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Which books u find wud be good to prefer for UG MBBS first yr ..for
Biochemistry
Anatomy
Physiology?
Biochemistry
Anatomy
Physiology?
Books to be read for MBBS 1st Yr
- Thread starter rahuldp
- Start date
hi rahul 
.i think u r studying in an indian college. the session starts on 1st aug.,right?
well for anat-gross-bd chaurasia
u will need other books for embryology(i.b.singh),neuro,histo ---which ur teachers in college can guide better .
physiology-ganong
guyton-best for building concepts
biochemistry-lippincott-very easy to understand ,simple language
vasudevan(indian author)
remember always buy a book only when u r sure u really want dat book,because in mbbs u hav to consult so many books and u cant buy all of them.
all the best for ur future! im also studying in an indian college so u can ask any query that u have.
.i think u r studying in an indian college. the session starts on 1st aug.,right?well for anat-gross-bd chaurasia
u will need other books for embryology(i.b.singh),neuro,histo ---which ur teachers in college can guide better .
physiology-ganong
guyton-best for building concepts
biochemistry-lippincott-very easy to understand ,simple language
vasudevan(indian author)
remember always buy a book only when u r sure u really want dat book,because in mbbs u hav to consult so many books and u cant buy all of them.
all the best for ur future! im also studying in an indian college so u can ask any query that u have.
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hi all doc and medicos out there..
Pls do drop your comments..
Which book u find better!!!Every book is good but still for 1st yr Med Skooling in India and getting thru USMLE..
Biochemistry
Lipponcott? Satyanarayann?? Any Other???
Anatomy
Chaurasia? Grants?? Any Other???
Physiology
Guyton? Ganong?? Sembilinguam??? Any Other????
How to get the best out from your 1st Year?????
Nyyer u there???thankful for all your posts in this thread..Pls do keep Posting it really helps..
hi all doc and medicos out there..
Pls do drop your comments..
Which book u find better!!!Every book is good but still for 1st yr Med Skooling in India and getting thru USMLE..
Biochemistry
Lipponcott? Satyanarayann?? Any Other???
Anatomy
Chaurasia? Grants?? Any Other???
Physiology
Guyton? Ganong?? Sembilinguam??? Any Other????
How to get the best out from your 1st Year?????
Nyyer u there???thankful for all your posts in this thread..Pls do keep Posting it really helps..
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rahuldp said:
Biochemistry:
You will have to use both Satyanarayan and Lipincotts.... avoid Harpers tho there are a few diagrams in there that could prove useful (i.e. Glycolysis and IgG). The reason why you will have to use the indian text is because no other american author will list out the facts in point form for you. What you will begin to notice about the grading is they want points with brief explanations... it doesnt matter if you know 2 or 3 points really well and you dont cover all 10 points. Satya will take care of that for you... but defintely utilize Lipincotts for DNA / Porphyrias / less so on vitamins
Physiology:
Honest truth if you want to pass, Sembilingum will be your best friend last minute. It is perfect cause it basically outlines how you should write each short note and essay. I highly recommend using Ganong for topics like BP and cardiac cycle. People say physio you can BS alot on the exams.. but to really fill up those sheets of paper during the exams is by reading proper text and understanding whats going on... once you grasp the basic idea from either Guyton or Ganong... you can use Sembil to organize your essay or short note.
Anat:
Go with Churasia.... Grants is a little overboard... tho Snells is good for a better understanding of applied aspects...
General Advice: the more you put in .. the better off you will be.. case and point.. the less dumb you will feel in second year where they expect you to understand 1st year concepts in and out... so know it well the first time -- and you wont have to worry about passing, it will just come
best of luck
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Is Ganong unappropriate to be followed for 1st Yr.People say it is meant to be read only after you have read Guyton....
.Is Ganong not reader friendly???Is Guyton irreplacable in case Concepts are to be made???..Can Ganong be followed instead????
A user friendly book like Sembil or Chaudhary is to be supplemented even if Guyton is followed.!!!right!!.So will it be managable??
Sorry for question but:
Is Guyton better than Ganong??
.Is Ganong not reader friendly???Is Guyton irreplacable in case Concepts are to be made???..Can Ganong be followed instead????
A user friendly book like Sembil or Chaudhary is to be supplemented even if Guyton is followed.!!!right!!.So will it be managable??
