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📖 Table of contents
At the beginning of your studies, it's easy to be tempted by all the anticipation and over-eagerness to buy (too) many books. But due to the excessive abundance of learning materials, it is easy to cause yourself a lot of unnecessary stress. Therefore, here are a few tips on the individual pre-clinical subjects, useful books and other learning methods.
Just don't lose the overview!
At the beginning, the most important thing is to get an overview of the subjects. In medical school, we have a lot of science subjects, especially in the first two years. For the following subjects, you should think about which study materials you need: Anatomy, Histology, Physiology, Biology, Biophysics, Chemistry, Biochemistry and Microbiology. You can also discuss this with your fellow students. Next, it is important to know what type of learner you are. Do you like to hold books in your hands? Are you the type of learner who gets your information from several sources? In this case, it would not be the best idea to buy books, as it would be a bit expensive. Or are you more of a video learner? (Feel free to check out our blog post on the different types of learning).
Basically, for all subjects: Anvil is always good! Anvil is a learning software and reference book for students and doctors, on which you can find everything you need for preclinical studies. - Oh yes, I studied almost exclusively with Anvil!
Personal recommendations
Although I have learned little with books, I would like to share two books with you, as I am 100 % convinced of them and had great fun learning with them.
- Atlas of Anatomy: German translation by Christian Hammer (2020): The atlas offers great drawings and graphics and the colourful, detailed illustrations provide the opportunity to really get a comprehensive picture of the human body.
- Physiology by Silbernagl (9th edition): The best physiology book I know. Basically, a chapter always fits perfectly with a week of lectures. If you have not understood something, you will definitely find it in this book.
I would like to give you another insider tip. Ninja Nerd! This is probably the best source when it comes to understanding topics. You should try to include his videos in every learning block.
Brevity is the spice of life
When your semester starts, really try to keep an overview of the materials from the beginning and don't use too many different documents, otherwise you will quickly notice that you are drowning under all the materials. You can easily buy second-hand books from students in higher semesters, and if you need a specific book, check eBay or similar sites, you will almost always find what you are looking for.
Have fun with the search!
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