How to Kick-Start your Final Year! (MBBS) - Dr Zunaira Malik

Final Year MBBS! Sounds scary, doesn't it? But trust me once you're done reading this post, things might start to make sense. I spent a great deal of my time trying to figure out the perfect recipe for Final Year, i had almost no help from any of my seniors and i was honestly lost for the first few months. But after going through a lot of books, i finally figured out what i needed to get myself through this nightmare called "Final Year".

I'll start by sharing with you guys the Dropbox folder I've compiled for Final Year, it contains all the necessary notes, photos, videos, PDF docs, links etc that you'll need throughout this last year of MedSchool.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/3lp553e5a79iwt7/AADhC8UZvgQRhpsjKNHsc1AQa?dl=0

Now, coming to the main topic for today "Which books should you follow in Final Year MBBS?" Well, i have some advice for you guys but before we get into it i want to clarify the fact that i am a completely average student (not a nerd but not a slacker either) so this recipe holds true for all those of you who plan on achieving a decent score in the end and also get ahold of the basic concepts needed to practice Medicine in the future.

GUIDE FOR FINAL YEAR MBBS BOOKS

MEDICINE:

• For wards, Oxford and Bedside (perfect for your clinical techniques and cases you see in ward)
• KAPLAN (Preferably with videos) and Davidson (Big one)
• Follow Rank Order and KOD lists for Medicine, it's impossible to do every single topic and every chapter. Stick to the ones in these lists, you won't regret it.
• Kaplan should be your first book but cross check those topics from Davidson and do the tables and all the diagrams.
• Psychiatry, Infectious diseases and Liver are to be done completely from Davidson! For all other Units once you check the lists, you'll know which topics are not in Kaplan and are to be done from Davidson.
• However there are a few topics not mentioned in Kaplan, which you can find in Davidson. So you CANNOT just stick to Kaplan. Going through Davidson is a must (only for topics mentioned in KOD and Rank Order)
• Medicine is tricky and really lengthy so its always preferred to visit the wards as much as you can. The cases you've observed with your own eyes will always stay in your memory for a longer time as compared to those you've just read off of the books. Patience and revision in the key!
• Davidson is an amazing book, one that'll surely come in handy in your Post Grad exams but to go through all of it in Final Year is a waste of time. The key to passing Final Year is to keep yourself as concise as possible and focus on the important topics, keep revising them.

SURGERY:

• Dogar (MORE THAN ENOUGH ESPECIALLY FOR SYSTEMIC SURGERY)
• For wards, Dogar Osce/Ospe book is perfect! It has all the methods they expect from you in ward tests and Final Prof.
• Bailey, well to be honest you don't need this book unless you plan on sticking to Surgery in your post Grad time. But in Final Year, going through all of it is a waste of time because it has a lot of extra information and tbh you won't have that much time to study it. You can just keep it with you and look at the tables and diagrams because those are good but all the theory is sufficient in Dogar.
• Norman Browse, yes they made everyone buy this book in 3rd year but tbh its a waste of time it has a lot of extra stuff which you don't need for your short cases.

GYNAECOLOGY & OBSTETRICS:

• Ten Teachers is more than enough for all the topics.
• Follow Rank Order and KOD lists but not to the dot. Focus on those topics as your first priority but just have a look at all the rest too. Just to be safe.

PEDIATRICS:

• Pervez Akbar. Yes it seems impossible to make sense of at first but just keep at it. This book is more than enough. Once you're done with Medicine at the end of the year Paeds will make a lot more sense since a lot of topics overlap.
• Kaplan. Some people preferred this book too. Said it was concise and made more sense. I haven't done it myself because tbh i spent most of my time focusing on Medicine and didn't have a lot of time for Paeds. You can take a look at this book and see if it works for you.
• For wards, Khadeeja Bukhari's clinical examination notes available at the bookshop are perfect for the job.

*Keep visiting the wards and looking at patient's files and examining them. You should know how a certain disease manifests in a person and how it progresses and what immediate treatment is required for it* (FOR ALL SUBJECTS)

Dr. Zunaira Mohsin

CMH MBBS Batch of 2018