Monday, 01 March 2010 21:32 Last Updated on Monday, 01 March 2010 21:40 Written by Nicole Farrell

A guide to making the most of the second hand book sale:

 

 

I thought it might be helpful to have a few hints on how to make the most out of the second hand book sale so here you go:

 

1. Leave your bag in your locker and follow the signs down the stairs to the 4^th floor.

 

2. Arrive early (doors open at 1pm) – First come, First served.

 

3. Bring a few hundred dollars in cash (You don’t want to be stuck picking between 4 textbooks at 40 dollars each because you didn’t bring enough money) – The sale is CASH ONLY.

 

4. There is an ATM on the 4^th floor.

 

5. PLAN for the whole year – There may be a book at the book sale that you don’t need till August or September, but if you plan ahead, you could have it at a fraction of the price you will end up paying in the bookstore once the block rolls around. (Lilly & Cardio is a good example of this)

 

6. Likewise, second years, there are a lot of great books for 3^rd year OSCES in the book sale for very cheap prices – it would be wise to plan ahead…do you think they change the basic OSCE material much from year to year? No…an old edition will be fine even if the book gets updated in the next 12 months.

 

7. The old edition is our best friend. Cheaper, cheaper and cheaper, you can update anything that is missing with a quick trip to the library.

 

8. Don’t forget to visit the Cheap and Cheerful table for “Everything $5 and below” – there are some gems here!

 

 

Below are some examples of the books available, but is not nearly an exhaustive list.

Categories of Books available specifically for first year:

 

(I have 12 books on my shelf right now – covering the breadth of most of the topics below – all were purchased second hand at the beginning of first year and all of them have proved to be useful!)

- Biochemistry (ie. Mark’s Basic Biochem)

- Genetics (ie. Emery’s Elements of Medical Genetics)

- Embryology (ie. Langman’s Medical Embryology)

- Cardiovascular System (ie. Lilly’s Pathophysiology of Heart Disease)

- Respiratory System (ie. West’ s Respiratory Physiology )

- Renal System (ie. Renal Physiology)

- Haematology, Immunology & Microbiology (ie. Essential Haematology; Roitt’s Immunology)

 

Categories of Books good for first and second years:

- Anatomy (ie. Moore’s Clinically Oriented Anatomy, Netter’s Anatomy Flash Cards, Atlas of Human Anatomy)

- Histology (ie. Wheater’s Functional Histology)

- Physiology (ie. Boron, Guyton, Sherwood…all the big names!)

- Pathophysiology/Pathology (ie. Robbin’s Pathologic Basis of Disease; Rubin’s Pathology)

- Clinical Medicine (ie. Kumar & Clarke Clinical Medicine; Harrison’s Internal Medicine)

- Clinical Examination (ie. Talley & O’Connor’s Clinical Examination)

- Pharmacology (ie. Rang & Dale’s Pharmacology)

- Medical Dictionaries

 

Categories of Books specifically for second year:

- Gastrointestinal system (ie. Crash Course)

- Endocrinology (ie. Crash Course; Greenspans)

- Nervous System/Neuroscience (B& B block) (ie. Titus’s The nervous system; Neuroanatomy)

- Psychiatry (B & B block) (ie. Synopsis of Psychiatry –kaplan)

- Clinical Skills (ie. Oxford handbook of Clinical Diagnosis)

 

Categories of books good for third year:

- OSCE prep books (ie. AMCQ; Osces for med students Vol 1, 2, 3)

- Case Files Books (ie. One For each topic in 3^rd year )

- USMLE books (ie. ‘First Aid for’ series)

Plus many more that other med students have found useful along the way!