Medical Student New Year's Resolutions for 2017

Happy 2017! Hopefully everyone had a restful and happy holiday season. As the new year is upon us, it is commonly a time for resolutions. Some are personal; some, professional. For me personally, here's to cutting out soda! As research has shown, there is a link between sugary drinks and metabolic disease. Hopefully I can make some personal progress in that direction.

What about you? While your personal goals are unique, most likely we all share professional goals as a healthcare professional student. Study harder. Do well on tests. Figure out what we are doing with the 'rest of our lives.' Setting these goals is very important. However, that is only part of the story. A goal is nothing but a destination. What we need is a roadmap to that destination, or a plan. What would that look like? Let's take a look at the three goals mentioned above and see what concrete steps we can take towards them in 2017.

Study Harder

Ah yes, the eternal hope of the conscientious student. Study harder. The goal is omnipresent, but what does it actually mean? You could study more hours. You could isolate yourself as much as possible as you study. Both fit but is that what we want? Not exactly. What most people mean by study harder is actually to study more effectively. This will differ from person to person as everyone learns in a different manner. Some learn better by reading only, others by taking notes, still more by listening / reviewing lecture audio/video. Regardless of how you like to study, there should be two main objectives: studying for mastery, and studying for testing purposes.

Studying for mastery is a component of lifelong learning. This means that after your review, you have a deep, fundamental understanding of the concept. The upfront cost may be more, in terms of time and effort. However, in the long run, this method is more effective because once you master something, you do not have to go back and relearn it. The idea remains embedded in your knowledge base, much like riding a bike. How do you master a topic? The best way I know how is to actually teach the topic. Seek out or create opportunities. Struggling with anatomy? Volunteer to be an anatomy lab TA - the responsibility will force you to either master the material on your own, or seek out help from others so that you are competent enough to teach.


Do Well On Tests

This is also a very generic goal. Aside from a standardized test like USMLE Step 1, every medical school test will be unique. Discussing non-standardized tests first, you can of course try the steps mentioned above, mastering the entire topic. However, sometimes learning everything A to Z just isn't feasible. At this point, it is important to find out what are the objectives the course instructor wants to emphasize. Look at the syllabus, review old tests if available, and ask senior peers. If all that fails, you should *gasp* just ask the instructor what is important. Trust me, they will be happy to see you being pro-active and striving to fully grasp the essence of the material. While you cannot directly ask "What will be on the test?", you can certainly say something like "There is a lot of material to cover. What are the most important points you see students miss in your experience? What is most important practically?" Only a sadist would actively lead you away from material that will come up on the test.

Standardized tests like the USMLE are a different story. For those your best bet is to study common resources like First Aid and do review questions. Lots of review questions (such as Kaplan QBank). Ideally, you want to do these questions in a similar setting to the actual test. For example, if your test is on a Saturday morning at 8am, you went to spend several Saturdays before the test, waking up before 8, figuring out your pre-test routine, and then doing several sections to best simulate what the test will be like. Remember, for people looking at US residencies, your Step 1 score is the biggest objective determinant of how programs will assess you for interviews, for better or worse. Therefore, it behooves you to put as much concerted effort into preparing for this test as possible.

Figure Out My Career

Despite stressing about tests, they will come and go. Ultimately, the tests are simply a means to an end. It is up to you to define what that 'end' is. What type of medical career do you want? Primarily outpatient? Inpatient? Urban vs underserved community? Domestic vs. international? Medical vs. surgical? While some students go into medical school knowing exactly what they want to do, an equal number have no idea. And that's okay! School is a time for exploration. If you have too fixed a mindset, you may miss out on another opportunity that is an even better fit for you. I recommend perusing Iserson's Getting Into A Residency for not only practical tips about applying but also for a framework about how figure out which specialty you should be applying for.

Questions about the process? Please comment below or use the contact page above. Have a fantastic 2017!

