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Which Medical Dictionary is Best to Use?

Hi y'all! I've recently got my results and been accepted into medical school so i'm preparing for the start of the course which begins next month. I was just wondering if anyone (preferably those who are already medical students) has any advice/recommendations on which is the best Medical Dictionary to purchase? Thanks in advance :biggrin:

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Reply 1
Original post by akashem2
Hi y'all! I've recently got my results and been accepted into medical school so i'm preparing for the start of the course which begins next month. I was just wondering if anyone (preferably those who are already medical students) has any advice/recommendations on which is the best Medical Dictionary to purchase? Thanks in advance :biggrin:


I really don't think you would need to buy a medical dictionary. But regardless..

I bought Dorland's (book form) in the first semester and probably opened it twice. Wouldn't recommend it, lots of words weren't there when I looked it up, and the explanations were confusing. Didn't try any other books so can't speak for them.

If you have a smartphone, there are plenty of med dictionary apps (Oxford is a good one).

I currently use Stedman's Medical Dictionary 6.0 Windows PC version, it's by far the most complete one I've found so far.
(edited 12 years ago)
google. you get a free one if you join one of the defense unions at freshers (MDU i think?) but i can't see why you would want it! i would strongly advice you to not bother!
Reply 3
I was given this one recently and it both 1) smells nice and 2) has words in it, therefore I recommend it wholeheartedly as a dictionary that is fit-for-purpose.
Original post by Beska
I was given this one recently and it both 1) smells nice and 2) has words in it, therefore I recommend it wholeheartedly as a dictionary that is fit-for-purpose.


We have that one in work for when a doctors handwriting is almost illegible but we can use the dictionary to help decipher what to put in the clin notes :P

It seems to work fine, not come across anything that wasn't in it that we actually needed yet.
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 5
yeah you should get given the oxford one at freshers for signing up to the MDU. I used mine loads in the first year as well.
Reply 6
Thanks guys! You're responses are much appreciated. I think I'll wait till Fresher's week and get my copy from signing up with MDU rather than having to buy one :rolleyes:

Also, can anyone recommend any good textbooks they are using for their course which may help me with my first year studies? Manchester Medical Schhol doesn't provide a list of books to buy, unfortunately :frown:
Reply 7
I like Black's. My father has the 1982 edition...the first edition to include (what were then) such groundbreaking topics as "glue sniffing", "embryo transfer", "NMR" and "toy libraries". It's interesting to see what things were like 30 years ago :awesome:
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by akashem2
Thanks guys! You're responses are much appreciated. I think I'll wait till Fresher's week and get my copy from signing up with MDU rather than having to buy one :rolleyes:

Also, can anyone recommend any good textbooks they are using for their course which may help me with my first year studies? Manchester Medical Schhol doesn't provide a list of books to buy, unfortunately :frown:


I could sit here and tell you all the books I used in first year (I'm at Manchester too) but you really are much better off waiting until you get to uni, going to the library and checking some out over your first few cases before you buy any. They are proper expensive!
Reply 9
Also, have you received your welcome pack from uni yet, cos there should be a list of recommended texts in there
Reply 10
Original post by Zakadoh
Also, have you received your welcome pack from uni yet, cos there should be a list of recommended texts in there


Hey thanks for your reply :smile: Nope I've not received the welcome pack but I have read it online on the uni website for 2011 medics. It states that this year the Medical school is not publishing a recommended reading list as different individuals prefer learning from different kinds of books- so there's no "one size fits all." I am very much a visual learner, i pick up things a gzillion times quicker if there's diagrams, mind maps etc. As you have survived first year, can you please recommend any books based on the info I have just given you? Just so I can check em out in the library once I start the course :tongue: Also, i've heard from almost everyone i've spoken to about how expensive they are!! Can u quote an estimated figure on the cost of the average book? Thanks in advance. :biggrin:
Original post by akashem2
Hey thanks for your reply :smile: Nope I've not received the welcome pack but I have read it online on the uni website for 2011 medics. It states that this year the Medical school is not publishing a recommended reading list as different individuals prefer learning from different kinds of books- so there's no "one size fits all." I am very much a visual learner, i pick up things a gzillion times quicker if there's diagrams, mind maps etc. As you have survived first year, can you please recommend any books based on the info I have just given you? Just so I can check em out in the library once I start the course :tongue: Also, i've heard from almost everyone i've spoken to about how expensive they are!! Can u quote an estimated figure on the cost of the average book? Thanks in advance. :biggrin:


