40 Best Medical Books for Students

 Going to Medical School is another level of hard work coupled with stress. Their long list of requirements that include best medical books for students upon books that you need to study makes it seem like you’d never graduate.

I have been able to get 40 best medical books for students to help you prepare ahead of med school. When you have an idea of what is needed from you, it can help you get your acts together and study right.

How Long Does Med School Take?

To finish med school and become an excellent doctor requires much experience. Students need to have intense training and learning on the job to be able to treat patients effectively.

Being a physician means that you know what you do and you are confident in administering medications for your patient’s ailments. This is the reason why you need intense physical training and experience especially when you want to specialize.

Med school takes about 4 years to graduate, then a 3 to 7 years Specialization for those who want to specialize. If the student still wants to sub-specialize, he/she will take another 1 to 4 years of fellowship training.

What You Should Know About Med School

If you are planning on going to med school, there are a few things you should know to keep you above average. Here are some of them.

Have a set reading schedule

If you have studied for your UCAT or BMAT, you would have to study extra hard in med school and that is why you need a reading schedule.

Theres no particular way to do this than to be disciplined. Med school requires a lot of passion and dedication for you to scale through your exams. While doing that, make sure to have some personal time to escape from med school stress.

Do not be ashamed to ask for help

Asking for help from your peers to better understand a course does not mean you are any less intelligent than them.

Do not ever feel that you always need to solve everything yourself, it will cost you less when you ask for help than trying to solve it yourself.

Worry less about fees

We all know that med school costs a huge sum of money especially with all the books you will be needing, but don’t worry about it.

In most schools, there are usually options for financial aid or loans which you can pay off later. Just focus on your studies and graduating med school. In just about 4 years, you’d already start earning some money which you can use to pay off your debt gradually.

Make friends with non-medics

For a healthy balanced life, make friends with people outside your area. It is true that as a physician, you’d be working with other physicians the rest of your life which basically translates to your friendship circle but you also need to have other circles that are in different fields.

When you make friends with them, they will help you get back on social life because you’d be able to talk about other aspects of life to them. Even if you can also have these discussions with your fellow doctors, the conversation will 90% of the time drift towards patient-related topics.

Have a personal time

While in med school, ensure you have a “me” time. Maybe a day set apart from the rest of the week to prioritize yourself and your needs.

A day to party hard and responsibly, meet up with friends, go out for movies and replenish your strength. 

Most importantly, reduce the stress of med school by eating healthy, having enough sleep and maintaining a social life.

Top Medical Schools to attend

If you have the money, studying in top medical schools should be an option for you. Not only do you get trained by the best around the world, you also have the opportunity to several job opportunities after med school.

Here are some of the top medical schools you should attend.

  • Harvard Medical School
  • New York University (Grossman)
  • Columbia University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • University of California – San Francisco
  • Duke University

If you want to study in Denmark or Poland, there are Medical schools in Denmark and Medical schools in Poland that you should consider. Now, let’s look at the best medical books for students.

The List of Best Medical Books for Students

  1. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.
  2. Bad Science by Ben Goldacre 
  3. The House of God by Samuel Shem
  4. Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
  5. This is going to hurt by Adam Kay
  6. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
  7. The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Wolf Sacks
  8. Kumar and Clark’s Clinical Medicine
  9. Rapid Review Pathology by Edward Goljan
  10. The Real Doctor will See You Shortly: A Physician’s First Year by Matt McCarthy
  11. Atlas of Human anatomy 
  12. Unnatural Causes by Richard Shephard
  13. Coaching in Medical Education 
  14. How Doctor’s Think by
  15. Researching Medical Education
  16. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
  17. Step-up to Medicine by Stephen S. Agabegi
  18. Atlas of Human Anatomy 3rd Edition
  19. Color atlas of Anatomy by Chihiro Yokochi
  20. Clinically Oriented Anatomy by Keith L. Moore
  21. Gray’s Anatomy for Students by Richard L. Drake
  22. USMLE Step 2 Secrets
  23. The Medical School Interview by Samir P. Desai
  24. From Highschool to Med School
  25. Value Added Roles for Medical Students
  26. Becoming a Doctor by Melvin Konner
  27. 50 Biggest Mistakes 3rd Year
  28. Junqueira’s Basic Histology by L. Carlos Junqueira
  29. Robbins and Cotran Review of Path 
  30. Goldman Cecil Medicine
  31. Robbins Basic Pathology
  32. Costanzo Physiology
  33. This Side of Doctoring: Reflections
  34. Davidson’s Principles and Practice by Stanley Davidson
  35. Medical Diagnosis and Treatment
  36. Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis
  37. Guyton and Hall Textbook of Medicine by John E. Hall
  38. What Doctor’s Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine by Danielle Ofri
  39. Netter’s Anatomy Flash Cards by John T. Hassan
  40. Hutchison’s Clinical Methods by Robert Hutchison

Cost of Studying Medicine in USA

As at this year, in-state medical students spend on average, $37,600 for public schools per year while out-of-state residents pay $60,000 on average. 

Medical school tuition in private universities might cost up to $59,000 on average per year.

Having covered some necessary topics and burning questions for medical students, let’s talk about the books, shall we?

The whole books you might have to read for med schools might make up a whole library, so be prepared. To help you get started, here are the must have books for med books.

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