Recommend me a book!

[kenadauk]

Hi

I am applying for 2010 graduate entry, and as such am asking various places for shadowing, such as surgery, anaesthetics et cetera. I would really like to do a bit of revision before going on such days, both to have an understanding of whats going on and also to impress

I was therefore hoping someone could recommend me a good book to look at / buy that has a bit of everything in it. I don't mind if it goes very in depth, I have already acquired a basic level of knowledge and whenever I find something I don't understand, I look it up anyway. I was thinking along the lines of Kumar and Clark / Davidsons, as this I could sell second hand at my current uni bookshop of even keep for when I start medicine (wishful thinking) but am obviosuly looking for suggestions.

Thanks

[Arch_Angel]

Hi

I am applying for 2010 graduate entry, and as such am asking various places for shadowing, such as surgery, anaesthetics et cetera. I would really like to do a bit of revision before going on such days, both to have an understanding of whats going on and also to impress

I'd be careful with this...you're unlikely to impress anyone because if you answer correctly they'll just give you harder questions so they can berate you more when you get them wrong (especially in surgery)

Evil Surgeon: So what's the problem with this guy?

Me: Well he's got a hormone secreting tumour on his pituitary

ES: Right....what hormone is causing the problem?

Me: Umm....

ES: TSH! Pfft how obvious

Me: Ah right

(he then goes on to rapidly talk me through how TSH works)

ES: So, is one of these worse than a tumour that's just causing pressure?

Me: Err....no?

ES: WHAT?!? How can you say that? You were here the other day and saw someone that had a compressing tumour the size of an apricot and they were walking around and this guy has a hormone secreting one the size of a pea and who's on the table?

Me: ....ah yea....

If you know what you're going to see you could be specific (for example if you're going to MaxFax you could read up on some head anatomy) but you're unlikely to be able to get a firm enough grip to impress anyone.

What I'd aim for, is to not go in and make yourself look stupid rather than to actually impress....

Go for this: The Human Body: An Introduction to Structure and Function: Amazon.co.uk: Adolf Faller, Michael Schuenke: Books

It's pretty simplistic, but should stop you from saying something completely stupid. It doesn't go into too much depth though. Try a library before you buy it...

[Gizmo says -]

try quoting The 'obbit, macca.

[aspirant doc]

I don't wish to piss on your fire but shadowing is about you getting a view of what medicine really entails (the nature of the job, not the knowledge behind it) and figuring out if it is really what you wish to do (do you want to be a doctor, or do you want to practice medicine?) in terms of team dynamics, working environment, the reality of delivering patient care (as opposed to the TV portrayal of delivering pateint care), what you would bring to the party (your skills, interpersonal ones especially), long hours and nights at work, the alarming balance between delivering careand paperwork etc etc etc rather than about learning. Medical school and beyond is where the learning happens!

When it comes to your UCAS personal statement, being able to explain what you learnt about your suitability for medicine counts for a lot.

When it comes to your UCAS personal statement, being able to explain why PaO2>8 kPa is a severity marker for acute pancreatitis, or why primary sclerosing cholangitis can cause cholangiocarcinoma and increases the risk of colorectal neoplasi, does not count for anything.


Any half decent medical dictionary would be a reasonable starting point - you may wish to be able to understand the terminology in outline. Davidson's is not the sort of book you idly flick through!!

I'm not pissing on your fire, all I'm saying is shadwoing is not about medical knowledge.