It's all crap really. I hate it. It's needlessly complicated.
In other news, I am getting fatter. Which some people would say a good thing, but I have body image issues as well, so goddamnit.
And on with our scheduled program:
AKUNONA: THE GREAT 2012 BOOK CONSUMPTION REVIEW part 2
Non-fiction
Wait, do I even read non-fiction? I do. But in all honesty, I think this categorization is misleading, because the bulk of this will be medical text references that I bought in 2012. Hah. Nerd. I am. But, hey, maybe you'll find this helpful. And not all of it is Medical text anyways.
1. Case Files: Obstetric and Gyneacology, Case Files : Emergency Medicine
I am a fan of the Case Files series. The first of the series that I bought was the Internal Medicine book some years ago and I have been searching for other titles in these series ever since. These are the two titles that I bought last year.
The Case Files series first presents a case, then asks a couple of questions concerning that case. You try to answer that, and turn the page where you'll find the correct diagnosis and the reasons behind said diagnosis. This is then followed by a short text explaining the disease. The length of said text and the contents discussed varies with each diagnosis. Or basically what the book thinks is important. At the end of every text, there are four questions in the USMLE style and the answers with explanations to these questions.
It is not, by no means, a complete reference. It's more of a work book. The text is short and sometimes lack some information. But it's pretty good for case practice. If you want to learn in depth about a certain disease or something, there are other, more in depth reference texts that you can use when you have the time. It's pretty good to add up on some information. I usually read these during down times between visits.
To be fairly honest, I haven't finished reading either of those books. The closest I've come to finish a case file book is the Pediatrics edition because I had a lot of free time during that posting.
In other news, I am still hunting for the Neurology one.
Oh, and I maybe have to warn you, if you want to take USMLEs, I think that the books are good as additional reading but the questions won't really help you that much if in preparing for the questions. For one, there's only four of them every case. Max out at five, sometimes, less than that. If you're looking help on answering questions, maybe look for a question bank.
2. Abernathy's Surgical Secrets
This is a difficult book. In my opinion, it's only useful if you already have a base of knowledge in the subjects being discussed. It's good if you want to add up on your info, especially the more obscure ones, or the not really obscure but you never made the connection before type of information. So, it's pretty good if you want to impress your consultants (though gunner-ship/patho-ness is not recommended). If you're reading it as your first choice of quick reference, you're going to have a hard time navigating.
Either way, it is very interesting.
3. Epidemiology by Leon Gordis
This was required reading for my community medicine posting so maybe it shouldn't have made this list, but hey. I thought I'd include it anyway just because of the way it's written. I don't know if it's just me, but most reference books I've read are all pretty much straight forward. This is the information, read it, kinda approach. It's there and all you have to do is consume it. But this book is written in a way that makes you think. It leads you, with easy, understandable sentences so that you, as the reader, figure it out yourself. In a way, it's kind of abstract. But really fun. The fact that it uses simple sentences also makes it an easy read.
This book is probably the only high point of my Community Medicine posting.
4. Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose.
Surprise! First non medical text!! Though some people I know would eye-roll at the subject matter. You see, Band of Brothers is a book about Easy company of the paratroopers and their endeavours in world war II, specifically the European theatre. Having watched the HBO series, I fell in love with WWII and thus went down this very weird road of WWII obsession. Not the guns, explosions route though. More the what happened where and why part. Also, I managed to confuse countless people with this new and unexpected obsession. But that's beside the point.
The book, like I said, centralizes around E company. So if you want a view of WWII from the soldiers' point of view, than this is a good read. It has a lot of references be it from interviews with the original members of E company, notes, and diaries.
I don't really know what to comment on this, since I'm pretty new to these kind of books, but it was an interesting read. It was dragging, it didn't needlessly jump around, it wasn't confusing. So, pretty good. I liked it a lot.
Other non-fiction read in 2012:
5. The Pacific - Still reading this. It's rather slow going because being home is taking over my head. :) I'll try to finish this soon. Up till now though, the parts I've read are pretty good.
