Best medical education & training books according to redditors

1. wake up, dress up, show up -- be on time
   
   
2. always know what time to show up and where to be etc.
   
   
3. be nice and don't be a burden
   
   
4. being dumb and nice is better than being smart and annoying; being dumb and annoying is the worst
   
   
5. feign interest in every speciality and don't bash the specialties to their faces -- the answer to "do you have an interest in X?" is always "I've always found X interesting and am looking forward to learning more about it..." if you don't have an interest in it or something along those lines. Or maybe you're lucky and actually have a genuine interest in it.. then let them know.
   
   
6. surgery sucks and it will always suck
   
   
7. have things not rotation/medicine related to talk about that is fun for the team -- it doesn't always have to be about medicine
   
   
8. eat whenever you can
   
   
9. study whenever you can
   
   
10. leave whenever you can
    
    ____
    
    Don't know what to study for each rotation? Look at the wiki
    
    In regards to how to study: OnlineMedED is now your Pathoma. UWorld is still UWorld. There is no First Aid for Step 1 for Step 2 so it is made up of a couple of books for each rotation you used / general review books (Step UP, First Aid, master the boards etc.)
    
    The Match is really scary? Buy The Successful Match for a decent run down of the entire process etc. and tips of how to build an application
    
    ERAS is still really scary? Check out these example applications.. start at like pg 29 unless a Pritzker student then ^read ^^it ^^^all ^^^^?
    
    Worried about H+Ps? Get the Perfect H+P book(or download and print a bunch of decent looking templates)
    
    Need more templates etc?? Check out Medfools! for more!!

I recommend compiling a document with all interesting patient encounters, presentations you did on the rotation, notable things you accomplished on the rotation. Then when it comes time for your Letter writer to compose your LOR send them that information. Then they can have anecdotes to go off and write in your letter, this will be much more powerful than a generic LOR. This book goes into much more detail about this and I recommend reading the chapter on LORs https://www.amazon.com/Successful-Match-2017-Success-Residency/dp/1937978079/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522800836&sr=8-1&keywords=residency+match

You should know the basics of healthcare, but to be honest, I was never asked a single question about healthcare, and I've only asked a healthcare-related question once, and it was as a follow-up to something that the candidate had said.

My advice is to work on commonly asked interview questions (which you can easily obtain from Google). It's also very helpful to find people to practice with in person and have them give you feedback.

Also, I don't know how helpful this would be for you, but I read this book when I was interviewing. Most of the content was stuff that I already knew, but there were a couple of tips that I found to be particularly helpful.

I bought this to use for inspiration. I would be cautious though--it can be tough to come up with an original idea if you've been reading examples.

It's worth it!

This is also worth it too

But you only need one.

I bought The Medical School Interview: Secrets and a System for Success last year and it seemed to be pretty helpful in my preparation.

Fantastic score! As far as getting into an elite IM program, I would definitely start by identifying a mentor at your home IM program; they'll be better able to guide you. And with a 260 Step, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help you achieve your career goals.

Also, be on the lookout for research projects that you can help out with, be it case reports or systemic reviews.

Otherwise, the usual advice applies: do well on your rotations, study hard for each shelf, and do well with CK.

Also, buy a copy of The Successful Match. It has useful advice for obtaining letters of rec, what to write in your personal statement, etc.

https://www.amazon.com/Successful-Match-2017-Success-Residency/dp/1937978079

So I read a couple of books because even though I've interviewed for jobs, I realized I had no idea what adcoms on a med school were looking for. Link Here: https://www.amazon.com/Medical-School-Interview-Strategies-Admissions/dp/193797801X/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=3BM4D155KR9XWQ3TCT0A

That got me in the right frame of mind. There is a MMI version too. After that, I practiced the more common 8 questions aloud and got them within 2 minutes time frame. Did some mock interviews. I usually over research and read on ethics too. Haven't been rejected or waitlisted post II yet.

