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Books for the 1st year medicine
As with all my other recommendations, they are just that - recommendations.
Some people like diagrams, some like lots of colors. And some just like cheap books with nothing but text.
The first year is basically science classes and no medicine!
Yes, you won't feel like a medical student until you get to the clinic and you will not see a single patient until the third year.
The Hungarian system is built on a pre-clinical and clinical structure (read more about it here).
If you had Biology, Chemistry/Biochemistry and/or Biophysics (not Newtonian physics!) in high school, I recommend that you bring the best books from these courses with you to Budapest.
Here are my recommendations:
Anatomy
This is a huge subject that spans four semesters (first and second year).
I have written a separate section on this here.
Biology
Updated February 2008!
You can get a book to teach you the basics of human (and similiarly developed animals) biology, but the material during practice can only be learned by attending class.
Personally I recommend The Cell. It is a large book, and it has a smaller version (The Essential Cell), but it is better to get the big one and make sure you cover all the material in proper detail.
I have talked to lots of students that say they needed a genetics book for this course.
Genetics is covered in the second semester, so you don't need to get this book until after Christmas.
I forgot to mention that I used the following book (which I can recommend):
Mange: Basic Human Genetics
Chemistry
There are three parts to the Chemistry class
- First you will cover basic inorganic chemistry
- Then you will have an organic chemistry part
- Finally cover the essentials of biochemistry (Biochemistry is a huge subject in the 2nd year of your studies).
I suggest that you get a basic Chemistry book, such as Ebbing's General Chemistry.
Most students are not used to reading textbooks in English and it is therefore good to have a general Chemistry book in order to understand the basics.
An alternative to Ebbing's General Chemistry is Zumdahl's General Chemistry. They cover the same stuff, just flip through the two to see which one you like better.
You do not need a biochemistry book for the first semester, so the book above is all you need for the first semester Chemistry!
Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry is a good Biochemistry book with useful organic chemistry, but it becomes 'too light' very quickly, since Biochemistry is a very detailed and complexed course.
So, it is good for the last part of the first year Chemistry course, but too light for the second year Biochemistry course.
I am hessitant to recommend Lehninger, because I feel that Ebbing together with the Lippincott's Biochemistry (see below) is sufficient.
But if you have the money, get Lehninger also.
An alternative to Lehninger is Stryer's Biochemistry. They are equally good, just browse through both to see which one you like better.
Finally, get Lippincott's Biochemistry. It is all you need for the Biochemistry part of the Chemistry subject in the first year.
This is great for the first semester of the second year as well!
Biophysics
The Department of Biophysics has everything you need.
If you need more details, just use the internet.
Also, you will have practice notes (a folder) and together with the textbook it is all you need.
Hungarian
You don't need to buy a book for this course, but you should get a small 'everyday Hungarian' guide, so you know what to say at the restaurants, local stores etc.
The following classes are also part of the first year, but you will only have them in the second semster (Feb-May)
Immunology
I just bought the Thieme Series: Immunology book and was very happy with it.
The notes from lecture covered most of the material, but it is always good to have a decent Immunology book, because you will need to review this course several times in the years to come (in classes such as Pathology, Pathophysiology, Internal Medicine etc).
First Aid
No book needed.
Medical Terminology
A new class. I didn't have it when I was in the first year, but I have not heard of any books for this subject.
I had Latin when I was in the first year and the book we used there was supplied by the university during the first class.