3 Great Reasons to Get Amazon Prime for Students

As you can tell, we are big fans of Amazon on this site. Admittedly, we get a commission from products purchased on Amazon through this site, but even if we didn't, the site is a great deal for students. Between textbooks, games, and other resources, pretty much anything a medical student would need is at their fingertips.

I still remember the days before Amazon, trying to buy books for a required reading list for school. I forget the title, but I found out the night before an assigned reading was due that I needed to have a certain novel. I called up a few bookstores, who said they carried the book generally but did not know if they had it in stock. Figuring the only way to know for sure was to check, I dragged my parents to THREE bookstores before finally getting lucky. Even then, I think we paid the cover price for a paperback, which in retrospect was outrageously expensive. While authors and publishers may not be fans, anyone who enjoys books should be very thankful that Amazon exists.

As a student, the benefits are even better. Amazon Student offers Prime services for free for SIX months. After that, enjoy a reduced rate for four years. If you refer a friend, you also get a $10 credit:

One of the big benefits of Amazon for students in general is their Kindle program. Once you download the app, you can read any Kindle title that you own on any supported device, including web browsers. Download the app today.

But wait, it gets better. If you own an actual Kindle device, you get access to two free books a month through the Kindle Lending Library, and the Kindle First program. That's up to a $480 value! I personally own a Kindle Paperwhite and am a huge fan.

For the medically inclined, many texts are available. Trust me, it's much easier to carry around one Kindle than several large textbooks. For example, I own the Handbook of Interventional Radiologic Procedures. While the paperback version is highly portable, here are some benefits of the Kindle version:

• Searchable
• Bookmarkable
• Portable - what happens if you forget the paperback at home one day? No worries - just log into read.amazon.com from any desktop computer and boom! Your entire Kindle library at your fingertips. 
• You can even highlight and annotate

I cannot tell you how often these features have unexpectedly come in handy today. If you are not already part of the Amazon ecosystem, why not give it a shot? Amazon also has a large textbook exchange service, which can come in handy if you are thinking about making the switch to an all digital personal library. What have your experiences with Amazon and e-books, in particular e-textbooks been like? Comment below, or use the Contact form above to share your thoughts!