Medical School Resources

Here you can find textbooks, videos, websites, and other resources that helped me when I was studying for an exam, writing a paper or when I either wanted better understanding or deepen my knowledge on some topic.

I thought it would be nice to have everything in one place so I hope you’ll find it useful. Before we get into it I would just like to say that maybe the recommended resources won’t work for everyone, I just gathered in one place what worked for me and what really helped me with studying. I would also like to say that I don’t own all of the textbooks I’ll recommend, some of them I have in PDF form or I borrowed them from our university library.

I will sort resources by subjects so you shouldn’t have trouble locating what you’re looking for. I also linked the (current) latest editions of the textbooks.

For writing papers sometimes textbooks won’t be enough, so you’ll have to find valid resources. I use several science databases to get articles on topics I’m writing about. Usually, I use PubMed but sometimes I have to look elsewhere. You can find more about valid databases in a post I wrote earlier (Best Databases For Medical And Science Students), you can find it here. You’ll also find tips on how to access payable articles for free.

Anatomy

Must have for studying anatomy is without a doubt anatomy atlas. There are so many of them it’s hard to find one that works for you, especially if you’re not yet familiar with them. I’ve already written an anatomy atlas review, so you can find it here so I will just quickly go over them in this post.

This is the one I bought and used for most of the time while I was studying anatomy. I like the fact that it’s in three seperate books because it’s easier to carry it around and you also get an internet version whis was very helpful for me.

I didn’t buy this one because I chose Sobotta, but I sometimes borrowed it in the library when I was studying to get a different perspective and I liked this one a lit as well however for me Sobotta was the better choice and I don’t regret choosing it over Gilroy (his is also perfectly fine).

I also didn’t buy this one but I had a PDF version of it and used it sometimes for the same reason as Gilroy – to get a different perspective of some structures that was hard to envision. I think one of the hardest things to get ahold to for me was CNS and ear anatomy but once I got really into it, it was fine.

I did buy this one because of the text. The pictures are also great and simple and really help you to get ahold of the structures easily but I really liked how well it was written and how everything was described. I used it more than I expected to to be honest.

Physiology

Physiology is probably one of the hardest subjects in med school. One piece of advice I would give myself before I started studying physiology would be to pick one textbook and study mostly from this one and if you need a better understanding of the topic or more information or additional pictures then check other textbooks. Because if you go and want to do everything from all of the textbooks (they’re all great), you’ll just end up lost and confused. So now I’m studying mostly from Boron and Costanzo and if I need more information I check others. For example, when I was studying heart pressure and ECG I mostly used Guyton because it had better coverage of the topic.

This is the one I decided to get, I was choosing between Boron and Guyton but I chose Boron because our professors use it more and I liked the whole composition better. Boron is very detailed and long so I mostly use it for papers, some details, better understanding or sometimes to just add some things to the existing knowledge. I don’t regret choosing it over Guyton.

As said above I didn’t buy Guyton, but I do have a PDF version of the 14th edition and I’m glad I do. I use it mostly for cardiovascular physiology because every detail is very well explained and I think it has great graphs and pictures that I find very useful. I don’t use it as much as Boron but it helps me with understanding concepts quite a lot. To me, it was especially useful for ECG.

I decided to get this one because everyone really recommended it and they were right! This is a great textbook for getting familiar with basic physiology. It’s not very detailed but it’s enough to get ahold of the most important concepts in physiology. It’s great to go over it especially when you don’t know where to start. I like it a lot and I’ve used it a lot this year. Would 10/10 recommend to get started with physiology.

I didn’t use this one as much but I borrowed it from the library a few times because I like its pictures and “in the clinic” sections which make studying more interesting.

They have very nice videos that help explain different diseases and processes so I frequently watch them for better understanding. You can also check out their YouTube channel.

Microbiology and immunology

I wanted to buy this one, but my friend sent me a PDF version of it so I decided to use the PDF version. It’s a great book for med students because it covers medically important microorganisms and it covers everything; bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, and also to some extend immunology. So when I was studying for the microbiology exam I used this textbook a lot. I also liked the short summaries on each microorganism which helped me when I was revising.

I’ve had mixed feelings about this textbook to be honest because content-vise it’s great, detailed enough for what I needed and with great explanations, however, I didn’t like the pictures very much. They were understandable and you could learn a great deal from them but they just didn’t work for me. Otherwise, this textbook was very helpful to me when I was studying immunology, it also has great table summaries that are useful for revision.

I think we’ve all heard about Sketchy. If you’re a visual learner this is jackpot for you! I used it for microbiology and pharmacology and it helped me tremendously. I still have a hepatitis B picture before my eyes and remember most of the details so I would highly recommend you to check it out! Here’s also their YouTube channel.

Pharmacology

Probably one of the best textbooks for me. It is very extensive and detailed but it has amazing pictures and everything is very well explained. I also like its system and the way chapters are organized. It really helps with understanding mechanisms of action and side effects and also mechanisms of drug interactions which is very helpful because learning everything by heart would be too much and inefficient so understanding is the key and this textbook really helps you do that.

This is like Rang and Dale pharmacology but shortened as the title says. I think it’s great for revision, or if you don’t want to go into too many details. Everything important is there so that you won’t miss the major things. It also a little more affordable comparing to Rang and Dale pharmacology.

Like I said in microbiology section if you’re a visual learner this is jackpot for you. They also have a youtube channel so you can watch the videos there.

Histology

I got this one as a gift and I was not disappointed. It’s like a little mixture of everything; mostly histology and a little anatomy and also embryology and not to mention the pictures that are very nice and give a great insight into some structures.

Cell Biology

This was probably one of my favorite subjects because I really like biology and I was good at it since I can remember (unlike math). This textbook is really extensive and detailed but I think it’s really good for better understanding of some topics.

They helped a lot with amazing videos that help memorize things faster. I watched their videos a lot for things like Krebs cycle and beta-oxidation of fatty acids and things like that, most of the metabolic pathways. They also have a YouTube channel.

Pathology

Like many of the textbooks mentioned above, Underwood’s pathology is also extensive but the good side of this is that you’ll probably find most of the information you’re searching for. It has great pictures and schemes and I like studying from it. I also had a paper to write in my pathology class and I was able to get around 80% of the information from this textbook. It also has a lot of tables that help with memorizing crucial information.