~£50 each but there will be absolutely loads that you could buy (e.g. embryology, histology, physiology, anatomy, pharmacology, immunology, pathology, biochemistry etc will all have different texts) and you could easily spend hundreds over your degree on them if your silly about it. use the library as much as possible and never buy a book you havent at least tried first. although if you can, try not to buy them at all.
Reply 12
Original post by akashem2
Hey thanks for your reply :smile: Nope I've not received the welcome pack but I have read it online on the uni website for 2011 medics. It states that this year the Medical school is not publishing a recommended reading list as different individuals prefer learning from different kinds of books- so there's no "one size fits all." I am very much a visual learner, i pick up things a gzillion times quicker if there's diagrams, mind maps etc. As you have survived first year, can you please recommend any books based on the info I have just given you? Just so I can check em out in the library once I start the course :tongue: Also, i've heard from almost everyone i've spoken to about how expensive they are!! Can u quote an estimated figure on the cost of the average book? Thanks in advance. :biggrin:


No idea why they've done that! They gave us the list last year with the instruction not to buy them until we had checked them out, but at least then we had the titles and knew where to look! Here is the list they gave us:

A&P:
Marieb - human anatomy and physiology
Martini - fundamentals of anatomy and physiology
Saladin - anatomy and physiology

Anatomy:
Moore and Dalley - Clinically oriented anatomy
Snell - Clinical anatomy for med students
Grays anatomy for students

Physiology:
Guyton and Hall - textbook of medical physiology
Ganong - review of medical physiology

Genetics:
Read and Donnai - new clinical genetics
Emery's elements of medical genetics

Histology:
Stevens and Lowe - Human histology
Wheater's functional histology

Medical microbiology:
Hart and Shears - color atlas of medical microbiology

Pharmacology:
Waller et al - medical pharmacology and therapeutics

Psychology and Sociology:
Ogden - health psychology
Scrambler - sociology as applied to medicine
Alder at al - psychology and sociology applied to medicine
Baum at al - cambridge handbook of psychology, health and medicine

Other useful books:
Kumar and Clarke - clinical medicine
underwood - general and systemic pathology
inglis - microbiology and infection

Hope that helps you out. Feel free to ask me whatever about Manchester. Based on what you said earlier about the kind of texts you like, and from my experience, I can personally recommend:

Grays anatomy for students (really good diagrams)
Guyton and Hall - textbook of medical physiology (a lot of detail and not the best diagrams at all, but very trustworthy)

Emerys elements of medical genetics

Ogden - health psychology

Kumar and Clarke - clinical medicine (to my mind absolutely essential, I don't know anyone that doesn't use this book!)

The A&P books are all quite similar and I think this really is just a case of whichever suits, but you also don't need to buy one from all the sections really, the libraries are well stocked. PLEASE DO look at them before buying anything though, the prices range from about £20 up to the most I paid was about £80 with an average of £50
Reply 13
Wait don't buy yet :smile:. But in my opinion these are the big four textbooks that will get you through a lot of your course: Rang and dale pharmacology (only reason I ever understood any pharmacology lol) , Kumar and Clark Clinical medicine (as said above, this book really is essential, I love it) , Greys anatomy for students (yay for books written in understandable language with pretty pictures!) and Oxford clinical medicine (aka "cheese and onion") - but you don't really need this till year 3 so maybe wait as there may be a new edition by then.

I personally also love the Crash course series but thats prob cause I last minute cram every exam lol.
Reply 14
Original post by Zakadoh
No idea why they've done that! They gave us the list last year with the instruction not to buy them until we had checked them out, but at least then we had the titles and knew where to look! Here is the list they gave us:

A&P:
Marieb - human anatomy and physiology
Martini - fundamentals of anatomy and physiology
Saladin - anatomy and physiology

Anatomy:
Moore and Dalley - Clinically oriented anatomy
Snell - Clinical anatomy for med students
Grays anatomy for students

Physiology:
Guyton and Hall - textbook of medical physiology
Ganong - review of medical physiology

Genetics:
Read and Donnai - new clinical genetics
Emery's elements of medical genetics

Histology:
Stevens and Lowe - Human histology
Wheater's functional histology

Medical microbiology:
Hart and Shears - color atlas of medical microbiology

Pharmacology:
Waller et al - medical pharmacology and therapeutics

Psychology and Sociology:
Ogden - health psychology
Scrambler - sociology as applied to medicine
Alder at al - psychology and sociology applied to medicine
Baum at al - cambridge handbook of psychology, health and medicine

Other useful books:
Kumar and Clarke - clinical medicine
underwood - general and systemic pathology
inglis - microbiology and infection

Hope that helps you out. Feel free to ask me whatever about Manchester. Based on what you said earlier about the kind of texts you like, and from my experience, I can personally recommend:

Grays anatomy for students (really good diagrams)
Guyton and Hall - textbook of medical physiology (a lot of detail and not the best diagrams at all, but very trustworthy)

Emerys elements of medical genetics

Ogden - health psychology

Kumar and Clarke - clinical medicine (to my mind absolutely essential, I don't know anyone that doesn't use this book!)