Sorry for question but:
Is Guyton better than Ganong??
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thisisvick said:
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A few addendums...
..Also, stop worrying about the marks you get in the exams/tests. That pressure sometimes leads to people trying to take shortcuts instead of working to get the concepts. Passing is enough, and it doesnt really matter whether you get 55% or 60%. Trust me, studying for exams and for concepts are really different. I also recommend you try a system-wise approach, where, for example, you read CVS anatomy, embryology and its physiology in the same flow. There is rarely any co-ordination between departments, so you might have to work a lot harder at this, but once you form the entire picture, that will stay with you for life, not to mention for Path/Pharm/Med once you go a bit further along. I am totally convinced the first 2 profs (Anat/physio/BC/Path/Pharm) are the foundations for whatever you do later. As thisisivick says, the more work you put in now, the better off you will be right through your med career. It is better (and easier, trust me) to work hard in the first and second profs than have to re-do it at a later stage where you are expected to know stuff.
Try to workout a regular schedule as early as possible, and do a little bit everyday. It takes discipline, but it is a lot better the trying to cram in the last minute. One year is plenty of time, if utilised well. Good luck, and hope you do better than I did!!
..I was personally not too impressed with Sembulingam, though a lot of my batch-mates did read it. I preferred Harper+Lippincott. I liked to be able to say I read XYZ random fact in so-and-so book. This is an entirely personal preference. This choice will follow you throughout Med School, as there are several alternate (Indian) authors your seniors/professors might recommend in every prof. Harper is good provided you dont go in over your head and try to remember everything in the first couple of readings, and just try to get a feel for what is going on. As an exam-time cop-out, there is a small book called Lakshmi Ahuja, which deals with chapters in Q-A format, so if you have a sudden test from a topic you havent yet read, you can cram just for that exam from there. It is NOT a textbook, and frankly sucks if you are trying to build concepts, but is great as a last minuite quick-read for test prep.thisisvick said:
Sembulingam is awesome for Neuro, in my opinion. Guyton is a great book, I'm sure, but I never read it. While physio might seem easy to BS in, it is really important for you to grasp the concepts well, as they will be with you right through your med career.
BDC is more than enough. I even found it enough for Neuro, though others might recommend IB Singh. IB singh's Embryo is really good too. I also had McMinn's atlas to help me visualise whatever I read/ dissected. A picture is worth a thousand words, so try to form one rather than blindly cram.
Bottom line: no matter what books you finally choose, try to do atleast one book completely and thoroughly, using others as additional material. Folks who do different chapters from differnt books sometimes miss out as not every book is organised the same. Some topics can be in different chapters in differnt books. To re-iterate, do one thoroughly, and use another as a possible reference. Make notes of whatever is extra in the reference book in your main text, so you consolidate and dont need to shuffle between books at exam time.
..Also, stop worrying about the marks you get in the exams/tests. That pressure sometimes leads to people trying to take shortcuts instead of working to get the concepts. Passing is enough, and it doesnt really matter whether you get 55% or 60%. Trust me, studying for exams and for concepts are really different. I also recommend you try a system-wise approach, where, for example, you read CVS anatomy, embryology and its physiology in the same flow. There is rarely any co-ordination between departments, so you might have to work a lot harder at this, but once you form the entire picture, that will stay with you for life, not to mention for Path/Pharm/Med once you go a bit further along. I am totally convinced the first 2 profs (Anat/physio/BC/Path/Pharm) are the foundations for whatever you do later. As thisisivick says, the more work you put in now, the better off you will be right through your med career. It is better (and easier, trust me) to work hard in the first and second profs than have to re-do it at a later stage where you are expected to know stuff.
Try to workout a regular schedule as early as possible, and do a little bit everyday. It takes discipline, but it is a lot better the trying to cram in the last minute. One year is plenty of time, if utilised well. Good luck, and hope you do better than I did!!
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Guyton is meant to be a thoroughand complete textbook of Physiology. Ganong is a "Review", as I am sure you noticed on the cover. However, in my opinion, it is also really good, if supplemented by another easier-to-read book for stuff you are having a hard time with. Whatever makes you comfortable. As I said earlier, whatever book you choose for a primary text, DO IT COMPLETELY AND THOROUGHLY.rahuldp said:
Screw PG enterance! You are entering First prof. Try to understand the human body first. There are a million ways to go about preparing for PG, and its not something you should worry about right now..atleast not more than making a sound foundation.madaboutmed said:
That being said, for Histo, Functional Histology by Wheater is what I am reading in my first year in Pathology. It is a really nice book: short, easy to understand, with great pics and good explanations.
