I will be attending Ross university startin this August/September and I am a bit worried about the books list. If I don’t order them from the book store and try and save some money by buying them from Island Thrift when I get onto the island is late august is there any gaurantee that i will be able to purchase all the required material there? Basically, I don’t want to wait and find out that all the books have already been sold by the time I get onto the island and be without books for the start of school.

Yes, I was speaking of Doctor, Patient and Society (DPAS). And I would enjoy reading what you have to say about it. (Together with your future rant about being a jack of all trades but master of none.)

Believe it or not but there really are some med school faculty members who welcome (and appreciate) constructive criticism re: med school curricula. Count me in.

Cheers,
Dr.K.

I’m glad you like my new hair style! It’s very low maintenance. Thanks for your feedback. As far as the microscope, I actually did buy one for class and would have loved to use it. I was a little sad when I found out that Ross (I knew many other schools had) had gone electronic. I’m sort of old school when it comes to things like that. As far as the Boron and Boulpaep book is concerned, I may have been a bit harsh. Actually, you’ve inspired my next rant about medical school. The thing with med school (at least the beginning) is that you’re basically expected to be a jack of all trades but master of none. I really wish I had the time to sit down and read that entire book, but it’s just not feasible. I hate the term “high-yield,” but unfortunately, you have to lean towards it in medical school – at least for the basic sciences. Perhaps I’ll give it another read during my break – now that I have the time to actually sit down and enjoy it! As for the DPAS course, did you mean DPS? Doctor, Patient, and Society? If so, I do have a lot to ay about that class.

Cheers,
Kendra

I adore your new hair style!

It’s always interesting to read student opinions on these sorts of things. A few comments from me on some of the books:

Langman’s Medical Embryology is shameful. Many medical schools are now using it in place of Moore’s various embryology books which, although far more in depth than any medical student is required to know, were great resources. If I had my way, we would get rid of Langman’s before it even hit the bookstores.

Wheater’s Histology is good for the pictures – truly “text book” histology images – but not as good for the background/physiology of each tissue. Junqueira is much better for this but some of the histology images in Junqueira are shockingly poor. We need a text that combines the qualities of each … hmmm, maybe I should write a book?

Microscope: I think that you’ll find that this simply hasn’t been removed from the list from the good ol’ days when we actually looked through microscopes. We had a microscope on the list of recommendations for many years after switching to virtual slides (before somebody woke up and noticed that it was still on the list).

I’d enjoy hearing your opinion on the entire DPAS course (not just the textbooks).

I’m surprised to hear that you’d rather shoot yourself then refer to Boron and Boulpaep. I’ll grant that it’s a pretty intense read at times but I’ll be willing to place a bet that you will be thankful that you have it later in your studies. I find it a particularly valuable resource for reproductive physiology. Maybe you can update us with your opinion at the end of your basic science studies?

We have recently dropped Nolte in neuro as students were complaining about the lack of clinical relevance.

Cheers!
Dr. K.