The Medical Student's Daily Bag

Much like students of any stripe, medical students often have many items they need to have on their person during their daily sojurns to lecture halls and wards. While this may be a bit dated, my go to bag in medical school was an earlier version of the Targus Checkpoint-Friendly Mobile Elite Laptop Bag. The other items I typically would have in my bag were:

• Littmann Cardiology III Stethoscope - a nice gift from a good friend, and quite useful on wards
• Penlight
• Mobile device - at the time, a Palm Pilot, but these days I would highly recommend an iPad Air 2 due to the wide range of medical apps, light weight, and long battery life. 
• First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 - until I passed at least, haha
• Nalgene water bottle
• Clif Energy Bar - my current fav, but any snack works
• Pens - always get clickable, black ink pens. And always have an extra one because they will get stolen. Trust me. 
• Highlighters
• Pocket Medicine - probably should have carried this more during medical school, but was definitely a must-have during internship, so why not start early?
• Pager - [grumbles]

Aww, I'm getting a little nostalgic thinking about my old bag. Anything you think should be in there that I missed? Please let me know in the comments below!

5 Effective Ways To Study Human Anatomy

Every medical student has to pass through the gauntlet of anatomy lab. Whether or not this is relevant to a modern medical student is debatable, but the rite of passage persists. This guest post by Krystle discusses several ways to enhance your anatomy study techniques.

Human Anatomy has to do with the study of the structure of the body which includes cells, tissues, organs and systems.  It is usually coupled with the study of physiology which is the study of how biological processes function within a living body. The reason being is that in order to understand the various parts of the body properly, it would make sense to have a knowledge of the functionality that they each carry out.

Anatomy can be one of the most daunting subjects for early-year medical and nursing students because of the magnitude of parts that are covered in the human body. A recollection of the technical terms used can prove overwhelming unless proper systems are implemented to assist the mind in recalling each part and function. It is better to strategically approach this study for successful retention of content. The human body consists of 206 bones held together by over 600 muscles, and knowing all this in detail does require above ordinary skill. It is with this that we have put this piece together to assist the Anatomist in absorbing the knowledge of the beauty and intricacies of the human body.

Understand Body Language

In this context body language has less to do with human attraction than it does the syntax and tone – the pronunciation of the words that make up each body parts labeling – so that information is always easily accessible. Having a standard for anatomical terms also makes it easier when communicating those terms. Look at prefixes and suffixes for example; those used in anatomy generally follow a pattern that once understood is like unraveling a scientific code that leads to better retention. Examining the brachiocephalic artery for instance, can tell you what it is, where it’s located and its function if one understood the language of anatomy. That language would tell us by prefix that brachio is a reference to the upper arm, and cephal has to do with the head, and with a general understanding of arteries – a blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart – it’s then simpler to make connections that may infer that the brachiocephalic artery is a blood vessel that carries blood to the such regions of the body as the arms and head.

Look at the thing

One of the best ways to study human anatomy and physiology is via the use of either physical or digital study aids. These come in the form of flash cards, handy interactive 3D apps, charts and beautifully illustrated e-learning platforms designed with medical students in mind.

Flash cards are by no means a replacement for detailed book-content but they quickly assist your mental capacity to draw for information. Specific to anatomy are e-learning gateways such as Kenhub’s Library of Anatomy which covers information such as the upper and lower extremities of the body, the trunk wall, head and neck, thorax, abdomen & pelvis and neuroanatomy. Utilizing resources such as the afore-mentioned, can dramatically improve your ability to obtain better grades in human anatomy courses. Platforms such as this one provide quality illustrations of anatomical structures in a detailed yet easy to remember manner.

Looking Deeper

Now if ever you’re in the position to be able to look at models of the human body don’t hesitate to. Perhaps it’s a model in class, or you may be privy to viewing certain operations in a medical facility. Any chance you get to peer at the human dissections gives you an opportunity to see and recall all the things you’ve been studying. You may not be fortunate to be able to see man-made models, or worse, the real thing, and so you can practice drawing parts of these models and labeling them on a board or on sheets of paper wherever possible. You will find that being able to constantly re-imagine the systems and body parts and to call them out on your own, as if teaching yourself, goes a long way in retaining the material. Having someone close by to talk to while doing your demonstrations helps meditative retention immensely as well.

Pick your brain

Any system that offers quizzes are good for keeping your mind focused on anatomy and physiology. Most popular 3D apps come with these and others are easily found online. By constantly training your mind to remember even short questions on a particular body system or function, helps to boost your memory of it. And remember, when you find that you don’t have your usual quiz materials handy, from just your memory, draw diagrams, label them, and then quiz yourself orally.

