(Part 3) Best products from r/medicalschool

I don't know of any "popular science" books that would actually give you a head start in medical school.
For example, Oliver Sacks' books, especially Musicophilia are broadly neurological in topic and really interesting, but reading them won't actually give you any major advantage when it comes to your studies.

However, if you're determined to get that headstart, I'd recommend reading up on either anatomy or physiology.

For anatomy, I'd recommend the Thieme Atlas of Anatomy books, although I might be biased, since one of my professors co-authored them and therefore used them religiously.
The books aren't text books in the classical sense, so there is little explanation given, but the illustrations are arguably the best I've seen so far.
You might also want to check out the google body project, although I found it severely lacking in terms of features, you can't, for example, look up innervations or muscle insertion points. Or maybe those are available once you shell out for premium content, I haven't tried that.

For physiology, I found Boron/Boulpaep's Medical Physiology to be thorough, detailed and very easy to read and understand. So this might actually be the book you're looking for. Even with limited or no prior knowledge in physiology and minimal experience with science in general, you'll be practically guaranteed to gain a deep working knowledge of physiology, which is arguably the basis for medicine in general and will serve you well throughout your studies at medical school.

If you already feel confident in both anatomy and physiology, maybe because you've done both in your undergraduate studies, I can't recommend Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine enough. Almost everything you'll ever need to know about medicine is contained in this book and it is generally pretty well written. If you'd actually have enough time in medical school to thoroughly read and digest this two-volumed beast of a textbook, med school would be less about cramming than it is today.

So maybe get a headstart on that one.

Edit: On the other hand, you might as well enjoy your time before medical school and keep the fire burning by shadowing a physician from time to time or watching the first couple of seasons of House. That'll be more fun.

I love to type during lectures, rather than writing with a pen (so slow, and printing, pens and paper are expensive!), so either a tablet with an external keyboard, or a laptop would be important for me, at least. Maybe you find you remember lecture notes more easily if you write them on paper, and some people don't like studying from a computer screen. However, internet access is important anyway, so even if you just have a basic laptop at home it will come in very useful. I use a Lenovo G510, which I really like, but that's more expensive than you need to pay.

A smartphone is also very important for me (calendar, timetable, e-mail, reminders, drug databases, etc. always available). I use a Sony Xperia S (had it for nearly 3 years, no signs of dying yet!)

First Aid for the USMLE (when it comes to it)

These two might be more useful in clinical years, but these are essential for me:

• Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handbook-Clinical-Medicine-Medical-Handbooks/dp/0199232172)
  
• A small notepad and pen that you can easily fit in your pocket (when something new / interesting comes up). I'm using a notebook by Rhodia, but it doesn't matter what brand, really
  
  Also,
  
  You don't need to purchase a gym membership, but go for a damn jog!! I find it very easy to be completely sedentary around exams, and it's bad! Yeah. Jogging and regular bedtime (and waking up time) make me wayyy more productive. It makes it easier if you have a great breakfast in mind ;)
  
  You don't need to buy a phenomenal amount, you don't need to buy every book that's recommended or anything, but I think a laptop and a mid-range smartphone (or better) will allow you to study almost everything.

I'm super jealous of people who can get away with wearing cheap gel insoles. My feet feel like they're dying if I don't wear something with good arch support. I've found these slim, 3/4 length insoles work really well for me in most of my flats. I've tried wearing anything with a heel (even a 1" heel) and I just can't do it without killing my feet, but more power to people who can.

As for clothing, I get most of my pants from The Limited and have a few pairs of J.Crew Minnie pants. Most of my tops come from The Limited (outlet stores are awesome for cheap blouses), Loft, Target. I've also found quite a few nice tops at the Goodwill in my area, as well as consignment stores.

The uwise modules are designed to go hand in hand with the Beckmann Ob/Gyn textbook. The textbook is excellent and a pretty easy read. I only read the text + UWise questions + UW and did excellent on the shelf.

Link to book: Obstetrics and Gynecology https://www.amazon.com/dp/1451144318/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ElNCxbPM0EJY5

A couple of thoughts

I've always really liked this artist's work. She has a number of prints related to the brain and the nervous system. I think the circle of willis one is pretty neat and abstract.

Also you could get her a high quality reflex hammer. The nicer ones are much more effective than the cheaper ones (as my neurology attending called the "Fisher Price Hammers") and will help her out on neurology rotations (although that may be a couple of years down the line).

