of you who have been learning lists there is a new book based on the Kumar and Clarke format which has squillions of questions in all formats (MCQ, EMQ, OSCE, Essays etc)

Anyway I think thats enough banter for now. All the best

[hipponax]

Whilst old exam papers hold true years 1-3 the years above this show no cohesion as the college deem it necessary to change the exam format in cardiff every 6 months.

Bah humbug :evil:

[pinksparkle]

Any ideas on what books are general to the foundation year? Just wondering, i know not to buy books in advance, just good to price up options. Cheers in advance. :P

[sparky21]

Don't know as yet, but a friend of mine did the foundation year so i'll enquire for you!!!

X

[pinksparkle]

just wondering if ud managed 2 find out about the foundation year books? im working nights at the moment and i kinda feel that i shud put the 10 hours i sit in a corridor while the kids are asleep to good use, theres only so many magazines i can read! thanks 4 this