The A&P books are all quite similar and I think this really is just a case of whichever suits, but you also don't need to buy one from all the sections really, the libraries are well stocked. PLEASE DO look at them before buying anything though, the prices range from about £20 up to the most I paid was about £80 with an average of £50


Oh cheers mate, you are an absolute lifesaver!!!! :smile: I'll take your advice and check the books out before I commit myself to buying any. Do you mind if I print this list out and keep a copy? :rolleyes: And seeing as you ask, there are a few other things I'd like to know before I start at Manchester mate. I'm a bit worried about PBL and what sort of things I'm going to be faced with? How is it like, a typical PBL session? Am I expected to know many things on our first few sessions? How is it structured, do we turn up on the first day and are given a case study and just have to splash out our thought and ideas onto paper, discuss them and come to a solution quickly...or do our tutors help us out if we're going a bit wrong? So many questions! :s-smilie:

And in terms of the course content, can you give me any tips on how to properly plan and manage my time, and keep on top of things? (Amongst my friends I am known to be the 'Procrastinator' and my time management and punctuality is awful! Its my biggest worry, but I do not know how to address it without supprt from someone outside the box!)

Cheers mate, I know i'm coming across a little thing, but I'm just so nervous and I may be over thinking too many things! People hype up 'how hard medicine is' and seeing as I haven't started yet and don't know what to expect, I'm finding it a little overwhelming! I want to go back to college again!! Lol :colondollar:
Reply 15
Original post by halfadoc
Wait don't buy yet :smile:. But in my opinion these are the big four textbooks that will get you through a lot of your course: Rang and dale pharmacology (only reason I ever understood any pharmacology lol) , Kumar and Clark Clinical medicine (as said above, this book really is essential, I love it) , Greys anatomy for students (yay for books written in understandable language with pretty pictures!) and Oxford clinical medicine (aka "cheese and onion") - but you don't really need this till year 3 so maybe wait as there may be a new edition by then.

I personally also love the Crash course series but thats prob cause I last minute cram every exam lol.


Lol, thanks for your advice pal :smile: I'm a little curious, I'm sat here worrying my ass off just thinking about what I might be expected to know upon the start of my course and thinking about how I'm going to start my exam revision MONTHS early...and you're there doing LAST MINUTE CRAMMING and actually passing your exams?! :eek: How do you manage it? Is it really a huge step from A-Level Biology? Because you're making the exams seem very easy! Lol. Any tips on exams and how to prepare the best I can mate? If you know any revision notes/flashcards etc on first year exams I will really appreciate that :cool:
Original post by akashem2
Lol, thanks for your advice pal :smile: I'm a little curious, I'm sat here worrying my ass off just thinking about what I might be expected to know upon the start of my course and thinking about how I'm going to start my exam revision MONTHS early...and you're there doing LAST MINUTE CRAMMING and actually passing your exams?! :eek: How do you manage it? Is it really a huge step from A-Level Biology? Because you're making the exams seem very easy! Lol. Any tips on exams and how to prepare the best I can mate? If you know any revision notes/flashcards etc on first year exams I will really appreciate that :cool:

Literally, you need to chill. If you have the right books, do moderate dossing about all year and cram using the right revision resources, life is good as a medical student. You'll find resources all over the internet, in books, on your phone etc... There's some really neat stuff out there. I love the website 'almostadoctor' for revision and there's some medicine apps that save my ass in hospital and in OSCEs. Over time, you'll build up your knowledge of resources that suit you. Until then, enjoy your free time as much as possible.
Original post by akashem2
Lol, thanks for your advice pal :smile: I'm a little curious, I'm sat here worrying my ass off just thinking about what I might be expected to know upon the start of my course and thinking about how I'm going to start my exam revision MONTHS early
:s-smilie:

...and you're there doing LAST MINUTE CRAMMING and actually passing your exams?! :eek: How do you manage it? Is it really a huge step from A-Level Biology? Because you're making the exams seem very easy! Lol. Any tips on exams and how to prepare the best I can mate? If you know any revision notes/flashcards etc on first year exams I will really appreciate that :cool:


Best medical dictionary = wikipedia

Medicine is nothing like A level biology.
Medicine is not a difficult degree from an academic perspective.
You will be expected to know nothing when you start. Absolutely nothing.

My best tip for you would be to not come across super-keen and start talking about how you are going to be planning a revision timetable for your exam months in advance, before you have even started freshers. Quick way to not make friends in the lecture theatre.
Reply 18
Don\t use a mixed AP book - use seperate texts, I know mierab is a nursing favorite, (lets not have a pissing contest) but it dosn't cover either subject in enough detail - at least not for my course. I preferred the big grays - looks horrific but you only need to summery pages. amd lecture notes in physilogy.
Original post by Wangers
Don\t use a mixed AP book - use seperate texts, I know mierab is a nursing favorite, (lets not have a pissing contest) but it dosn't cover either subject in enough detail - at least not for my course. I preferred the big grays - looks horrific but you only need to summery pages. amd lecture notes in physilogy.


Agreed, Marieb is ****. Like the Sun of medical textbooks. Easy to read, pretty pictures but crap on content.

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