Textbook selection guide (first and second years)

Saturday, 31 January 2009 18:05 Last Updated on Wednesday, 03 February 2010 13:40 Written by Administrator

TEXTBOOK SELECTION GUIDE

By Sarah Martin
with additions by Nicole Farrell

FIRST YEAR TEXTBOOKS

As a way to try and relieve some of your stress about purchasing your books, the FMSS committee decided to put together a list of our textbook recommendations. You probably already received a 7 page document with the recommended textbooks for the course; I promise you will not have to purchase the entire list. Every textbook is different in both content and readability, so a lot of your choices will depend on your background knowledge of the subject. It is definitely beneficial to try and use the library copies to get an idea about whether or not you like the text before spending your hard earned money on your very own copy. If you are on a budget, it is possible to try and exclusively use the library copies. Unfortunately you may soon discover that the necessary textbook for the unit you are studying always seems to be taken out and is usually returned sometime after exams. Hopefully our recommendations will help you decide which textbooks you want to own and which are more suitable for borrowing. Please remember you don’t need to make your textbook choices immediately; however, waiting until the first week of a block may result in bookshop shortages.

I am going to start by reviewing some of the various recommended texts as supplied by Flinders. Then I’m going to go through each unit and give you a list of texts that were recommended by several second years. And finally I will sum the whole thing up with a list of what we consider the “absolute essentials”.

Physiology
A physiology text is an absolute must. You will use it in every unit of first year and more than likely a lot of second year too. There is a large variety in the bookstore and your decision should be made on the basis of your background knowledge in the subject. I would highly recommend skimming through a few of them in the library to get a feel for the level of detail before purchasing one.

Boron & Boulpaep – Medical Physiology
This textbook is recommended by the organizers of the medical course because it has all the information you will ever need on pretty much every physiology topic...ever. If you talk to any second year they will tell you that they absolutely love or hate this textbook. It is definitely a good resource to have, even if you don’t use it in every case. Most students found it particularly useful in both Resp and Renal; however, if you do not have a lot of experience with physiology, math, chemistry or physics, some of the concepts covered will be confusing. It would be beneficial to use a less detailed physiology book to understand the general concepts and use this textbook to fill in the details if required.

Sherwood – Human Physiology
This textbook is great if you do not have a science background, or are not as confident with it. Things are explained very well, but you will more than likely have to supplement it with further resources (like Boron) later in the course.

Marieb – Human Anatomy and Physiology
A favourite. It is also quite basic, but explains concepts very well and can double as an anatomy text. It has lots of great diagrams that are very useful for PBL, but don’t be fooled- it is not an all in one textbook. In certain subjects you will probably still require more detail in both the physiology and anatomy departments, but it is easily supplemented with Boron or a trip to the library.

Guyton & Hall – Textbook of Medical Physiology
I consider this book to be the “in between” physiology book. It explains concepts succinctly and is a wonderful book for anyone with a bit of physiology background. Boron tends to get bogged down in a lot of detail whereas this textbook has just the right amount of information for the course. This was a great book for Human Homeostasis.

Anatomy/Histology
It’s pretty hard to go wrong here because human anatomy has not changed much in the last 300 years, but it is important to get a book that maintains your interest as the subject can be pretty dry. Again, I would recommend taking a peek at a few of them in the library to form an opinion before purchasing. If you have any background in histology you will probably not need to purchase histology text, although some people like to have it.

Gray’s Anatomy for Students
Not to be confused with Gray’s Anatomy (40th edition). This textbook is pretty good. I know of a few students who preferred it to Netters and others who absolutely despised it. Have a flip through it to form an opinion before purchasing.

Moore and Dalley- Clinically Oriented Anatomy
Another wonderful option for an anatomy text...like I said- it’s pretty hard to go wrong in this department. I personally liked this textbook because it has the perfect combination of description and explanation. It will briefly explain how the anatomy of a structure relates to its physiology and is therefore very useful when used in combination with your physiology text. It is available in one of the packs sold in the bookstore this year.

Wheater’s Functional Histology
This book has lots of pictures, but is lacking in thorough descriptions of the disease processes. It would probably work best in cooperation with a good pathology text.

Ross and Pawlina- Histology, a text and atlas
This book is the opposite. It has lots of descriptions of the disease processes and fewer pictures. I’ll leave the decision in your capable hands.