I'm not quite as sensitive as perhaps you are, but I don't enjoy environmental noises either. To mitigate this, I bought these headphones. They're a bit expensive, but are absolutely amazing when it comes to blocking out the little annoyances. You could also try putting on some white noise while you study, or soft music. I personally can't do music as I start daydreaming and wishing I was a pianist, so I prefer silence.

I also don't study in the library for a few reasons, including noise. Try making a quiet study environment at home for yourself?

As for lectures, sit as close to the front as possible. For the most part, people in the front tend to pay closer attention, thus not talk or make too much noise.

Lastly, I think this issue will get better with time, especially if you can't fix the problem right away. I'm sure you'll eventually learn to tune out the little noises. Maybe your body will be so tired that eventually it'll say, "screw it, I'm sleeping through this".

Good luck!

Everyone basically just goes through the lecture slides +/- random Googling and UpToDate. (Maybe looking at the odd textbook if something is suggested, but usually they're more "reference" books and not great "teaching" books.)

I really wish I had come across this sub sooner (like M1) because having recommendations like Costanzo (physiology), How the Immune System Works, as well as the usual Pathoma, B&B, etc. would have been amazing to supplement lectures that weren't so great.

In terms of what we're really missing out on though, I think the single most useful thing is probably QBanks. It's hard to walk into exams without ever having had practice questions to do before so depending on your goals (like if you want to write Step or not) UWorld / Rx / Kaplan might be something to consider.

I used Anki on and off, but it was honestly really difficult to pick out what details we'd actually be tested on based on our lecture material so it wasn't always a great use of time.

OP You said your problem was on application style questions, if this is true, I have a solution for you.

Buy this book and use it!

http://www.amazon.com/Grays-Anatomy-Review-STUDENT-CONSULT/dp/0323277888/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

The questions are absolutely fantastic and will definitely help you do better on application style questions on your next anatomy exam. Anki is good for memorizing, but these questions help you apply the information to clinical scenarios. I used this and did extremely well in my anatomy class.

I asked this question a while back. I'm about to finish up the cardio section of our cardiopulm unit. In my opinion, it depends on how much time you have. How much time are you actually going to have to read this resource outside of lecture and study time?

I bought both Physiology by Costanzo and the mentioned Lilly Pathophys of Heart Disease. In my opinion, I liked Costanzo's book better. Disclaimer: I didn't have time to read all of Lilly's book. Costanzo has a whole chapter (fairly long though) and it does an amazing job of going through the physio. I would say it doesn't cover the ECG well (just describing waves and comparing them to phases of depolarization of the ventricle). That said, I would still use Costanzo if I had to do it over again.

I would not use COMBANK as your only source to test your knowledge, but I find that it was OK in regards to difficulty and especially the style of questions asked. If it's a management question, just skip it and don't let it bother you. The multi-part questions were very accurate to the actual test.

Most of my classmates preferred COMQUEST for their questions due to theirs being "more difficult", but honestly, 90% of us went through UWORLD in its entirety, then did some of COMBANK/QUEST to get used to the shitty wording and format for COMLEX.

If I had any advice, DO ALL THE OMT QUESTIONS in both banks (if you have them) or any sort of paper review that you have. The "green book" as my class called it was pretty much my only study material for OMT. These are free and easy points, so don't miss them!

Good luck! I would also suggest you take the tutorial time to chill the fuck out and take some deep breathes. People say if they go right into it, they are so pumped up or nervous that they can't even keep a sentence in their head.

Find your style, that's my biggest advice for success. My style was to watch all the lectures at 1.7-2x speed and jot down disorganized notes and diagrams on blank printer paper. I figured out early that I learn best by allowing myself the freedom to see the big picture, and then just build intuition about a subject. Didn't use anki except for biochem.

Anatomy I didn't watch or go to the lectures, for anatomy I spent tons of time trying to draw out diagrams from memory and then doing practice questions from that grays book. That grays book is gold, I highly recommend going through all the q and a for your block. It really does ask mostly high yield things.

https://www.amazon.com/Grays-Anatomy-Review-STUDENT-CONSULT/dp/0323277888

Know you asked for links but this book
http://www.amazon.com/Only-Book-Youll-Ever-Need/dp/1451119054 is amazing. I learned all my foundation of ecg with this one. Highly recommend it

I used this last year. There are other very similar ones as well. This bag was nice because it had pockets for shoes and the inner compartment was pretty big. I could fit 2 suits and a dress for the preinterview dinner in the garment part. The suits also held up, I didn’t have to iron or steam much in the hotel.

