Hello!
One of my readers asked to write a books recommendation posts for second year and here it is!
This post is mainly for Indian medical students because I'll be talking about some local authors which might not be available or preferred in your country. But of course, foreign medical students can read it too as they might find the general points helpful! ^__^
Something I learnt from my first year -
You should never be hasty in buying books. Medical textbooks are pretty damn expensive and you don't wanna be stuck with a book you don't like for the rest of the year.
So here's what I recommend -
Be "bookless" for the intial few weeks. Don't buy any books. Pretend you're broke and rely only on the library.
Ask - Friends, seniors, book sellers, internet about books they think you should buy. Immediate seniors will be the best resource - Ask them why you should go for one book and not the other,
know their reasons. You should be able to cut the long list of 10-12 books and bring it down to 2-3 books.
In the bookless period, go to your library (Or use ebooks),
read a few topics (Not just one!) from the two to three books you think you should buy. You'll like one and that's the book you should read for the rest of the year!
Don't judge a book by it's initial few pages. You have to read topics of substance, big topics not the small ones. Example, don't read about Louis Pasteur and see which book wrote it better. Read about Staphylococcus or ELISA.
Before I begin, I'll be very clear and tell you that
all I can do is recommend. You do the deciding =)
Pharmacology
K. D. Tripathi or KDT: It's a good book. It'll stick with you throughout the year!
How to study: Read classifications first because you wanna know the drug names before you start reading into the tiny details. If you write a good classification table in the beginning of your answer, you impress the reader. Know special side effects of drugs, it gives you an upper edge while writing theory papers (No examiner wants to read nausea and vomitting over and over again!)
Katzung: Now this book is HUGE. It's fun to read!
How to study: Get it from a library or use a PDF. Read the topics you like. I read diuretics from this book and boy I enjoyed it. It's too much to read so when exams near, you'll lose the book and run back to Tripathy. So keep in mind that this is not THE book and you won't be able to finish it or come back to it later. Take points and put it in your Tripathi in the first read itself.
Lippincott: It is simple and preferred by a lot of international readers.
How to study: I haven't read it, so I don't know how good it is T_T
Pathology
Pappa Robbins or the big Robbins: It's awesome.
How to study: It's a huge book, so do the "Important" topics from here first. Important? Yeah, the stuff that's been asked a lot of times in the previous papers. Try to do general pathology, CVS, RS and renal from this book.
Baby Robbins or the small Robbins: It's useless.
How to study: Don't.
Harshmohan: It has lots of diagrams and point wise notes. You know who likes diagrams and point wise answers? Teachers.
How to study: Stuff you couldn't read from Robbins due to lack of time, read it from here. (Don't forget the diagrams!)
Microbiology
Ananthanarayan: It's just the right amount of information. If you study this one well, you won't require any other book.
How to study: You wanna know how an organism looks like and what diseases it causes. Do cultural characteristics too. General microbiology - Read the important stuff. If you don't enjoy immunology while reading it, you're doing it wrong. It's my favorite subject!
Imagine, read comics.
Parasitology
Any book will do: I studied from Arora.
How to study: Diagrams are key. If you can draw the life cycle, half your work is done. Diagnosis and treatment is simple.
Forensic and Medical Toxicology
I never studied this subject from multiple books to pick a personal favorite, sorry! :|
Internet
I use a lot of internet for studying. It keeps things interesting. There's always a new perspective you can gain via the internet. Videos, images, jokes, mnemonics. It keeps things fresh. And books can get boring sometimes, so use the internet, read blogs, have fun! :)
PS: If you are
thinking of preparing for USMLE but are not too sure (Because second year is too early to decide your future xD), finish off the Kaplan videos, notes and Goljan audio.
That's all!
Ask me whatever you like in the comments section below!
-IkaN
Related posts:
How to make concise medical notes
How to make medical mnemonics