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 before purchasing one.
PATHOLOGY is the study of diseases and thus, another integral part of any health course. I've used all three of the recommended textbooks below and recommend them all. However, you should purchase the one that is needed for your level of study.
1. "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine" by Anthony S. Fauci et al.
Harrison's is considered the ultimate bible within the genre of pathophysiology. It is an extremely detailed book that covers almost everything there is to know about each disease. It comes in either one volume or two volumes (giving you an idea of its thickness) and while expensive, it is a very worthwhile buy. The latest edition is 17th edition. However, beginning health students may find its contents a bit too detailed.
2. "Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease" by Vinay Kumar et al.
This is another great textbook that explains each disease very clearly. It is aimed at health students that have some basic understanding.
3. "Kumar and Clark's Clinical Medicine" by Parveen Kumar and Michael L. Clark.
This is very good textbook recommended to all beginning health students. It is divided according to body systems and gives a brief outline of the normal physiology before discussing the diseases of that organ system.
ANATOMY is another great area of health where there are way too many scientific names and a textbook is necessary to keep health students afloat. The two textbooks recommended below sort of go hand in hand so getting both textbooks is definitely worthwhile.
1. "Gray's Anatomy: the anatomical basis of clinical practice" by Susan Standring.
Warning: not to be confused with the popular TV series "Grey's Anatomy"
This is a very thorough anatomy textbook with colourful diagrams backed up by detailed descriptions. It caters for all health students regardless of their prior anatomy knowledge.
2. "Netter's Atlas of Human Anatomy" by Frank H. Netter
This is an excellent book aimed at the visual learners. Most health students learn anatomy by having both textbooks side by side so that they could look at "Netter's" diagrams and learn by reading "Gray's".
Physiology, pathology and anatomy are the three basic integral components of any health course. Of course, many other fields such as histology, genetics and immunology exist and students may wish to buy textbooks but I feel borrowing from the library is adequate for these fields. Studying health courses is very expensive but I consider these textbooks as good investments for the future.