Not a lot in the Non-fiction category. Like I said, I'm more fiction. I read for fun. So yeah. Though, I guess I have to admit, that sometimes I read medical texts for fun as well. Namely, the Case File series that I mentioned, they're my main source of For Fun Medical Reads. Maybe I'll read some more for 2013. :)
1. Case Files: Obstetric and Gyneacology, Case Files : Emergency Medicine
I am a fan of the Case Files series. The first of the series that I bought was the Internal Medicine book some years ago and I have been searching for other titles in these series ever since. These are the two titles that I bought last year.
The Case Files series first presents a case, then asks a couple of questions concerning that case. You try to answer that, and turn the page where you'll find the correct diagnosis and the reasons behind said diagnosis. This is then followed by a short text explaining the disease. The length of said text and the contents discussed varies with each diagnosis. Or basically what the book thinks is important. At the end of every text, there are four questions in the USMLE style and the answers with explanations to these questions.
It is not, by no means, a complete reference. It's more of a work book. The text is short and sometimes lack some information. But it's pretty good for case practice. If you want to learn in depth about a certain disease or something, there are other, more in depth reference texts that you can use when you have the time. It's pretty good to add up on some information. I usually read these during down times between visits.
To be fairly honest, I haven't finished reading either of those books. The closest I've come to finish a case file book is the Pediatrics edition because I had a lot of free time during that posting.
In other news, I am still hunting for the Neurology one.
Oh, and I maybe have to warn you, if you want to take USMLEs, I think that the books are good as additional reading but the questions won't really help you that much if in preparing for the questions. For one, there's only four of them every case. Max out at five, sometimes, less than that. If you're looking help on answering questions, maybe look for a question bank.
2. Abernathy's Surgical Secrets
This is a difficult book. In my opinion, it's only useful if you already have a base of knowledge in the subjects being discussed. It's good if you want to add up on your info, especially the more obscure ones, or the not really obscure but you never made the connection before type of information. So, it's pretty good if you want to impress your consultants (though gunner-ship/patho-ness is not recommended). If you're reading it as your first choice of quick reference, you're going to have a hard time navigating.
Either way, it is very interesting.
3. Epidemiology by Leon Gordis
This was required reading for my community medicine posting so maybe it shouldn't have made this list, but hey. I thought I'd include it anyway just because of the way it's written. I don't know if it's just me, but most reference books I've read are all pretty much straight forward. This is the information, read it, kinda approach. It's there and all you have to do is consume it. But this book is written in a way that makes you think. It leads you, with easy, understandable sentences so that you, as the reader, figure it out yourself. In a way, it's kind of abstract. But really fun. The fact that it uses simple sentences also makes it an easy read.
This book is probably the only high point of my Community Medicine posting.
4. Band of Brothers by Stephen Ambrose.
Surprise! First non medical text!! Though some people I know would eye-roll at the subject matter. You see, Band of Brothers is a book about Easy company of the paratroopers and their endeavours in world war II, specifically the European theatre. Having watched the HBO series, I fell in love with WWII and thus went down this very weird road of WWII obsession. Not the guns, explosions route though. More the what happened where and why part. Also, I managed to confuse countless people with this new and unexpected obsession. But that's beside the point.
The book, like I said, centralizes around E company. So if you want a view of WWII from the soldiers' point of view, than this is a good read. It has a lot of references be it from interviews with the original members of E company, notes, and diaries.
I don't really know what to comment on this, since I'm pretty new to these kind of books, but it was an interesting read. It was dragging, it didn't needlessly jump around, it wasn't confusing. So, pretty good. I liked it a lot.
Other non-fiction read in 2012:
5. The Pacific - Still reading this. It's rather slow going because being home is taking over my head. :) I'll try to finish this soon. Up till now though, the parts I've read are pretty good.
Not a lot in the Non-fiction category. Like I said, I'm more fiction. I read for fun. So yeah. Though, I guess I have to admit, that sometimes I read medical texts for fun as well. Namely, the Case File series that I mentioned, they're my main source of For Fun Medical Reads. Maybe I'll read some more for 2013. :)
end part 2
akunona
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