Langmann's is nice for embryo, but frankly, is a bit much as you are doing MBBS, not only anatomy. I recommend IB Singh's EMbryo, as it has a lot of illustrations and is usually in point format, so you can construct a flowchart of events quite easily as it is almost done for you.
My views on Biochem are in the post above. Frankly, I discovered Lipincott for Biochem by myself, and a bit late in the day. I highly recommend it as a primary text as it is a reliable/quotable source, and is really easy to understand. Their illustrations/flowcharts leave little to imagination, and they are always trying to help you integrate whatever you learn in a particular chapter into the whole framework. This is invaluable, and I found this esp great in BC and Pharm, where I used Lipp as well.
Hope this helps!
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Thank you!!
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Another book everyone should pick up is The question bank. Either the book with all the questions solved or the one with just the questions listed according to topic and which year they appeared in the exam. They are both by Singhi Yatiraj and are available for every year and every subject... awesome way to learn how to study and what to study for NRI students... A must have from the exam point of view.
The Books used for KMC Mangalore during 2008-2009 were
Biochem- Satyanarayana
Anatomy- B.D Chaurasia
Physiology- K Sembulingam or A.K. Jain
I would recommend you stick to these books only. Specially if you are an NRI DO NOT BUY Harper, Guyton, etc they will be of no use for passing. Trust me on this one.
Biochem- Satyanarayana
Anatomy- B.D Chaurasia
Physiology- K Sembulingam or A.K. Jain
I would recommend you stick to these books only. Specially if you are an NRI DO NOT BUY Harper, Guyton, etc they will be of no use for passing. Trust me on this one.
Hey guys,
I'm currently a first year med-student in India, and I felt like contributing to this discussion, so here goes..
In my estimation I'd say that there are two kinds of books out there for each subject: The study book, which represents your primary text that's gonna help you beat the system (i.e. it's got all the stuff you need to memorize and regurgitate on exams to fetch you marks); the understanding book, which will give you a deeper knowledge of things and will be more useful in the long run (since medicine is ultimately not about being able to memorize a bunch of random facts, but rather about being able to see patterns/connections and figure out how they fit into context so that you can apply your knowledge in the clinical side to best help your patients).
Having said all this, I'd like to acknowledge that the following list is far from comprehensive and reflects merely my forays into the textbook hunt, i.e. it is inherently subjective.. Every individual is different, and your approach will depend largely on what you're aiming to do and how you plan on going about it (e.g. if you're just looking to pass medicine and gtfo, you could easily get by/do well with the study books alone; or if you're studying with an eye towards landing a good PG (post-graduate) seat in India/residency abroad, then you might even wanna start solving extrance text question banks early on to get a feel for what things are gonna be like).
Anatomy
Study: Essentials of Anatomy by Dr. B. D. Caurasia (Vols 1,2,3) -The standard textbook used by nearly all the first year students here, and the book that'll get you through your anatomy papers. For the "hypers" out there, there's a similar series by Prof. A. K. Dutta, which covers the same topics but in wayy more detail than is required for undergrads; it's the books the PG students use, but it'a becoming increasingly popular among the undergrad crowd once people started noticing that the profs/PG seem to sometimes quote passages lifted directly from the book.
Understanding: Either Clinically Oriented Anatomy by Keith L Moore or Gray's Anatomy for Students. These books may not serve you in passing your Indian exams (which, again, are all about memorizing things and being able to present them point-wise on paper) but they give you a broader holistic sense of what's really going on in the body and make for a much more satisfying read imho; not to mention, giving you an insight into how anatomy translates into the clinical side.
Study aids: There are several books I could list here, but the most useful is the Atlas of Human Anatomy by Frank H. Netter, also referred to affectionately as "Netter's." What makes this such a fabulous book? Open any page, and you'll instantly see why!
Physiology
Study: Essentials of Physiology by Sembulingan, which is an awful text for actually understanding stuff, but will be your best friend when the exams come around and you need to mug up info. For the slightly more adventurous, consider studying from Textbook of Physiology by Prof. A. K. Jain (Vols 1 and 2).
