Text & Pocket Guide Recs for Clinical Medicine

Here are the textbook and reference books that may be useful during your third year of medical school. Some of these texts double as USMLE Step 2 review books.

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Medicine

The first two are the most popular handbooks to carry around.

Practical Guide to the Care of the Medical Patient by Fred F. Ferri. [ ORDER NOW ] It's thicker than the previous version, but still well organzied. It is great for figuring out how to work up patients with different syndromes such as CHF, COPD, etc.. Unfortunately, unlike its predecessor, it no longer fits in my white coat pocket.

Manual of Medical Therapeutics (Little Brown Spiral Manual) aka. "The Washington Manual" [ ORDER NOW ] by Gregory A. Ewald, Clark, R. McKenzie (Editor)

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 16th edition I really like this book. It practically does the write-up for you.

THE TARASCON POCKET PHARMACOPOEIA Classic Edition : Every student and resident usually carries this book around.

THE TARASCON POCKET PHARMACOPOEIA, Deluxe Edition : This edition goes into great depth than the Classic edition. In addition to the standard dosing information, it includes more information on FDA approved and unapproved indications, contraindications, and drug-drug interactions.

Rapid Interpretation of EKG's by Dale B. Dubin. [ ORDER NOW ] This book has come highly recommended to me by other 3rd year medical students and current chief residents. It takes you through EKGs in a very systematic manner.

The Complete Guide To ECGs; A Comprehensive Study Guide To Improve ECG Interpretation Skills by O'Keefe, James. [ ORDER NOW ] This book teaches EKG by example. It contain EKGs of all the major anomalies that we will be seeing. Questions are also included to reinforce the material.

The EKG Pocket Survival Guide by Masterson, Handler, Tenner, and Rothenhaus. This book, available directly from the publisher is really good if someone has already taught you the basics. It uses the same systematic approach that is presented in the more in depth inDubin's EKG book.

Pathophysiology of Disease : An Introduction to Clinical Medicine (A Lange Medical Book) by Stephen J., Md McPhee, Vishwanath R., MD Lingappa

The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy : General Medicine by Robert Berkow, Andrew J. Fletcher (Editor) - recommended by visitors to this site.

Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 1998 (37th Ed) by Lawrence M., Md Tierney, Stephen J., MD McPhee (Editor), max Papadakis, Maxine A. Papadakis: highly ranked by the Medical Student Cooperative. [ ORDER NOW ]

Drug Information Handbook by Lacy, Charles

Surgery

The Mont Reid Surgical Handbook (Mosby Handbook) by University of Cincinnati Residents, Mont Reid (Editor), Scott Berry M. D. [ ORDER NOW ] I used this book everyday during my rotation. This book has also been recommended by visitors to this site. "Highly recommended." It fits conveniently into your coat pocket.

Principles Of Surgery by Schwartz, Seymour I. 1998 Edition (Joint Author:Galloway, Aubrey C.,Joint Author:Daly, John M.) My pediatric surgery fellow recommended this text over the Sabiston text for medical students because it is more cut and dry getting right to the issues currently considered most crucial in the management of a surgical patient. Sabiston provides more of a historical perspective that will add an additional level of knowledge but might not be what you need at 3 AM the night before a big operation that you are going to get pimped on.

Textbook Of Surgery; The Biological Basis Of Modern Surgical Practice (2001 edition) by Sabiston see comments about the Schwartz text right above. This text is known for being very opinionated. Many of the practices put forth are specific to the authors.

Surgery : Scientific Principles and Practice by Lazar J. Greenfield (Editor), Michael W. Mulholland (Editor), keit Oldham "Dr. Greenfield's revised edition is immensely better than the already fabulous first edition. This is THE book for surgery residents or anyone who wants an encyclopedic reference to the field of general surgery, including the surgical sub-specialties. Each chapter is comprehensive, well written and as concise as possible. The figures are well-done and informative, yet not distracting to the reader. Each discussion includes basic science principles, biology of the different diseases, as well as pathophysiology and an overview of treatment options. Especially well done are the chapters on breast disease, Trauma, and perdiatric surgery"

Surgery on Call (1996)

Abernathy's SURGICAL SECRETS, 3rd edition : This book is great for quickly brushing up before an operation to get an idea of the types of questions you might be pimped on, but often it is difficult to find answers in it to specific questions or on specific topics. [ ORDER NOW ]

The Surgical Intern Pocket Survival Guide by Ronald Chamberlain, MD. This is another one of those pocket guides that most of the surgical students and residents carried around with them. At first it was hard to find things in it but then once you become familiar with its format it becomes extremely useful. It lists all the components of Pre-Op and Post-Op notes.