Clinical Skills
Talley and O’Connor – Clinical Examination
This textbook is extremely useful in both clinical skills and in certain PBL cases. There’s also a rumour that if you memorize this book you’ll do well in the GP college exams.

Medicine
Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine
An absolutely amazing textbook! It is useful for many topics, but I found it especially useful in Renal. I would seriously consider selling a kidney for it, but luckily it is available for free electronically through the library (even if you are at home).

Kumar and Clark – Clinical medicine 6th ed
This book is definitely worth picking up. It has a lot of the same information as Harrison’s and is especially useful when researching treatment options for your PBL cases.

Oxford Textbook of Medicine
This text was not used as frequently in my year, but it is also available electronically and is quite good.

Pathology
Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease
Another one of my personal favourites. It was particularly useful in IMD, but was certainly used in the other topics as well. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket I would definitely recommend picking this one up.

Rubin’s Pathology
In my opinion this text is not as well laid out as Robbins; however, it is certainly still a respectable pathology text. The main difference is you will have to search more for info on a certain topic in this book, whereas Robbins offers everything up on a silver platter.

Pharmacology
Many students manage to get through the year without purchasing a pharmacology text. The course does not teach a lot of pharmacology; however, some find it useful to have a text to read on their own time in preparation for the years to come. Rang and Dales Pharmacology is definitely the most popular choice; however, I have also heard good things about Basic and Clinical Pharmacology by Katzung which is available electronically through the library. I think either would be suitable for the subjects taught in the course so it’s ultimately a personal choice.

Now that we’ve covered some textbooks by subject, I thought it would be beneficial for you guys to know a little about the books most frequently used for each topic in the course. I’ve gathered opinions from several classmates, but it would definitely be in your best interest to discuss text book selections with some second years.

Human Homeostasis
In this unit you guys will be introduced to some basic physiology of some of the major organ systems. You will definitely need a Physiology text (any of the ones listed above or a combination will suit you just fine) and most students also found it useful to have a pathology textbook (preferably Robbins) and a medicine textbook (preferably Harrison’s or Kumar and Clarke). In this unit you will also learn a bunch of biochemistry.

Smith, Marks and Lieberman - Marks’ Basic Medical Biochemistry
It is a wonderful textbook for people with all kinds of biochemistry backgrounds as it explains the pathways covered in human homeostasis very well and has lots of useful diagrams. I would highly recommend it.

Champe, Harvey and Ferrier – Biochemistry 4th ed
I didn’t use this text, but I have heard good things about it. Apparently it contains more detail than Marks’, so it may be preferred by any biochem keeners.

Identity, Microbes and Defence
As the title implies, this unit focuses a lot on the immune system, but also covers additional topics that I won’t tell you about because I don’t want to ruin the PBL process...not to mention, the surprise. Most students found Robbins to be extremely useful in this topic. An immunology text may also be useful, but is definitely not required as most physiology texts will have enough detail.

Hoffbrand Petit and Moss-Essential Haematology
This book is very good for the blood related topics and has very good diagrams and explanations. It was highly recommended.

Roitt – Immunology 7th ed
Apparently this text is very hard to read, but it really has everything you could possible want in regards to content. It may be an option for immunology keeners, but be sure to have a flip through it first to make sure it’s comprehensible before buying.

Janeway- Immunobiology
I didn’t use this text, but it gets high recommendations from a few fellow students. Again, it’s probably a good idea to flip through it before buying.

Cardiovascular System
It’s really a no brainer to figure out what you will be learning about in this unit. Yup you guessed it...the heart and blood vessels! You will definitely need an anatomy book to learn all the blood vessels and structures of the heart for the prac exam. Robbins as well as Kumar and Clarke or Harrison’s will also come in handy, but the one book you will definitely need and use is Lilly.

Lilly – Pathophysiology of Heart Disease
This is a fantastic book. It is set out in an incredibly logical and readable manner. By the end of the unit you will have read it from cover to cover. It is an essential purchase.

Respiratory System
Another no brainer. Text books for this topic however are a little more tricky. Boron is quite useful for the necessary physiology and Robbins as well as either Harrison’s or Kumar and Clarke are also good resources. The recommended textbook for the unit is West.

West- Respiratory Physiology: the Essentials
Lots of people really didn’t like this book because they found the explanations confusing and hard to follow. Most students seemed to use the Respiratory system “crash course” or “at a glance” series and photocopied the necessary details from West. Definitely have flip through it in the library before purchasing, as other students used West and found it useful for the course. For this topic is definitely up to you.