Always Review

The importance of reviewing cannot be understated. Not only should you review all that you have studied, but if there’s an anatomy review session by your tutors, make yourself available.

Simply put, anatomy students need to re-read, review illustrations, re-draw, re-contemplate, and review short quizzes, and take breaks from studying. It’s never best to cram this information but to moderately and consistently go back to the content. In the end you will acquire knowledge far greater than any amount of information-hogging could accomplish; your ultimate aim being knowledge and mastery of the art of the human body and functionality.

Krystal Crumbie is an Anatomy Geek at Kenhub.

How New Medical Students Should Learn To Learn

A confusing title, perhaps, but it's correct: newly minted medical students often have to reteach themselves the habit of learning medical knowledge in order to succeed in medical school. This guide from Wellness Rounds, originally intended for students entering Baylor College of Medicine, gives some good pointers for first year medical student study strategies: 

Your goals

1. Learn material for long term retention
2. Pass exams
3. Develop skills for lifelong education & studying (nope, it never stops but it can get faster!)

1. The Basics

• No magic formula for studying except for diligence and consistency
• Goal is to learn and apply pertinent material – NOT perfection
• Efficiency is a skill developed through practice, persistence, and reflection – not the result of drinking more caffeine or a genetic trait that skipped your generation
• Studying is not a competitive sport – some student take (much) less time to learn than you will, but some take (much) MORE time than you…that’s life! Good news – in the end, we are all doctors.
• Be gracious.  To yourself and your peers as you pass through the basic science crucible that brings out some less than pleasant coping mechanisms.  It’s normal and will pass.
• You will succeed!  Don’t believe us some days?  Ask any of the thousands of physicians, professors and mentors around you – we’ll be glad to remind you!

2. The Specifics

• Choose one way to study and stick with it for at at least 1 week
  • Switching study methods costs more time than it saves and there is a learning curve to all of them
• Start with the first lecture and go sequentially to be sure you don’t miss topics
• For all study techniques
  • Study reps: 45-50 min “on”, 10-15 min “off” (see below)
  • Skim before lecture (assigned readings, ppts, syllabus, etc)
    • SKIM to familiarize yourself with how to spell new words and the general outline/concept of the lecture – this is not learning time
  • Attend > stream lecture and actively listen by taking notes, drawing pics, writing qs, etc.
  • Take a lunch break after lectures to get good nutrition, socialization and to recharge
• Techniques for LEARNING
  • Mind maps
  • Review notes with ppts, syllabi and text book and create a condensed 1 page review
  • Rewatch the lecture while condensing notes and focusing on main points
  • Flash cards of high yield material
  • Single page flow chart of material
• Techniques for REVIEW
  • Practice questions (online, review BRS books)
  • Small group discussion, lecture by lecture (max 4 ppl)
  • Small group quizzing of lecture material
  • Peer or upperclassman tutoring

Study Reps: 45-50 min “on”, 10-15 min “off”

• “ON”
  • Close email, g-chat, FB, other distractions, put phone on vibrate/silent
  • Set an alarm and STOP studying when it goes off
  • Write down other tasks that come to mind on a sticky note but do NOT stop studying to do them (ex: reply to email, wash dishes, make a snack, look-up question from another lecture, chat with nearby friends, etc.)
    • These tasks can be done during your “off” period
    • You will be amazed at what distracts you and feels “urgent” while studying, but there is almost NOTHING that can’t be put off for <45 min, including perez hilton
  • Don’t be frustrated if the first 15-20 min (or more) feel “wasted” bc you can’t focus – this is NORMAL and the time from sitting to focused productivity will decrease as you adjust to a daily routine (the same as exercising)
• “OFF”
  • Set an alarm
  • Reward time! NO STUDY RELATED ACTIVITIES!
  • Grab a snack, read a NYT article, catch up on the FB developments (OMG, so much happened in 45 min!!!), chat with a friend, send off a quick email, check off the list you made during  your “ON” period
  • Get up and stretch, walk around for a couple min – it’ll wake you up, get you out of your “study zone” (wherever  you are working)
  • Congratulate yourself on sticking to your study schedule and breaks
  • Relax and don’t worry about how much time you have/not spent studying, let the alarm clock guide you rather than checking your watch constantly

3. The Refinement

• What works for others may or may not work for you – don’t be discouraged!
• Study methods evolve as you discover what sticks best in your own head
• New topics/blocks may require different approaches
• At the end of the week or block, reflect on what worked well (timing, setting, method)
  • Adjust study methods to what works best for you – but remember, DILIGENCE and CONSISTENCY are king & queen
• Exam results not reflective of your efforts?  Ask for help! Professors, upperclassmen, mentors and strong peers can enhance your study skills.
• STUDYING is STUDYING – it is never wasted.