Psychiatry

Psychiatry : Pretest Self-Assessment and Review (Pretest - Self-Assessment and Review Clinical Science Series) by Sherwyn M. Woods [ ORDER NOW ]

Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry : Behavioral Sciences, Clinical Psychiatry by Harold I. Kaplan, Benjamin J. Sadock [ ORDER NOW ]

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders : Dsm-IV. If you plan to go into psych, you might as well get this book. Otherwise, I am not convinced.

Obstetrics and Gynocolgy

Blueprints In Obstetrics and Gynecology by Callahan, Tamara (With:Heffner, Linda,With:Caughey, Aaron) This is one of a series of 5 books covering the 5 big 3rd year rotations (Medicine, Pediatrics, OB/Gyn, Surgery, and Psychiatry). The OB/Gyn book was especially good. I am recommending that this book be used during your rotation also.

Ob/Gyn Secrets by Helen. Frederickson, Louise Wilkins-Haug. [ ORDER NOW ]

Obstetrics and Gynecology Recall:

Williams Obstetrics (21th Ed) by F. Gary Cunningham (Editor), Paul C. MacDonald, Norman F. Gant (Editor). [ ORDER NOW ] This one is only neccessary if you plan to go permanently into OB. It's "the" reference.

Neurology

On Call Neurology (On Call Series) by Randolph S. Marshall, Stephan A. Mayer [ ORDER NOW ]

Examination of the Cranial and Peripheral Nerves by Orrin Devinsky, Edward Feldmann (Editor). [ ORDER NOW ] This is a classic book describing the neuro physical exam which is so emphasized in neurology.

Neurological Examination Made Easy by Fuller, Geraint [ ORDER NOW ]

Primary Care/Family Practice

The Guide to Clinical Preventive Services : Report of the United States Preventive Services Task Force by U. S. Preventive Services Task Force Staff. [ ORDER NOW ] I found this book to be an excellent practical resource for smoking cessation, obesity, and hypercholesteremia. I used it to study for my primary care rotation final exam.

Clinician's Handbook of Preventive Services 1998 Edition by Inc. International Medical Publishing, Claude Earl Fox . This book is "cornerstone of the Put Prevention Into Practice (PPIP) initiative. The goal of PPIP, which was developed by the US Public Health Service's Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, is to enhance the delivery of clinical preventive services. This handbook discusses screening tests for early detection of disease, immunizations and prophylaxis to prevent disease, and counseling to modify risk factors that lead to disease."

Family Practice Review : A Problem Oriented Approach by Swanson, Richard W.

Medicine | Surgery | Pediatrics | Neurology | Radiology | Ob/Gyn | Pysch | Primary Care | Oncology | Dictionaries
Pediatrics

Nelson Essentials Of Pediatrics by Behrman, Richard E./Kliegman, Robert M.

Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics (15th Edition) 1 0% OFF [ ORDER NOW ] This is one of the good standard comprehensive pediatric text. It is probably worth getting if you will be going into family practice or primary care. I don't think that you need it if you plan to do peds because then it will be outdated by the time you practice. You also don't need it if you are going into other specialties.

The Harriet Lane Handbook : A Manual for Pediatric House Officers by Michael A. Barone (Editor), Johns Hopkins Hospital Children's Medical 20% OFF! . Get this one for managing patients on the pediatric wards.

Manual of Clinical Problems in Pediatrics : With Annotated Key References (A Little, Brown Spiral Manual) by Kenneth B. Roberts [ ORDER NOW ] : Has well written, concise reviews of most of the key topics that are covered on a pediatric rotation. It could use more charts to summarize the material. It relies a little too much on reference lists for my taste.

Radiology

Squire's Fundamentals Of Radiology, 5th Ed. by Novelline, Robert A. Save 30% . This is the introductory radiology textbook that everyone seems to recommend because it has been around for a while and it presents a methodical ways of approach an x-ray, CT, or MRI. It is compared to Dubins EKG book (see above). It is written at the 3rd year medical student level.

Clinical Radiology : The Essentials by Daffner, Richard H. This book is aimed at 4th year medical students and 1st year radiology residents. It requires somewhat more background than Squire's.

Oncology

Cancer : Principles & Practice of Oncology by Vincent T. Devita. This is a serious textbook. More Cancer Texts here.
Medical Dictionaries

Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary; W. A. Newman Dorland (Editor), Newman W.A. Dorland. [ ORDER NOW ] I have this one, and like it a lot.

Stedman's Medical Dictionary : Illustrated in Color (26th Ed)