Movie tickets for date nights
Bifl backpack
Book: Med School Confidential: A Complete Guide to the Medical School Experience: By Students, for Students https://www.amazon.com/dp/0312330081/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_L2ZCAbPMBN2RK
Cookbook or cooking class
Scrubs
More practical: Darn Tough Socks. These are the best socks with a guarantee.
I’d browse r/bifl for ideas

I recommend Barron's Essays That Will Get You into Medical School. Very helpful guide and they give you a dozen or so essays written by past applicants.

I searched my library for "medical school interview" and perused this book which was pretty helpful.

I used this [book] (https://www.amazon.com/Multiple-Mini-Interview-Mind-Advisor/dp/1628908637/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480737225&sr=8-2&keywords=multiple+mini+interview) to prepare for MMIs. You can also just find scenarios online. Get with a friend and practice

Yup. Adcoms tell us constantly that if they invite you for an interview, they believe you could do well at their program.

Of course I wasn't there to see you interview, but there's always the possibility that you messed up some of the important questions. At the same time, it's 100% possible you did just fine at the interview, but there were people that the adcom liked little better. Or the adcom thought you were a good candidate but ultimately not a good fit for the class. Who knows.

I highly suggest you get this book. It's geared towards med school admissions, but basically you can apply everything it says to PA schools. There's a section that lists the most common interview questions by category and provides the "right" answer. EVERY interview question I got was in this book. (Personally I don't think the popular "How To "Ace" The Physician Assistant School Interview" by Andrew Rodican is very good.)

I realize some may think my advice is overkill, but I'm just going to put it out there. If you can do all of this, and aren't some socially awkward/antisocial person, you will ace your interview:

• know good answers to most of the questions in the book I linked
  
• REALLY know good answers to "why do you want to be a PA," "tell me about yourself," and "why this school"
  
• keep your answers to 30-50 seconds, you can go closer to 50-60 seconds with the important questions in the 2nd bullet point
  
• make a list of "life stories," so to say, that you can draw upon when asked behavioral questions. It's very handy to have 5-6 anecdotes that can be molded to answer typical behavioral questions like "tell me about a time you worked with someone you didn't like" or "tell me about a time you used teamwork." Just google behavioral questions and the STAR technique
  
• practice interviewing with anyone, preferably someone who's really good at interviews
  
• be yourself. i.e. If you're a quiet person, don't force yourself to be the life of the party.
  
  A lot of people poo-poo so much preparation for interviews by saying stuff like... "you'll sound rehearsed" or "stop worrying so much and be yourself." Basically call you out for being a try-hard. Buuut idgaf because it worked for me.

I used this book to get a good idea of what med school personal statements look like. The ones in the book aren't exactly groundbreaking (in fact, a lot are pretty cliche), but it was still useful to at least have that framework to look at.

The Successful Match has some good stuff. Maybe see if you can borrow one from a friend or Amazon prime that shiz.

Read this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Essays-That-Will-Medical-School/dp/0764142275/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1323586904&sr=1-1-catcorr

Basically, the best personal statements read like a story.

Ottawa Anesthesia Primer: https://www.amazon.com/Ottawa-Anesthesia-Primer-Patrick-Sullivan/dp/0991800907

If you are looking for a book to maybe help you out with preping for the interview they I could recommend you Medical School Interview Secrets to Success. Its a really small book and you can finish it in like one sitting, but I found it super helpful in getting your brain in the interview mentality. It gives you a bit of homework too as a form of prep. Its not super groundbreaking or anything, but it is very helpful for compartmentalizing what you need to cover over an interview. I'm 3 for 3 right now on interviews and acceptances, and I do attribute it to this book.

I put the amazon link here.

https://www.amazon.com/Medical-School-Interview-Secrets-Success/dp/097795594X

btw, i dont make any money from recommending this, it was honestly a good book

This book is good for focused interview prep and strategy

This book is good for common sense interview skills

I am using both of these books myself, and I like them a lot. They really only deal with traditional interview formats however. No books for group interviews or MMI format.

OP you’re not alone. I’m also 26, living at home, and an aspiring nurse. I was surprised to find this post because my semester just started and have been 100% unmotivated as well.