4. The Balance

• All work and no play makes a miserable and burned out student, resident and physician
• Set aside at least 1 hour as sacred for meeting your personal needs (NOT chores)
  • Examples: exercise, cooking a nice meal, calling friends and family, reading a great book, prayer or meditation
• Sleep on a schedule: go to bed and get 7-9 hrs of sleep every night, your brain needs that time to literally build memory
• Eat well: again, your brain and body need good protein to build synapses for memory, carbohydrates for fuel to burn while studying, and plenty of water to keep you going in the Houston heat
• Break up your week: take Sat. afternoon/evening off for fun activities with friends/family (movies, restaurants, dancing, bars, parties…), sleep in Sunday morning and have time for yourself and your personal development (reading, writing/journaling, church, chats with significant other)
• Schedule it: if we write it, we do it.  Use your gmail calendar, phone app, planner, etc. and plot out your week including your studying, exercise, family/friends and other activities.  It will give you a sense of control over your life as you plan your days, rather than your days ruling you.

5. The Non-Science Major

• You’re not alone – great physicians come from a variety of backgrounds!
• You may play catch-up at first, but you undoubtedly can succeed
• Writing and theoretical dissection of literature/theory/philosophy/art will be applicable in medicine – but basic sciences throws you back to the forgotten days of multiple choice exams and memorization.  Dusting off those skills and learning to study for regurgitation/application rather than creation may take some time, so don’t despair if you are spending longer in the library than the Bio-E major.
• Link up with a science-major classmate who is good at identifying high-yield material AND explaining it.
• Contact the upperclassmen study tutors – many of us had limited science exposure starting med school (“Wait, is it 2 livers or 2 kidneys – I’m not really sure?” – General Surgery Bound MS 4) and more than succeeded — but we’d love to make that transition easier for you!

For more study strategies for first years, check out Wellness Rounds. 

First Year Medical Student Resource Guide

One of the most difficult parts of the first year medical school is distilling a large volume of information into easily digestible parts. Here are some links to online resources you might find helpful.

• A Beginner's Guide To Medical School
• Books For First Year Medical Students
• Eponym Finder
• Firefox Tips For Studying Medicine
• How To Buy A Stethoscope
• How To Study Anatomy
• Medical Images Online
• Mnemonic Finder
• Tips On Studying And Surviving The First Year of Medical School
• Virtual Human Anatomy Guide
• Wikipedia In Medical School

This concludes my series on first year of medical school. I may add posts to the series in the future. My next set of posts will deal with planning for and traveling for residency interviews.

How To Study First Year Medical School Anatomy

Anatomy is a fundamental part of any medical student's education, and usually it starts early on in the first year. The education is usually a mix of didactic lectures as well as time spent in an anatomy lab, dissecting cadavers. Some have suggested switching to a method of instruction utilizing technology for prosections, avoiding the need for cadavers, but most medical schools still have a formal anatomy lab. Perhaps one day, most anatomy courses will be taught online at programs like Indiana Wesleyan College with a hybrid classroom component that only involves the anatomy lab, but until then... you gotta study!

How does one make the most of their time studying in anatomy lab? Studying the material is just like studying for any subject in medical school. However, the lab is a little different. It's hand-on, it's visual, and heh, it smells. Some may also be concerned about finding it macabre and morbid, but usually you get over your natural aversion rather quickly as you focus on learning the material instead of your surroundings. Here are some tips for making the most of your time in anatomy lab:

• Repetition - Whatever you learn, repeat. A lot. On different cadavers, different angles, different lighting even. You need to have a fundamental understanding of the visuospatial relationships between structures as well as the range of normal variation in them. Otherwise, on exams, you will simply see a mass of flesh and get confused.
• Know the ideal - Use Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy to learn the ideal relationships beforehand. Otherwise, you can repeat all you want, but each time you'll just see 'mass of flesh.'
• Learn tissue features - Know the characteristics that differentiate nerves, arteries, veins, and muscles, both by look and feel. Sometimes, these structures run together as in the brachial plexus, and can be difficult to differentiate.
• Study in a group - Having someone quiz you and prod the lacunae in your knowledge can help you realize your weak spots and strengthen them. Perhaps gastric anatomy always confuses you; maybe its neuroanatomy structures. Either way, a study buddy can help you see things in a new light and learn the material in a way that sticks.
• Study prosections - if your anatomy lab has idealized dissections, also known as prosections, study those well. It wouldn't be too surprising to see some of these show up on your anatomy practical exam.

