Textbook$
[not my office, but maybe someday - University of British Columbia]
i was going to reply to a comment on the previous post that was responding to a tweet in the sidebar, but then i realized it was all getting a little convoluted and just decided to start a whole new post.
plus, it combines two things i’m not doing much around here: writing and writing about med school.
yes, $645 is a lot for one semester of textbooks. there were a few review books and flashcard sets thrown in, along with some paper and miscellaneous school supplies, but MED 4 is probably the most expensive* semester here at MUA. giant tomes like Netter’s Neurology and Robbin’s Pathology aren’t cheap. add to that the fact that i’m stuck on a tiny island in the Caribbean without many reliable delivery options** and MUA’s University Bookstore Online has pretty much cornered the market. they know they can charge us whatever they darn well please because we really don’t have much choice if we want it to arrive in one piece and in a decent amount of time.
of note for any current or future students: used textbooks are often available from upper-level classmates if you are looking to save a bit of cash. because i like to keep my textbooks (see below) and because i am very much a from-the-book (as opposed to from-the-computer-screen) learner, i prefer to start out with a blank slate/page. plus, there really isn’t anything in the world like the smell of new textbook pages. yum.
do i really need every textbook on the “required” list? probably not. i do draw a figurative line in the sand and don’t bother with the “recommended” list, but i LOVE textbooks. i kept all of my books from undergrad whether i thought i’d re-use them or not. yes, even that annoying calculus textbook that might as well have been written in Greek. it’s a guilty and indulgent and wasteful pleasure that proves to be slightly on the insane side every time i box stuff up to move. i don’t own a house or a car or a couch or a television. but i own books. lots and lots of books.
lastly, my 20 months here on this island is ultimately training me to write USMLE Step 1 sometime next spring/summer. the professor’s PowerPoint slides will probably prepare me enough to pass their class. but should i believe that they contain all of the information i am going to need to excel, both on the exam and on rotations and in the Real World?
or should i look at textbooks as another investment in my education and continue to read every thing i can get my greedy little hands on?
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*you also need to drop a few hundred dollars on physical diagnosis supplies like those little thingers that let you look in ears and eyes. fun!
**at least 3 of my orders from Amazon.com have gone missing in the last 10 months. each time, the company was brilliantly fast at either sending another order (which often also went missing) or immediately refunding my money. i have no complaints with Amazon.com or their affiliates that will ship down here. i just can’t wait another 6 months to get my physical diagnosis manual.
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June 26th, 2008 at 9:41 am
I wanted to respond to that commenter yesterday, but figured I’d wait to see if you had anything to say about the whole textbook thing.
I, like you, love a new textbook! I never want to sell mine because who knows when I may have to refer to it or look something up? (that hasn’t really happened in 10 years, but that’s not the point…).
For school last year I also ordered a lot of books from Amazon. Now I get emails from them recommending other textbooks and I get all giddy.
I think last year I spent a good 700 on textbooks, and that was with buying a couple of them used. Medical/biological/science texts sure aren’t cheap.
June 26th, 2008 at 10:36 am
ouch!
I understand the cost, I can’t buy used, either. I also purchased Robbins’ Pathology text and all the expensive diagnostic tools.
Seems like *everything* is more expensive where you live (understandably!). That is too bad,
June 26th, 2008 at 11:01 am
It’s not much, but if you want/need a stethoscope, let me know – I have a relatively new one that’s not getting any use these days.
June 26th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Textbooks are one of the few pleasurable packages we can get here on Nevis, that is for sure. I have bought all new texts and will continue to do so. I have also bought the review books so I know exactly what you are going through. Like you though I see it as a huge investment. : ) : P
June 26th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
I’m lucky. I get almost all textbooks in my uni library. Authors of course are from my country, mostly my teachers. Textbooks are in my native language of course :). Many English textbooks I can use in studing room (Robin’s Guyton…). But it is enough textbooks that I borrow from the library.
June 26th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Ah good old Robbins, beautiful book which I will admit to having never bought or read… I did take it out of the library once… it made me happy to see it there sitting on my desk… I must’ve absorbed something from it :)
I have a few unused medical textbooks, actually I tell a lie… I did use Snell’s neuroanatomy! One day they’ll look really pretty in my office!!!
June 26th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
hmm, are they drug testing you for ‘professional’ reasons, or were you doing it for a lab. was it anonymous?
June 27th, 2008 at 7:03 pm
Buy the books. It doesn’t matter if you don’t use them! I have a similar addiction, and yes I still have that calculus book from undergrad collecting dust on my bookshelf. I still have all my med books, even if I’ve barely used some of them. I think out of all the addictions to have, it might be one of the most benign (except when it comes to moving…I SOOO feel your pain!) :)
June 30th, 2008 at 9:14 am
hi. i think a solution might be to just read the books at the library. studying at the library is perfect especially with the whole solemn quiet mood conducive for hardcore studying.
if you’re OK with “piracy” and reading a pdf file on a computer, then there are free downloads all over the net. one of them would be medicalheaven.com or http://www.freemedicalbooks.org/ or http://medicalbooks4everyone.blogspot.com/ (my personal favourite).
some new ones i found: http://www.freebooks4doctors.com/