The first term of medical school was a challenge. Biochemistry had changed significantly since I took the course as an undergraduate. Comparative anatomy was a distant memory of preserved animals and the smell of formaldehyde.
Then, there is my learning style – I am a tactile and visual learner, and I have an absolute requirement to be able to dig deep into the underpinnings of a concept before I can understand the idea fully. I often find books that start of with “Essentials of …” or “A Review of …” to be watered down versions of the real thing – a problem for me because the text then skips over important sections with no notice to the reader. Therefore, I tend to like books that cover a topic to a deeper level than required for the courses. It is important to me that my reference materials not be the limiting factor for my learning. As an additional factor, I really appreciate good writing and editing. A well written and edited book is a joy to read.
Here is my list of books that I found to be essential additions for my first term of medical school:
Biochemistry: I found Lehninger’s “Principles of Biochemistry” to be just what I needed, in-depth, concise, and extraordinarily well written.
Because I am a visual learner, I really got a lot out of The Anatomy Coloring book. When paired with the bright colors of the Staedtler triplus fineliner pens, I was able to learn anatomy and still stay inside the lines. True artists would probably enjoy using colored pencils because the Staedtler pens don’t shade well. But for me, bright primary colors help me remember the layout of the brachial plexus.
Embryology can be a challenge. It is a highly 3D process that is described using text and 2D images. I found Langman’s Medical Embryology to be the most helpful for me. It also comes with a link to a website that gives you some 3D animations, which were nice to help me wrap my head around the process.
I have other recommendations for the second term of medical school that will be coming in another post.