Oxford handbook of clinical specialities

And the Oxford handbook of Clinical medicine are great quick reference guides.

However the best advice given to me was know you're anatomy, and its helped so far!

Lippencott's Q and A was useful for me. You can normally find pdfs pretty easily.

Also, Lippencott's Illustrated Review of Biochemistry was decent for summaries and a few practice questions at the end of each chapter.

A book called ECG's made easy is a great resource. Takes you through every step, then shows you examples of all you need to know. http://www.amazon.com/The-ECG-Made-Easy-8e/dp/0702046418/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1396159650&sr=8-5&keywords=ECG+made+easy

One of the most important things about the first 2 years of medical school is that you need to learn how YOU study. Everyone is different, what works for one of your friends may not work for you. Some people are note writers, some people type everything, some people are flashcard users, etc

This is the last time you will have this kind of free time to invest, during your 3rd year and beyond you will be dealing with clinical responsibilities so you will not have a lot of time to study inefficiently.

For me flashcards were absolutely useless, I'm very good at pattern recognition so I could make flashcards and get 95% correct but that information was only superficial. What worked for me was review books. I couldn't study from textbooks because of boredom, and lectures did not provide enough detail for me to learn.

I read Lippincot Renal Review cover to cover when I was a second year medical student and since then for every single test renal electrolyte imbalances has always been my highest section on stadandized testing.

https://www.amazon.com/Renal-Pathophysiology-Lippincott-Williams-Wilkins/dp/1451173385/ref=pd_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=5Y2VR1940P53D8HK5SW7


Again what worked for me, may not work for you, so its important to try new things. Whatever you do, DON'T do the bare minimum. Also man up, put your ego aside and ask for help. Its better to ask for help now instead of after you have failed.

I just finished this book for my IM rotation. Its a good, quick read, and hits all the points you need to impress your residents and attendings!

I highly recommend snagging a refillable perfume/cologne atomizer like the one below.

1. Takes up no space in your bad (they're the size of a AA battery),
   
2. The fill lasts a while as long as you don't bathe in cologne (they advertise 70+ sprays from a full fill).
   
3. Guaranteed TSA Approved (have traveled extensively with one of these in my dopp kit)
   
4. Cheaper than going out and buying a new, TSA compliant, bottle of your favorite fragrance.
   
   ​
   
   Link: https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Refillable-Atomizer-Traveling-Outgoing/dp/B07KS49CHM/ref=sxin_3_ac_d_rm?ac_md=1-1-cGVyZnVtZSBhdG9taXplcg%3D%3D-ac_d_rm&crid=1IUSV3MLLA6E0&keywords=refillable+atomizer&pd_rd_i=B07KS49CHM&pd_rd_r=5aa390ea-cb6d-4379-b0cc-28e0939c98d9&pd_rd_w=FJgG3&pd_rd_wg=HTdIv&pf_rd_p=404c4843-2c96-4d0d-a5fe-2b0598693e61&pf_rd_r=CG6WQBBQRB9B0SZJJF2T&qid=1569163237&sprefix=refillable+atomi%2Caps%2C159

I have this one and I'm a huge fan since it has a compartment for your shoes as well.

There's a lot you can do to figure out what would work best for you, but specifically for the OMT component of COMLEX, be sure to throw in a couple of read-throughs of Savarese: http://www.amazon.com/OMT-Review-Edition-Robert-Savarese/dp/0967009014

These are EXCELLENT books. I bought both.

Cardiovascular: http://www.amazon.com/Pathophysiology-Heart-Disease-Collaborative-PATHOPHYSIOLOGY/dp/1605477230

Nephrology: http://www.amazon.com/Renal-Pathophysiology-Lippincott-Williams-Wilkins/dp/1451173385/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1412406478&sr=1-1&keywords=renal+pathophysiology

I have a PDF of Lippincott but I may pick up the Q&A. Is it this book?

https://www.amazon.com/Lippincotts-Illustrated-Q-Review-Biochemistry/dp/1605473022/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=lippincott+q%26a&qid=1562948767&s=books&sr=1-9

Did you use any Anki?

Also this is awesome, thanks so much.

Respiratory Physiology by John B West
http://www.amazon.ca/Respiratory-Physiology-John-West-PhD/dp/1609136403

Its highly recommended by most. I haven't myself read through it but I do intend to. Its a small book and heard its an easy read.

