Planteater Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi all. I'm getting ready to start my program in a few weeks and it is time to purchase books. I have a new iPad and I was hoping to use it for a lot of my books. I am getting too old to lug around 50 lbs of books :;-):. Also, the electronic versions through Amazon's Kindle app are significantly cheaper. However, I don't like to read an electronic screen for hours on end. I was hoping to split up my books into the ones that I will read a lot (and buy on paper) vs. the ones that will be more for reference only (suitable for iPad). I am just going to post my preliminary book list here and if you have advice on which books will fit which category: I would love to hear it! Thank you. Harrison's vol 1 & 2 Clinically Oriented Anatomy (Moore) Smith's Patient-centered Interviewing (Smith) Current Medial Diagnosis & Treatment 2013 (McPhee) Pharmacotherapy Handbook (DiPiro) Basic and Clinical Pharmacology (Trevor) Atlas of Anatomy (Gilroy) Mosby's Guide to Physical Examination (Ball) Mosby's Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests (Pagana) Pathophysiology of Disease (McPhee) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackjacks Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Such a personal decision! But for me... Electronic: Harrison's (I never use it unless I want to look up the super specifics of something), Interviewing, both Mosby's Definitely hard copy: Current's The others I am not sure about. Hope this helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLifeofRylie Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I have been purchasing ebooks whenever they are available. It takes a little getting used to, however, I think they are more than worth it, and I quickly started getting annoyed with my paper books! I can have my ebooks on my phone or iPad with me at all times and I can also use them on my desktop. Being able to search the books and also just tap a word to get its definition or even open the Wikipedia article on it is awesome! I love my ebooks and my only complaint is that some of my books that I had to buy in paperback are now available as kindle books and I have to decide if I want to sell the paper to buy the ebook. I would recommend going with ebooks whenever you can you will get used to it, and how amazing is it to have your library on you at all times! Of the books you have listed I use Currents 2013 the kindle version and I wouldn't want it any other way :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boardreviewnow Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 It's funny, I just posted this exact thing in a different thread. I know a lot of people are advocating ebooks and digital downloads to ipads/smartphones, but you really need to weigh the cost vs the convenience. There's no question that it's more convenient to have a digital copy of a text, but you have absolutely zero re-sale value when you're done. I bought a lot of textbooks during PA school, probably far more than I should have in retrospect. I purchased them all used on Amazon, many of which came with access codes to allow access to digital copies online. When I was done with them, I simply sold them back on Amazon for slightly less than I bought them for. In essence, I "rented" the textbooks and sold them back and maybe lost $10/book, depending on how old the text was and when the newer edition was coming out. If you buy a digital copy, you pay a price and thats it. Lets take Harrison's guide to internal medicine, for example. This is a test that every single student needs. It's the bible of medicine and a great reference, especially during school. Many opted to keep this book after graduation (myself included). This book can be bought on Amazon for $134 right now. You use it, you get access to the digital content with the key code, then in 2 years you decide to sell it back used on Amazon. You'll most likely be able to sell it for around $115 or so, depending on the time of year and when the newest edition is coming out. So you "rented" Harrisons for 2 years for approximately $20. If you opted to buy the ebook edition for your ipad or kindle, you'd pay $111 that you'd never get back. $111 vs $20, you pick. For me, money was TIGHT during PA school because it wasn't possible for me to work. Just my 2 cents... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briepm Posted December 1, 2012 Share Posted December 1, 2012 I know I would have NEVER followed this advice myself (and many people told me the same thing), but you honestly might want to wait to see which books you might actually need before you buy them all. I bought every single book that was required, plus the suggested, and have opened all but 2 of them exactly zero times. I also have an ipad that I use for notes in class, but I like the opportunity to have a paper copy of the books I actually use to highlight, draw on, etc. (yes you can do all of these things on a ipad too..) I would suggest getting your anatomy book hard copy, and also trying Cecil's essentials of medicine to replace all of you path/pharm/clinical medicine books.. it's awesome. You will need the books for your history and physical class.. The other case for ipad PLUS some paper materials is the issue of cross-comparing documents - it is a pain to try to make flashcards on a flashcard app while at the same time reading your anatomy book on another app, trying to remember what it says (copy and paste between apps doesn't really happen as far as I have figured out), and then going back to it again - very frustrating when you have 300 pages to cover for 1 test, and 4 other tests that week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Planteater Posted December 2, 2012 Author Share Posted December 2, 2012 Thanks for the replies! mackjacks- yeah I know it really comes down to individual preference, doesn't it? I really prefer the idea of ebooks, but in practice I'm not sure. thelifeofrylie- Thanks for the advice. It is nice to hear how convenient they are and I do like the idea of having them on all my devices for easy reference! boardreviewnow- Thank you for pointing that out. I actually read that other thread and have thought about your point. I wasn't sure if the medical books would really be re-sellable after 2 1/2 years. I know most of my husband's nursing books were considered out of date by the time he was done (2 year program), so we could only re-sell a couple of them. Maybe medical texts do not come out with new editions as quickly? briepm- you know, I have always bought books for classes and have regretted it at least half the time because they were a big waste of money! Yet, I still feel compelled to buy them because I just might need them. I will say- the nice thing about choosing ebooks is that I can download them on the spot. All but 2 of my required books are available through kindle, so I could theoretically wait until I need them (if I do) and download them then. I don't plan on buying any of the "recommended" books unless I run into a situation where I need more clarification that they might offer. I was able to download free samples of most of my texts onto my kindle app, so maybe I will check it out and see how hard it is to switch back and forth between books and a flashcard app before I decide- good point :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boardreviewnow Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 Medical texts always have resale value, it just depends on when the newest edition will be out. I sold all of mine back with the exception of Bates, CMDT, and Harrison's. You won't need the specialty books (psych, peds, etc) after your rotation so you can sell them back much sooner. If books that arent the newest edition will still net you around 50% of the new value you paid so you will get something back, whereas e-books get zilch. Having said that, I understand that many will still prefer e-books and that's fine. Whatever way best fits your lifestyle and allows you access to the material in a convenient manner that encourages studying is the way you should go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackjacks Posted December 2, 2012 Share Posted December 2, 2012 I actually read that other thread and have thought about your point. I wasn't sure if the medical books would really be re-sellable after 2 1/2 years. I know most of my husband's nursing books were considered out of date by the time he was done (2 year program), so we could only re-sell a couple of them. Maybe medical texts do not come out with new editions as quickly? I bought all the books used from amazon sellers to start out with and now at the end of the first semester I am selling the ones I haven not used/think I will not need to use now that I have a better feel for things. I should just about break even. Bit of work, but I didn't want to need a book and not have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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