Study hard, and anatomy will become the foundation for the rest of your medical learning.

Related Posts:

• Pope's Blessing Vs. Claw Hand
• Books For First Year Medical Students
• What Is The Best Stethoscope To Get For Medical School?

Updated 2015-12-20

Tips On Studying And Surviving The First Year Of Medical School

In my continuing series on posts for first year medical students, I decided to write a post on study tips and strategies for first year students. Of course, some of these tips could apply to any student, but there is a definite adjustment that has to be made for studying medical knowledge. Some of these things I learned from friends; some, from my own mistakes. Hopefully you can incorporate them into your own study strategies to be a successful medical student.

• Study every single day - Being a good student requires developing good study habits. As cliche as this is, it is really really important in medical school, much more so than in college or high school. There is a huge volume of material being presented, and it is very easy to fall very far behind. Even if you can't study every single day, try to read at least a little bit whenever you can.
  
  
• Translate the notes you receive into your own condensed, easy-to-read version - This helps you internalize the knowledge in a way you can easily access. If you find yourself having trouble doing this, it is usually a good sign that either the material was not presented well or you are not fully understanding it (or both). Besides, such study guides will help immensely down the road when you have to study for USMLE Step I.
  
  
• Use visual cues - Imagine 10 years from now (or even 2 years), you are participating in a gastric bypass bariatric surgery procedure. The procedure is being doing laparoscopically, and the attending physician points to a section of the GI tract, asking you to identify it. If you study visually, this will trigger images from your basic science years, and such identification should be easy. However, if you only study via text or via one view of the abdomen, such identification may prove very challenging.
  
  
• Take study breaks - I know, this contradicts the tips that came before. But it is really important to maintain balance in studying, and to take appropriate study breaks. I would suggest taking a 2 to 5 minute break every hour, and a 30 minute break every 3 hours. And, in general, have one day a week where you study only an hour or not at all. Your mind needs time off to process all the information you are trying to cram into it.
  
  
• Study in a group - Again, somewhat cliched advice, but I think the key here is to choose your friends wisely and to strictly limit how much time you study with them. Ideally, you should do all your studying on your own, and use group studying time as a review or to clarify confusing points. The sessions should be rapid fire and limited to no more than an hour or two a week. I studied with friends much more than this amount, but looking back on it, I am not sure how efficient such studying was. The ideal study group is one with similar views on studying and work ethic that complements your knowledge base well.
  
  
• Study what matters - A lot of minutiae will be presented to you during these early years, and the ideal student will learn it all. However, pragmatically, this is not possible for most of us. What is important to remember is that most of your examiners are clinicians first, so focus on what the clinically relevant questions will be. In fact, looking at USMLE Step 1 books and review guides can be very helpful, as these are the types of clinical vignettes people use to test basic science material. For example, in infectious diseases, knowing the structure of the bacterium is ultimately not as important as knowing how the disease presents and how you treat it. When push comes to shove, focus on clinical presentation, diagnosis, and treatment over the more 'basic science' aspects of the material.
  
  
• When in doubt, ask - Simple advice, but sometimes, we are all averse to asking questions for fear of looking dumb or inconveniencing the professor. However, in this age of email, it never hurts to shoot off an email with well-phrased questions than you have already tried to answer. Whenever I did this, I usually received a thoughtful response. In retrospect, I wish I had done this more. This not only helps academically, but it helps to also develop relationships with people in fields you may be interested in in the future when you have to choose a specialty.
  
  
• Enjoy what you are doing - If you find yourself getting bored while you study, stop. Take a break, and think of a way to make what you are studying interesting, whether that is by turning it into a game, making it interactive, more visual, or even reading interesting case reports online of a related disease. Sometimes, pegging the knowledge onto a case report or vignette can make the information much more "sticky" in your mind, which is all that matters. The New England Journal of Medicine has many such case reports, most excellently written, as do many other journals.