Just out of curiosity, what entrance exam are you taking? I took the TEAs last year and it was honestly very over-hyped. I’d be happy to give you some tips and extra resources on that if needed (PM me)

Also, you are not a mess. You’re a human being. I understand the pressures of not being on your own two feet yet at this age, but keep in mind that so many nurses don’t begin their careers until their 40’s. You’re doing just fine. The idea of being in nursing school and out of pre-reqs was the fire under my ass while studying for the TEAs. I stopped seeing it as an option because I had so much to lose by failing. You just need to take this one step at a time, just like you have been. And one day you’ll wake up and realize it’s NCLEX day and you’ve made it.

If you need motivating reading material, read these:

https://www.amazon.com/Nursing-School-Thrive-Guide-Maureen-ebook/dp/B00M389ZX0

https://www.google.com/search?q=becoming%20nursey&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1

http://a.co/gYZ2ZnE

Also, check the /r/StudentNurse page, there’s always info about entrance exams.

If you still feel truly hopeless about this, listen to me: After you pass this entrance exam, you’ll be in a cohort with people who want the same life as you. You’ll be totally submerged in nursing culture and feel inspired every day. Once you start clinical, you’ll get a taste of how it feels to impact a patient’s life and won’t want to lose that feeling. Ever.

It won’t get easier, but you will have MUCH more support around you. I know this exam seems super impossible, but its not - because tbh, you sound just like me and if i did it so can you.

"The Successful Match" goes through all of this by specialty plus just general app info.

https://www.amazon.com/Successful-Match-2017-Success-Residency/dp/1937978079

Rockwood and Green's is the bible IMHO. My first job was in ortho trauma and I slept with these volumes while I was rotating with the practice while still in school.

Wheeless is also a great website but sometimes info is incomplete

Physical Exam is another great resource. Really helped with those shoulder exam techniques, which always confused me for some reason

Yoink.

I got it for free at my local library (but then spilled juice all over it and now I need to buy a new one. Oops.). It's a pretty quick read and is just meant to get your mind going in the right direction. Don't get too caught up in every single question it offers to you.

[this book](http://www.amazon.com/Isersons-Getting-Into-Residency-Students/dp/1883620368/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409576577&sr=8-1&keywords=iserson%27s+residency
)
I have had the opportunity to sit on both my med school admissions committee and a couple of my residency rank list meetings and the biggest thing that it always boils down to is 1) Don't be a douche...seriously. You can have a 45 MCAT and have set up an HIV shelter in a 3rd world country, but if you're a douche nobody is going to want to work with you. 2) Common sense-that book is a pretty good resource (I used it for both med school and residency) 3) don't lie 4) It's all a game... if you show interest, they will show interest back. If you try too hard-they'll see right through it.

http://www.amazon.com/Med-School-Confidential-Complete-Experience/dp/0312330081

Brown and Bracken. I've never heard of that other one, which is very sneakily entitled, "Step 1 ^^^^Preparation Secrets."

You've got plenty of time to bring up you grades, don't worry. In, addition showing a positive trend overall is very powerful so as long as you begin to improve from this point medical schools will notice. Do you have any ECs? With the strong possibility that your GPA won't be stellar you are most likely going to want to have very strong experiences, (shadowing, volunteering, research, etc.) and crush the MCAT. Since you're so young, here is a link to a great book which really helped me to develop a competitive application and earn acceptance. You may also want to check out the timeline, I pretty much based my whole undergrad off of this.

Book:https://www.amazon.com/Med-Students-Guide-Getting-application-ebook/dp/B07BD45JTN/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521161058&sr=8-1&keywords=a+med+students+guide+to+getting+in

Timeline: https://masteringmedicaleducation.wordpress.com/sample-timeline/

I am a person who likes to learn from other people's mistakes and successes. For this reason, I find books that describe what other people did extremely helpful. Here are some that really helped me:

First Aid for the Match

Iserson's Getting Into Residency

This was a great book to prepare for MMIs:

https://www.amazon.com/Multiple-Mini-Interview-Mind-Advisor/dp/1628908637/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466318494&sr=8-2&keywords=multiple+mini+interview

I will give you a task. If you read this extremely detailed explanation for how the human brain works and you still have questions about your topic, I will be glad to field them.