Robbins & Cotran Review Book has some great (and difficult) questions for pathology.

https://www.amazon.com/Robbins-Cotran-Review-Pathology-4e/dp/1455751553

Dr. John West is a legend in pulmonology. He teaches at UCSD and his lectures can be found here: http://meded.ucsd.edu/ifp/jwest/resp_phys/

Pathophysiology lectures here: http://meded.ucsd.edu/ifp/jwest/pulm_path/index.html

His book: Respiratory Physiology is a great one.

I would also strongly suggest getting a decent reflex hammer. This one is $20, and it's as good a one as you'll ever need.

https://www.amazon.com/Tromner-Neurological-cutaneous-superficial-responses/dp/B0012NI68M/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1506806746&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=tromner+reflex+hammer&psc=1

The best option is this book(i read it on an ipad, does that count?)

the only ekg book you'll ever need

I know youre not after a book, but this is written in a fun way, i accidentally read the whole thing..

http://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Medicine-Massachusetts-Hospital-Handbook/dp/1608319059

This has everything you need to present and treat internal med patients, and that'll cover a large proportion of what you get on other rotations as well.

Pocket Medicine is a good one to have, just buy it already you won't regret it!

This is RIDICULOUSLY good. So easy, intuitive and progressing!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-ECG-Made-Easy-8e/dp/0702046418

Link to amazon. you can buy used for for like $70.

https://www.amazon.com/Bates-Guide-Physical-Examination-History-Taking/dp/1609137620/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480534198&sr=8-1&keywords=bates+medical+physical+assessment+book

Have you tried the Robbin's review? It has been very helpful for me.

https://www.amazon.com/Robbins-Cotran-Review-Pathology-4e/dp/1455751553

Instant Pot

Bose QC35 Noise Cancelling Headphones - well worth the price

Amazon Prime membership

External/second monitor

Either the BRS or Physiology, both by Linda Costanzo. they're quite similar, if you prefer bulletpoints then BRS, if you're more into text (and nicer illustrations) then Physiology

Robbin's Review of Pathology or WebPath are good for questions.

Online Med Ed for everything

Surgery: Pestana notes (or the Kaplan review book written by him)

IM: As many COMBANK questions as possible, Step Up to Medicine

Peds: This PDF and Case files or Deja Review Peds

OBGYN: The Beckmann text has some questions ripped word for word. Otherwise, I liked COMBANK

OMM: Savarese and COMBANK

Psych: This

there's a 5th edition coming out in august: http://www.amazon.com/Physiology-STUDENT-CONSULT-Online-Costanzo/dp/145570847X/ref=dp_ob_title_bk

but for physio i would just stick with BRS (same author) + tons of practice questions. physio is one of the subjects where critical thinking and problem solving is more important so you need to do lots of practice questions...compared to something like micro which is mostly just buzzwords and memorization

You're talking about inpatient medicine, right?

Get yourself one of these pocket medicine books if you haven't already.

Don't just read anything for 30-45 minutes a day. Read about your patients. You're going to need to talk about their pathology, possible diagnoses, and treatment options in the coming days.

On presenting your patients - practice, practice, practice. Print out a template of things you want to go over in your presentation so you have something to follow. (I always tended to get off track or out of order if I didn't follow a set routine.)

Is this what you're talking about? Need to get some path review questions

https://www.amazon.com/Robbins-Cotran-Review-Pathology-4e/dp/1455751553/ref=dp_ob_image_bk

This has been posted multiple times in different places. I'm just sticking it in my suitcase and steaming/ironing it when I arrive.

No cheese and onion?

Read ~1500 pages of ridiculously dense pathology material in two semesters while keeping up with the extra material from lecture. Then when you move onto 3rd year you can read ~4000 pages of Harrison's while doing rotations 8-12+ hours a day.

Undergrad is understanding 5-10 topics a week. Med school is understanding those same 5-10 topics in a single lecture x 8 lectures/day. Without exaggeration, we literally covered an entire semester of undergrad anatomy in our first week. Covered a year of biochem in 6 weeks at the same time with anatomy and other courses. The pace of material covered is not understandable until you get there.

btw if you still want to read textbooks, here you go:

http://www.amazon.com/Robbins-Cotran-Pathologic-Basis-Disease/dp/1416031219/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373635912&sr=8-1&keywords=robbins+pathology

http://www.amazon.com/Harrisons-Principles-Internal-Medicine-Volumes/dp/007174889X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373635885&sr=1-1&keywords=harrison%27s+principles+of+internal+medicine