Understanding: Textbook of Medical Physiology by Guyton and Hall; this is THE textbook to read if you crave a deeper understanding the how's and why's of the human body. I've never read Ganong, so I've got no idea what that book's like.
Biochemistry
Study: Textbook of Medical Biochemistry by Satyanarayanan, or for those wanting to minimize the pain and would feel less stressed out if they were using something simpler/more condensed, Textbook of Biochemistry for Medical Students by Vasudevan.
Understanding: Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Biochemistry -This is a wonderful book, and one that I cannot recommend highly enough... It gives you all the essentials of biochemistry, beautifully shows you how pathways function, and why they become significant in the clinical side. Sure the prudes are going to say Harper's is what you should be reading if you really really wanna know medical biochemistry, but I find the book to be tiresome and far too self-absorbed with details. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of biochem, so...
Hope all this helps, and good luck!
-Gus
I'm currently a first year med-student in India, and I felt like contributing to this discussion, so here goes..
In my estimation I'd say that there are two kinds of books out there for each subject: The study book, which represents your primary text that's gonna help you beat the system (i.e. it's got all the stuff you need to memorize and regurgitate on exams to fetch you marks); the understanding book, which will give you a deeper knowledge of things and will be more useful in the long run (since medicine is ultimately not about being able to memorize a bunch of random facts, but rather about being able to see patterns/connections and figure out how they fit into context so that you can apply your knowledge in the clinical side to best help your patients).
Having said all this, I'd like to acknowledge that the following list is far from comprehensive and reflects merely my forays into the textbook hunt, i.e. it is inherently subjective.. Every individual is different, and your approach will depend largely on what you're aiming to do and how you plan on going about it (e.g. if you're just looking to pass medicine and gtfo, you could easily get by/do well with the study books alone; or if you're studying with an eye towards landing a good PG (post-graduate) seat in India/residency abroad, then you might even wanna start solving extrance text question banks early on to get a feel for what things are gonna be like).
Anatomy
Study: Essentials of Anatomy by Dr. B. D. Caurasia (Vols 1,2,3) -The standard textbook used by nearly all the first year students here, and the book that'll get you through your anatomy papers. For the "hypers" out there, there's a similar series by Prof. A. K. Dutta, which covers the same topics but in wayy more detail than is required for undergrads; it's the books the PG students use, but it'a becoming increasingly popular among the undergrad crowd once people started noticing that the profs/PG seem to sometimes quote passages lifted directly from the book.
Understanding: Either Clinically Oriented Anatomy by Keith L Moore or Gray's Anatomy for Students. These books may not serve you in passing your Indian exams (which, again, are all about memorizing things and being able to present them point-wise on paper) but they give you a broader holistic sense of what's really going on in the body and make for a much more satisfying read imho; not to mention, giving you an insight into how anatomy translates into the clinical side.
Study aids: There are several books I could list here, but the most useful is the Atlas of Human Anatomy by Frank H. Netter, also referred to affectionately as "Netter's." What makes this such a fabulous book? Open any page, and you'll instantly see why!
Physiology
Study: Essentials of Physiology by Sembulingan, which is an awful text for actually understanding stuff, but will be your best friend when the exams come around and you need to mug up info. For the slightly more adventurous, consider studying from Textbook of Physiology by Prof. A. K. Jain (Vols 1 and 2).
Understanding: Textbook of Medical Physiology by Guyton and Hall; this is THE textbook to read if you crave a deeper understanding the how's and why's of the human body. I've never read Ganong, so I've got no idea what that book's like.
Biochemistry
Study: Textbook of Medical Biochemistry by Satyanarayanan, or for those wanting to minimize the pain and would feel less stressed out if they were using something simpler/more condensed, Textbook of Biochemistry for Medical Students by Vasudevan.
Understanding: Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Biochemistry -This is a wonderful book, and one that I cannot recommend highly enough... It gives you all the essentials of biochemistry, beautifully shows you how pathways function, and why they become significant in the clinical side. Sure the prudes are going to say Harper's is what you should be reading if you really really wanna know medical biochemistry, but I find the book to be tiresome and far too self-absorbed with details. Also, I'm not the biggest fan of biochem, so...
Hope all this helps, and good luck!
-Gus
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