Best of luck in your first year! Developing good study habits now will not only serve you during the rest of medical school, but throughout your medical careers.


Related Posts:

• Books For First Year Medical Students
• What Is The Best Stethoscope To Get For Medical School?
• Choosing A Medical Specialty

What Is The Best Stethoscope To Get For Medical School?

Continuing my beginner's guide to medical school for first year medical students and following up on my post on what books a first year medical student should buy, I address that timeless medical school question: what stethoscope should I get?

Many factors go into the purchasing decision. As a disclaimer, I should note that I have owned a Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope for the past few years and am quite happy with it. I have even recommended it as a gift for medical students (as that is how I received it), as well as a medical school essential. Thus, as a default option, I think you can't go wrong with Littmann Cardiology III.

That being said, there is a broad discussion online about what constitutes a good stethoscope. For example, Half MD argues against the Littmann Cardiology III in favor of the Welch Allyn Tycos stethoscope:

I don’t like it. I haven’t been able to hear as well with it as the marketing propaganda would claim. The fans will instantly cry out, “But it has a tunable diaphragm.” To which I would respond, “Do you even know what a tunable diaphragm is? And furthermore, if you pay any attention to the research that was conducted on stethoscopes beginning over 50 years ago, you’d realize that a tunable diaphragm is the exact feature that a stethoscope should not have.”

I prefer the Welch Allyn Tycos DLX. The sound quality is much, much better compared to the Littman. It has interchangeable ear pieces that come in various varieties of stiffness so that the user can choose based on comfort level. Finally, the diaphragm can be easily changed to a pediatric version. All I have to do is unscrew the adult version and then replace it with a pediatric one to convert my stethoscope into a listening device for the kids.

While I cannot argue against the Welch Allyn product, the Cardiology III has a pediatric diaphragm that easily attaches to the bell of the stethoscope. And I have had no trouble appreciating most clear murmurs. Another post from Practicality argues in favor of the Littmann Master Classic II stethoscope

Buying an expensive stethoscope because you don’t want to lose out is an absolutely ridiculous reason. Unless you’re buying a China-made $17 stethoscope, there’s almost no loss in skills of cardiovascular/respiratory/etc. examination with a $95 Littmann Classic II SE compared to the rest. Don’t let your friends pressure you into this.
That said, J. supports the 3M Littmann Classic SE, and not because it has tradition on its side. It is light, bendy (knots can be tied in it), of good quality, available in grey and most importantly, way cheaper than its more illustrious counterparts.
And of course, J. refuses to cave in to herd mentality: "everyone’s using at least a Cardiology III, mustn’t lose out!"

Ultimately, my view is that any of the Littmann or Welch-Allyn stethoscopes will provide decent enough sound quality and functionality to get through medical school. The two sets of students I would caution to think a little more deeply about their decision is anyone interested in cardiology or in pediatrics. For the cardiology people, investigate your decision a little more closely and try out several scopes to see which works best for you. Read reviews online and ask cardiology fellows and attendings for their advice. For the peds people, consider getting a pediatric sized stethoscope. I am not sure if it actually helps you hear heart sounds that much better than a regular adult stethoscope, but it makes sense given the patient population.

Confused yet? As I said before, the default gold standard seems to be the Littmann Cardiology III stethoscope so try that first. If you already have a stethoscope, what type do you have? Are you happy with how well it helps you during your cardiovascular and pulmonary exams?


Related Posts:

• Books For First Year Medical Students
• Dale Dubin and The Rapid Interpretation of EKGs
• Choosing A Medical Specialty

Updated 2015-12-18

Books For First Year Medical Students

While I am sure your classes will provide you with curricula and suggested texts to read, there are several textbooks that any first year medical student should consider buying as part of their long-term collection of books. Looking back at some of my book purchases, it is shocking to see the books that I omitted and the ones I blew hundreds of dollars on only to have them collect dust.

What Books Should Every First Year Medical Student Own?

There is no definitive list of books, of course. But, I think the list below would serve any medical student well, since these topics are cornerstones of any medical education. Besides, we all have to take USMLE Step 1 at some point, right?

