Money for Books

[Damien]

Hi Everyone!

This seems a bit of a mystery to me so it may well also be for others: How much do you, on average, spend on books and other essential items at the start of the year or throughout it?

Just a rough idea would do.

Thanks,

Damien :evil

[elliottsimpson]

I've no idea how much it'll all cost, but this could be a good furum to get recommendations of which text book to buy, which to borrow and which to reserve as a cure for insomnia. May also be a useful trading place for second hand copies, who knows?

[relliott]

Here's what I bought for first year and rough pricing

1. Tortora and grabowski Physiology and anatomy - £28
2. vander and sherman Physiology - £5 from 2nd hand book shop
3. Kumar and Clark clinical medicine - £30, then kicked self when found full text online for free at www.doctors.org.uk
4. Dow et al. Biochemistry - £10, 2nd hand
5. moore and dalley Anatomy - £35, but worth it as you will use it through the whole course
6. Anatomy colouring in book - £15, don't laugh, the diagrams are really good and you won't get bored!
7. Underwood Pathology - £30

Most other books I used were from the library. DO NOT buy any books before you start. Get them out from the library and if you like them, then buy them!!!

Sign up to sites like www.imc.gsm.com who have full text medical books online for free, and use www.merck.com for clinical applications too (the Merck Manual is the biggest american clinical textbook). The British Medical Journal, www.bmj.com, has collected articles on many topics and is very useful. The "ABC of ..." series is great to learn the basics

Always remember that you can always sell the books again later if you grow out of them. I reckon I already have grown out of 1 and 2 on the list

Hope that helped

[elliottsimpson]

The Merck Manual is a great book - we have a copy on the reporting room desk at Monklands. It has over 2750 pages of that thin paper I associate with the old King James version of the bible. (I remember hearing that the King James version was very popular in prisons and in some third world countries because the paper is much better for rolling cigarettes.) It has very few pictures - just the odd pen-and-ink sketch, but it gives you just what you need to know to sound vaguely intellegent on any and every medical topic. Well worth having a look at a copy.

[relliott]

It would seem that my copy of the Merck Manual that I picked up in a 2nd hand book shop suffered the roll-up fate ( at least the contents did) and is also handily annotated by the previous owner. unfortunately I cannot tell if the notes are good as they are all in Arabic. I have been told that one of the notes is in fact directions to edinburgh frm glasgow. How helpful!!

[Real D]

Here's how to find out which books to buy an which to avoid like the plague. Go to the library, if you can find it!, and ask which books are on SHORT lone in your various subjects i.e. those books that the staff know are never in the library and so have to be on restriction of 2-3 days lone. Also look at which books they have 100 copies of and buy one, avoid those that have one copy and was last taken out buy the lecturer/author about three years ago (unless you have REALLY bad insomnia!)

A good Biochemistry book is called Biochemistry! by Lubert Stryer, and has almost understandable diagrams. One text I found really usefull (bearing in mind I'm a pharmacist not a doctor) was MEtabolism at a glance - very scarry diagrams of all metabolic pathways but priceless if you need to memorise the TCA cycle for any reason. For a bit of light releif on that subject ask Elliott to lend you the Biochemists' Song Book, which has such gems as the TCA cycle to the tune of Waltzing Matilda and glycolisis to Daisy Daisy:D

Another thing I used to do to find useful texts was to find a friend in the year or two above and ask for a glance at their recommended text list and find out which books were still listed, that way if you buy it in first year you can use it for more than proping up the leg of a desk in the computer lab!!

Hope some of this is useful if not activly boring!!!!
Les

[relliott]

sorry D, but I have to disagree with you no a couple of points. If there are about 100 copies of a book in the library and several in the short loan then you don't need to buy it. The quicker you learn how to make use of the booking system for the short loan collections and other helpful things in place then you do not need to buy as many books. I still don't have a pharmacology book as there is always one available in the short loan because most people never bother to use the system.

But sertainly, get a book out and see if it is any good before you buy it

[Real D]

sorry Red
Medics and pharmacists must work differently
short loan in our library ment 2 - 4 hours and 100 or so copies ment that that was the thoeretical number of that book that the library had once bought not the number that was actually held in the library. never mind

do what you all think best guys!

Les

[VikMcG]

Hi
I argee with Les - Stryer is a fantastic book but I would only recomend if you require it, to get out from the Library ( It costs £35 - most books you will require will cost between £25- 40 brand new). It is more aimed at 3rd/ 4th year biochemistry students ( even doing second year biochemistry, I was still finding it a little bit hard to understand - but that is biochemistry). If you know anyone in the older years of Aberdeen, I would e-mail them Damion and ask them which books they advise you to get. I already have most of my books for 1st but that is only because I have asked my Flat mate Angela what she needed and I already had Vander and Stryer from second year.My uni asks for students to buy the recent edition which is a bit crap. When does your term start for Aberdeen?
See ya later
Vicki

[Damien]

Hi,

Thanks for the advice Vicki, much appreciated. I was planning on writing to someone but I got a letter in saying that I shouldn't by any books before going so I suppose I better follow their advice.

As for my term it begins in 14 days. I move up on the fifteenth and the lectures begin on the 18th. I think that is the same date for St. Andrews too. I think they start early and finish early or something like that.

Damien :evil