GlossyGal said:
Hey everyone... time-is-a-tickin'
!! I'm still not over the initial shock of the schedule I just received so I won't even go there... but I do have a question about the books like several of my other wonderful classmates. Should we bother buying them now? Or should we wait to meet our Big Bro/Sis? And if we should get them, do we need all of them? What about the recommended stuff? Please help us (I feel incredibly corny begging like this but I know the others are happy that I'm taking one for the team here
)
Also- I'll be living on the 2nd floor of Echelon Glenn, so neighbors... send me a shout out... I can't wait to meet everyone!!
As you'll quickly realize once school starts, the approach to med school is a really personal thing, with tremendous variation in the study time, books used, class attendance, study methods, etc. So, that being said, I'm sure some of my classmates will chime in with their own thoughts on the matter.
I found that books were more important second semester of first year. I don't remember exactly how your first-year schedule breaks down, but I do know there are changes from ours. Our first semester consisted of Biochem, Physio, Histo, Genetics, OMM. To me, most biochem and physio texts are roughly equivalent, especially when learning the general subjects as you will be doing. I think the most frequently purchased biochem text in my class was the Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews. It's not too bogged down in detail, straightforward, and a good fit for med school biochem. I also had two texts leftover from grad school, Harper's and Berg & Stryer, both of which are a bit "thicker" so to speak, and I really never looked in them more than a handful of times.
I think the Physio texts are all roughly equal. The notes you receive for your classes first semester are so thorough and detailed, you really won't rely on any textbooks. They're great to have as a reference, but if you choose to study in the library a lot, all of these books are on reserve. I got the Costanzo Physio book, and really didn't need it much at all. I never bought any Histo text...the notes are thorough and there is a decent class website as well. Get to know those histo notes top to bottom, he tests everything in there.
I never bought an OMM text either. I did buy the genetics book, and it came in handy sometimes. Most people didn't buy it, and with genetics being a subject of lesser importance in med school, it's certainly not urgent. As I said, your notes are great during first semester, hundreds and hundreds of pages straight from the professors.
You will get a great deal of materials from your big siblings, yes...but be careful about textbooks. I have an entire crate of stuff I got from my big brother, and that I will gladly pass along to one of you. BUT, I'm probably hanging onto textbooks.
What I meant when I said books are more important second semester is that you'll need a couple books for anatomy, Dr. White literally writes the book on Neuro so you'll need that, and having a Micro book comes in handy as well. Those are my thoughts on the matter, hopefully you'll read from someone else another approach that worked well for them. Good luck. And don't sweat too much about the schedule, I know it looks overwhelming at first.