1. Netter Atlas of Human Anatomy

Every medical student will have to master anatomy regardless of what field they go into. I really liked how well-drawn and clear the Netter drawings and illustrations were. Even now, a few years later, any time I have a question about anatomy, it is the first text I turn to. Although I never used them for studying, I am aware that some find the Netter's Anatomy Flash Cards to be quite helpful as well.

2. Color Atlas of Anatomy: A Photographic Study of the Human Body

I also found Color Atlas of Anatomy: A Photographic Study of the Human Body to be helpful. Seeing the anatomy in photograph form is much more similar to how you would see it on an anatomy practical, or actual patient. It helps to open up both Netter's and the photographic atlas to correlate the ideal anatomy to the actual stuff.

3. First Aid for the USMLE Step 1

As I have mentioned before, Step 1 is a high-stakes test for any medical student. Obtaining First Aid early and reviewing it as you learn the material initially will just solidify the content for you two years down the road when you have that giant test to study for. In fact, if you annotate the book as you go along, you will create this wonderful resource for yourself that you are intimately familiar with when it comes time to crack open the books to study for the boards.

4. Bates' Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking

All the major techniques for history taking and physical exams are covered in this book. I like how the diagrams are clear and the sidebar notes highlight important points and diagnoses. The book is really indispensable when you are first learning basic exam technique and the significance of certain results. If you are interested, check out the pocket version as well: Bates' Pocket Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking, North American Edition

5. Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple

Infectious diseases is another cornerstone of any medical education. This book uses numerous techniques to help you learn about infectious agents, including many (bad) puns, funny diagrams, explanatory text, and tables grouping similar agents. It really is easy and even fun to read, which makes learning this otherwise seemingly disparate set of information not so bad. And yea, it's easy to review when Step 1 rolls around too.

6. Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease

The definitive book on general pathology. I thought the book did an excellent job not only describing the underlying pathology of almost any major disease you can imagine, but it often clearly explained the physiology as well. Definitely the best reference book I bought and the one I used most often, especially when very detailed questions came up during pathology and immunology.

If you are buying textbooks right now, Amazon has two special promotions running:

• Get $5 worth of MP3 downloads from Amazon MP3 when you order $75 or more in textbooks. Here's how (restrictions apply)
• Apple Back-to-School Promotion: Save up to $200 on eligible textbooks and office supplies when you purchase select Apple computers, and $15 to $40 when you buy select Apple iPods. Add this eligible textbook to your cart, along with select Apple products to qualify. Here's how (restrictions apply).

I still own all these books, used them throughout Step 1 (and Step 2) studying, and still refer to them as needed today. Do you know any other books that you think every pre-clinical medical student should have? Any books you disagree with in the list above? Leave a comment with your best book suggestions.

Updated 2015-12-18

A Beginner's Guide To Medical School

Welcome Class of 2013! By now most of you are a few weeks into the medical school experience. Hopefully you have had time to settle into your new surroundings, make some new friends, and perhaps learn a thing or two.

You may have also noticed that medical school requires a different approach to studying. The way I look at it, to get into medical school, you had to be broadly talented, doing well in many subjects and perhaps especially well in one or two. The emphasis was more on being able to apply knowledge and problem solve (remember all those orgo and physics problem sets? Yea... ) However, the emphasis shifts drastically in medical school: it is simply an issue of rote memorization now. A person with photographic memory but no prior science background would likely be at the top of any medical school class, at least during the pre-clinical years. Another way to look at it is the information you are now expected to know is an oceanwide but only an inch deep.

How does one manage to internalize all this information in the short span of two years? I think the main thing (which I wish I had picked up on earlier) is learning from a clinical perspective and utilizing the advice of those that have gone before you heavily. Unlike prior educational experiences, there is much to be gained in medical school from talking to upperclassmen about specific courses and what is truly important down the road. For example, our infectious disease class spent a lot of time categorizing different viruses into single stranded or double stranded, positive or negative, and other features. However, these barely showed up on the test. And, from a clinical perspective this makes sense: the molecular features of the agents is only relevant to the virologists; the clinician could care less.

Thinking clinically is one of the keys to doing well in the pre-clinical years, especially if your test is being written by a clinician. The next few posts will serve to help first year medical students with various first year queries, such as which books are most helpful to first years, regardless of your med school or coursework. Good luck!

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