Books and equipment for 1st year

[smoad]

Hello,

 

Could someone please tell me what books and equipment I would need to purchase for 1st year meds at McGill? I'll be going overseas this summer where I can purchase books and medical equipment for cheap so it would be great to know what is needed. Thanks!

[miss_sunshine]

There was a previous post where this was addressed (in a thread about laptops) but you don't need any medical equipment for 1st year. We only order equipment (stethoscope/bp cuff/etc) in 2nd year. I guess you could buy it already but from talking to upper year students, the company that sells us equipment usually has good prices and offers a good warranty (something you might not get if you buy abroad since warranties are usually only valid in the country that the product was purchased in).

As for textbooks, I addressed it in a post in the thread I mentioned above but don't buy every book on that list. The only books you need are those for Anatomy (netter's atlas + a text suchas Gray's for Students or Moore's). Some other books may be helpful such as a physiology textbook (the recommended in Berne and LEvy) but I didn't buy this book and did very well. For one of the units, we are actually givena free text book (on CD)! In the neuro/CNS unit, there are some books that you can buy that may be helpful but that is really far away for you right now. If you want to buy them, I would buy either the Blumenfield "Neuroanatomy through clinical cases", Nolte "The Human Brain" and maybe a neuroanatomy atlas (such as Haines). I would especially recomend the Blumenfield book.

A lot of my classmates purchase "review" style books such as those from the "made ridiculously simple" series or the BRS series. They are great for reviewing concepts (especially in the physiology sections) and are small and portable so you can review anywhere. BRS Physiology was extremely popular and has practice questions at the end.

Last year we had a used textbook sale so there should probably be one soon. It was extremely crowded last year and people started lining up a couple hours before doors opened. From what I've heard, most people came out empty handed. If you want to buy used textbooks, start looking now as they sell out quickly. I suggest to check the gateway used textbook section regularly (you don't have to be a member to check the listings) or check http://www.mcgill.ca/classified. You might be able to pick up some books at a good deal and avoid the high bookstore prices or the crowds at the used textbook sale

[solocup]

Nice, I actually studied under Hal Blumenfeld last year, he's a fantastic neuroscience prof. I'm not surprised he wrote a textbook which is now a standard for neurology.