Medical Textbooks before Uni Start

[yazoo]

Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine will be useful. I have yet to find someone who has not got one and not used it (in the UK). A clinical examination book is also good and the one mentioned above is useful.

Anything else is really false economy, IMO. Unless you are getting the books for virtually free. You could buy Gray's and then discover that Moore suits you much better, or Martini etc etc - the list goes on. You really need to go to the library in your first 4 weeks or so and see which ones you like/suit your course. Or buy them from the people in the classes above you (but not that many people sell core texts...).

[chicken66]

If you've got the tokens i'd go for Kumar and Clarke Clinical Medicine

[Kwekubo]

ah k, in which case the word round the forum is that this book called mnemonics for med undergrads is pretty gd - one with a blue elephant on the front i think

prob useful once you've started, and apparently worth having, and since you have tokens, why not have a look

I ♥ mnemonics! I made a lot of use out of Medical Mnemonics .com: World's Database of Medical Mnemonics last year and am planning on picking up a copy of the book you mention. However in terms of textbooks I really suggest you don't buy anything until you start. There's such a variety of books, each with their own pros and cons, that it would be better to wait and see what works for you; moreover there will be loads of copies of the core texts available in your uni library. Give them a test run for the first few weeks and then buy anything essential.

[Dr Noodle]

So much for my not reading ahead plan. I was in Belfast yesterday and I found this great little book called An Introductory Guide to Anatomy and Physiology by Louise Tucker. The layout of it is great and it's simple but not too simple if that makes sense. And it was only around a tenner (can't find the receipt). It was in WH Smith anyway.

Here it is: Amazon.co.uk: An Introductory Guide to Anatomy and Physiology: Louise Tucker: Books

Hmmm got really bad reviews there ^ but probably okay for just a bit of light reading or else I want my tenner back!

[yazoo]

If you've got the tokens i'd go for Kumar and Clarke Clinical Medicine

I'd say the same for clinical medicine texts as any other. There are a variety available and different books suit different people. Try before you buy. (K&C was not for me - a very expensive decoration...)

[agneishd]

So much for my not reading ahead plan. I was in Belfast yesterday and I found this great little book called An Introductory Guide to Anatomy and Physiology by Louise Tucker. The layout of it is great and it's simple but not too simple if that makes sense. And it was only around a tenner (can't find the receipt). It was in WH Smith anyway.

Here it is: Amazon.co.uk: An Introductory Guide to Anatomy and Physiology: Louise Tucker: Books

Hmmm got really bad reviews there ^ but probably okay for just a bit of light reading or else I want my tenner back!

impressive "light reading" indeed

[Hughman]

Found and biught the Pocket Guide to Anatomy - essentially a dumbed down and shrunk version of Grey's Anatomy - it's intended for artists but it's still really detailed.
Got it for a fiver in the Works.

[Leo2004]

Reading ahead is fine if you want (I did/do) but don't expect to understand or remember it all...

If it's disease you're interested in, Robbins is the book!

It contains far more than you need to know for finals as it's really written for pathologists as well as students, hence the high-level of content, but if you read sbout some common diseases in it and the chapter on general pathology, you can't go wrong...

The list you have is good but there are many alternative texts and some will reflect the syllabus/way you're examined at your med school more than others.

Happy reading...

[Dr Noodle]

impressive "light reading" indeed

Okay big shot A-leveler I did the wee leaving cert so didn't cover much of that at all.

If I've misinterpreted, feel free to virtually slap me.

[Hughman]

I don't think he was being sarcastic.