Renal System
There is no recommended textbook for this unit. Most people used their Physiology texts and the “at a glance” series (as a summary), as well as some excellent recommended readings (don’t worry, you should get these on FLO during the unit). I found Harrison’s to be quite useful for this topic as well.

Human Life Cycle
This unit is divided into 4 different topics, but you will only require separate textbooks for 2 of them.

Embryology
Sadler – Langmans’ Medical Embryology
A wonderful text that I strongly recommend. It has the right level of detail for the course and the diagrams are often used in the lectures making it very easy to follow along.

Moore and Persaud – The Developing Human
This text is equally as good, so it’s a really hard decision. It has a lot more detail than Langmans’, so if you are really interested in the topic it may be a better choice, but it is more expensive. You will definitely have all the information you will need with either book, so it’s really up to you which one you purchase.

Genetics
Emery’s Elements of Medical Genetics
This is a great text that is useful for anyone, irrespective of any background in the topic. However, if you do not wish to purchase another textbook, Robbins has quite a respectable description of the topic that can be supplemented with a trip to the library.

Absolute Essentials
1. A physiology book (or two depending on your background)
2. A medicine book (either Kumar and Clarke or Harrison’s online)
3. A pathology book (preferably Robbins)
4. An anatomy book
5. Lilly- pathophysiology of heart disease
6. An embryology book (either Langmans or Moore and Persaud)

I really hope this list helps you in your decision making process. Please know that there are many different texts out there not even listed on the extensive list provided to you by Flinders. If you don’t have the recommended texts it really doesn’t matter as long as the information is up to date. If you are looking for really good summaries for the units, I would definitely recommend the “at a glance”, or “crash course” series, but be careful about using them exclusively. They are extremely readable and concise and will usually have on overview of everything you will need to know to do well, but will often require supplementation with other resources.

The 5th Floor Flinders Medical Centre Unibooks Bookstore will endeavour to have everything available that you could possible need this year. It will stock all of the required textbooks and medical paraphernalia (stethoscopes etc) and also has handy 2nd year students that will give you advice about what you need. Also, the Flinders Medical Students Society gets some of the profits of this bookstore so we can make medical school events as cheap and as good as possible. Happy shopping!

SECOND YEAR TEXTBOOKS

As we all know by now, everyone has different textbook preferences, and differing number of points on our accounts for borrowing library books. Below are a few suggestions from Sarah for the year.

Gastrointestinal
I used Boron and my medicine textbooks (Harrison’s or Kumar and Clark) for this block, but I know some people used the at a glance series and liked them. Either way, you don’t need a specific textbook for this block.

Endocrine
Some people bought Greenspan “Basic & Clinical Endocrinology” for this block, but again, I used my physiology textbooks and my medicine textbooks primarily. Greenspan has a lot of detail and is probably too in depth for the level you are required to know. I also used my embryology book a bit in this block (I have Moore and Persaud) for the developmental part.

Brain and Behaviour
Half of this block is neurology and the other half is psychiatry. For the neuro part most of the class bought “The Nervous System” by Michael Titus. It is a really good book and follows the course structure really well. Others liked “Neuroscience” by Purves or “Principles of Neuroscience” by Kandel. For the psych part Kaplan and Saddock’s “Synopsis of Psychiatry” is the recommended text, but it’s definitely not essential. It’s all about preference for this block.

Musculoskeletal
Moore and Dalley “Clinically Oriented Anatomy” was a favourite for this block. The blue boxes in the textbook seem to match up perfectly with the mini-cases so people believe Ian used the book to design the mini-cases. Other students really liked Gray’s Anatomy for Students. It’s also a good idea to have access to an atlas for this block. I own Netter’s “Atlas of Human Anatomy” and love it, but it’s pretty hard to go wrong with any anatomy book.

Transition
Talley and O’Connor “Clinical Examination” is the main textbook for this block. I also bought the “Oxford Handbook of Clinical Examination and Practical Skills” and absolutely love it. It is my favourite textbook these days. I’ve also seen people wandering around with “Clinical Skills for OSCEs” by Neel Burton. Lots of 3rd years bought that book leading up to their OSCE, but I’ve also seen a lot of 2nd years with it too.