I think you don't know enough about neurobiology. It isn't a simple topic, but literature is available to give you a masterful understanding.

I've taken graduate courses in animal behavior and animal neurophysiology. I've also read and attempted to commit to memory all of Citow. If you don't make the same effort, then you are abusing a pulpit.

Try a few different techniques to see what works best for you. Everybody is a little different. Some people learn very well by teaching - even if it's to an inanimate object like a television or the wall. I think it's more effective teaching it to a human, because to make them understand, you need teach them the basics needed to understand that subject matter. (You may be tempted to skip that step if your "student" is a wall.)


The teaching process forces you to rethink the concept in your head, and to imagine different ways of explaining it, like thinking up analogies.


I read this book. His method involves making notes - that is, handwriting or typing all the information he needs to know. This not only condenses notes to make future review easier, but in the process of paraphrasing and summarizing the material, you are actively thinking about it - describing it in your own words, or drawing diagrams to summarize mechanisms, etc. THAT is the main reason you want to make notes - to force yourself to think about the material. Getting condensed notes from someone greatly diminishes the learning process. Yes, you have condensed notes, but you skipped the most important part, which was forcing yourself to think of the material in a way other than passively staring at the textbook or handouts given to you in class.


Making notes is very time consuming, but the advantage is that you know the material better, and reviewing later on is much faster. If you have to study from those notes years down the line, you will understand it easier since you wrote it, and since you made it concise.

For me, being flexible on the hour-to-hour schedule and instead focusing on my daily task list worked best, especially for research life. The American Physician Scientist Association website has a series called "Day in the Life" which you might find interesting. For medical school, this book "How to Study in Medical School" offers some tips on how to structure your day and might give you insight into what the medical school schedule might look like.

Here is how my schedule has been year-by-year (we do MS1-3, grad school, MS4).

During MS1 and MS2: M-F classes 8-12n (either in class or streaming videos), lunch, mandatory activities like labs, standardized patient activities, other special sessions in the afternoon 1-5p, studying all evening. Variably working out, hanging out, or playing video games for breaks. I'd study all weekend for as long as I had motivation (~6-7hrs), and socialized for breaks. I did not participate in any research during these years.

MS3 schedule depends completely upon what rotation you are on. Outpatient is 5 days a week, inpatient is 6. You can assume at least 8-12 hours of your day (usually within a 6a-6p window) are spent on clinical duties, and another 2-3 on studying for the rotation and shelves. I prioritized working out as soon as I got home before studying as it provided a lot of stress relief. I got involved in a clinical research project which worked on during the weekends.

Summer lab rotations between MS0-MS1, MS1-MS2, and GS1 (where I am currently): I go to lab at 8a, work on experiments until seminars/classes/meetings happen around 12n, and then stay in lab until the tasks I set for myself are done (normally 6-7p). I write, work out, and hang out in the evenings.

Hope that helps!

The Ottawa Anaesthesia Primer is a great book, lots of detail and relatively cheap. Would definitely recommend picking up at least the Kindle version.

woah... reapplicant?

I recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Medical-School-Interview-Secrets-Success/dp/0977955907

https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Analysis-Reasoning-Skills-Review/dp/0804125031

I have the newer one it has like MRI scans on the cover but they are similar I think.

Is it the old or new workbook? Can you post a pic? I have this one and want to make sure it's not the same. https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Analysis-Reasoning-Skills-Review/dp/0804125031

I'll have to talk to my pre-med advisor about that move first! Not sure if there are any technicalities involved. In the meantime, I advise you to look at Barron's Essays That Get You Into Medical School. Short, concise, and helpful read. Definitely available at your local Barnes and Noble or off of Amazon here!

https://www.amazon.com/USMLE-Step-2-Secrets-5e/dp/0323496164/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7VHSE3CKX4Z7817KNZ7H&dpID=51ihUiE35mL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=detail