The medical field is vast and constantly expanding every day. Walk into any medical bookshop and students will be bombarded with a wide range of expensive textbooks, each of which covers a specialised area of medicine in detail, meaning students can't survive through college relying on just one book. To make matters worse, even textbooks within the same genre do not cover the exact same material. Being a medical student myself, I understand exactly what health college students must be feeling whenever they walk into the bookshop. So which health textbooks should be recommended for college?

Since each speciality within health has its individual collection of textbooks, I've grouped the list of recommended textbooks according to specialities. This list is not comprehensive and students should have a look at each of the textbooks to determine which ones suit them the best. Unfortunately, it is necessary to have access to at least one book from each section.

PHYSIOLOGY covers the basic science of any health course and any physiology textbook will undoubtedly be the most important textbook. Since it is a very profitable subject, there are consequently numerous physiological textbooks on sale, each vying for a nice chunk of market share. On a general consensus, there are three physiological textbooks that students and lecturers commonly use.

1. "Textbook of Medical Physiology" by Arthur C. Guyton and John E. Hall

Guyton and Hall is a very successful physiological textbook because of its clear descriptions, logical flow of information and clinical relevance. Despite being quite long and wordy, beginning medical students find its long explanations very helpful in understanding ideas and concepts.

2. "Human Physiology: From Cells to Systems" by Lauralee Sherwood.

Sherwood presents physiological concepts through a combination of clear concise explanation, colourful illustrations and comprehensive tables. It divides into sections according to the different systems of the body and at the beginning of each chapter has a diagram briefly linking that particular system with the maintenance of homeostasis of the body. This is my personal favourite.

3. "Berne and Levy Physiology" by Bruce M. Koeppen and Bruce A. Stanton

While I do not have much personal experience with this textbook, it is consistently one of the most recommended physiological textbooks. It is important to look at numerous physiology textbooks and see for yourself which one you prefer

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