The most complete and useful GAMSAT preparation manual on the market .
On this page you will find first year Med-School textbooks. To return to GAMSAT book reviews click on the link below.
I have included on this page reviews of all the books I have either personally bought or used in my first year at Med-School. Next to each review is a direct link to Amazon.co.uk which gives the current price of the book and which you can use to buy the books if you want. I have found that Amazon is cheaper than my university book shop, and they also deliver free, which saved me carrying the books home, and believe me, some of these books are heavy! They also have good international delivery rates for Australian students.
If I didn't like a book I have tried to suggest a good alternative.
Principles of Anatomy and Physiology
Author: Gerard J. Tortora.
If you only buy one book in your first year buy this one! Also a great book to buy to do some pre-reading before you arrive for your first term, because anatomy and physiology are needed for everything in medicine so anything from this book will be relevant.
A very clear and well laid out guide to anatomy and physiology. Loads of beautiful colourful illustrations that really stick in your head and make what can be a difficult subject into a pleasure. This book would make things easy even if you have no prior knowledge at all of anything scientific! Also has a handy pronunciation guide to the terminology so you don't make a fool of yourself in front of the lecturers and comes with extra online resources.
Clinically Oriented Anatomy
Author: Keith L. Moore
This book is very good but its extreme level of detail makes it the opposite of "Principles of Anatomy and Physiology" in terms of user friendliness.This is the Bible of anatomy and it has excellent clinical applications boxes all the way through which show the clinical relevance of what you are learning. However unless it is on your university reading list for the first year or you just love anatomy this is probably one to wait until you get into later years to buy. It comes with 2 CD's of extra content but they aren't very useful.
Textbook of Medical Physiology
Author: Arthur C. Guyton
While "Principles of Anatomy and Physiology" above is an excellent introduction to physiology, being combined with the anatomy in one book means it can't compete with a dedicated physiology book like this one. Of all the physiology books I've used this is by far the best, and it will fill in any gaps left by "Principles of Anatomy and Physiology" more than adequately. The old edition of this book was a bit dry but this new edition is much more colourful and has better diagrams. It still has lots of large blocks of text, but you have to expect that when you take the level of depth to the next level as this book does. Comes with access to an online version of the book too, which means you don't have to lug the actual book around with you.
Churchill's Pocketbook of Differential Diagnosis
Author: Andrew T. Raftery
If you're doing a PBL based course then do yourself a favour and make sure you've got this book from day one, it will make your life a whole lot easier. From a set of given symptoms it sets out possible diagnoses and tells you what you need to do to differentaiate between them from history, physical examination or lab tests. It's pocket sized and has a quick and easy index at the front to locate symptoms easily.
