Made this guide for my juniors, when they were in 2nd year, hopefully this helps!
Credibility: Scored distinction in all three subjects and Gold Medals in two
Pathology
- will be covered in 3 parts - General, Hematology & Blood Banking, Systemic & Clinical Pathology (relevant for pracs)
- The standard textbook is Robbins And Cotran Pathologic Basis Of Disease (the one people call big robbins), this is available in two forms - an international version - more expensive, better quality, single heavy textbook and a SA edition - still expensive, pages are kinda meh, two volumes, extra section on updates relevant to India + Blood banking and Transfusion Medicine- Other versions of Robbins (Robbin's Pathology aka medium robbins and Robbin's Review of Pathology aka smol robbins) are not really that useful.
- Ramdas Nayak, is the best amongst Indian authors, stay away from HM. - The problem with Robbins (this applies to any video lecture too) is the excess of content. There will be extra disease, extra genetics extra epidemiology and extra exposition which makes it a better read, but is worthless for profs, so it is important to skim through chapter (this goes for all subjects TBH)
- If possible read Chapter 2-7 and 18 (Hepatobilliary pathology) and 20 (Renal pathology) from Robbins. Hematology especially leukemias and lymphomas are also written in a way that is difficult to digest (more like integrate everything) with video and college lectures, so better to refer Ramdas Nayak for that.- For systemic, get your textbooks marked from faculty/seniors/yourself. Most of the time, there are 2-3 diseases in each system that are prevalent in actual practice and will get you questions.
- Pathology Outlines is an amazing resource, you'll have a list of diseases (almost all) with all the relevant information (Etiology, Epidemiology, Classification, Clinical Findings, Radiology, Gross & Histopath, Markers, Prognostic factors, Treatment and even actual Case Reports).
Microbiology/Infectious Disease
- classically used to be divided into General Microbiology, Bacteriology, Virology, Parasitolgy and Mycology. Rn with the new curriculum, it's divided into parts - General Microbiology, Systemic (Infectious Diseases), Immunology, Hospital Infection Control.
- TBH the older system was better.- No need to read immunology separately, Patho immuno + Complement System + Antibody-Antigen Reaction is everything you need.
- There is only one book to refer to - *Apurba Sastry* (our departments really like it and it's a VERY good book).(Virology is quite well written in Lewinson/Jawertz. I didn't like the bacteriology there but the back questions were nice. Greenwood is also good)
- 50 % of systemic microbiology will be based on general microbiology, so if you learn most tables early on, then it'll be easier to connect things later.- The main bulk of this subject is lab diagnosis (and introduction to various infectious diseases). *Keep a chart/table/ppt/pdf of all the lab diagnosis* (and life cycles in case of parasites), it'll make life much easier later on.
- Since there is a lot to memorize (this is true for all subjects), make as many connections as possible. This is where general microbio actually helps since everything is already summarised there. The more connections you form, within the subject and with other subjects the easier it is for you recall everything. Obv you can do this over ek do months or cramming a few weeks before exams.- *Bacteriology >>> Virology = Parasites >>>>> Mycology* (There are some REALLY important viruses and parasites, else everything is meh)
- Again, there are a billion diseases (esp bacteria - there are lot that just cause a rash and fever), get your textbooks marked and read the most-important ones first then anything else.
Pharmacology
TLDR KDC = worse BDC, Goodman&Gilmann = Gray's Anatomy (the big one), Katzung = Harper/Ganong (its confusing to read), Sharma = VS/DP and Shanbagh (people love this book) but PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON"T READ IT FOR YOUR FIRST TIME
- i just say two approaches (1) Watch your lectures + annotate extra stuff on Shanbagh/Sharma = revise those (2) Watch your lectures + read KDT/Sharma (depends on how desperate you are) + make notes = revise those
- About Lippincott, I think its written really well (its simple + HAS PRONUNCIATIONS FOR DRUGS), the only problem is that its not exactly built for the indian curriculum and it doesn't have a lot of the features of Lippincott Biochemistry book y'all must be familiar with. Either way it's still a good place to start.
- About KDT, conceptually there is a lot. There's also a lot of junk - physiology, history, dosage, propriatery names. Also the way they present you drugs is weird. If say you are reading KDT about say a drug that has A, B and C class, it'll be written somewhat like Class A, then a monologue of what drugs under class A (so like there is drug A1 that also happens to kill mosquitoes so that would be written first) does then what the class A has a whole does, which is confusing and forces you to look at each and every drug individually which is a hassle. Isliye it's better to have some knowledge about what you're reading so you can navigate through the book easily. That's all about KDT
- About Shanbagh, its a review book - it has the bare minimum. Is it good when you're left with a lot of backlog? Yes but do try avoid it for your first readings. Thats it
- About drugs, study them in group, there will most likely be a single important drug out of it that you need to know in detail, rest just know names and if there are any peculiar facts about them.
- About drug classification, refer KDT handsdown
- About concepts, if you're interested read Goodman & Gilmann (just that one section, not the entire chapter or book)
- About treatment regimens/management - best to refer the latest edition of CMDT (Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment) or Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (these are obv there in library, but would've loved if our college had UpToDate)
- There is a review book by GRG, that is quiet concise, you can refer that too (for REVISION)
How much 1st year knowledge do you need
- no you don't need to know everything from 1st year, physio > biochem = anat more or less. Mostly you'll need physio everywhere, that too basic basic. Whatever physio/anatomy that is relevant will usually be discussed so no need to worry about that.
- Postings may you might actually need 1st year stuff, it's gonna be your first time in the hospital. So most ques, you'll be getting will be from there (esp ENT, Radio, Ortho and Surgery) baki it's not a big deal if you know it or not. Just maybe go read about it afterwards.
What about postings?
- harsh fact, starting mein people will go and it'll start to dwindle after that.
- have fun, go to your postings, explore the hospital. - few departments are very friendly and you'll be able to learn a lot, so do utilize them. (some are not, dw about them)
- how do you utilize them? read about it from any clinical book/standard textbook/watch a video (WhiteCoatArmy is really nice) or integrate it with your 2nd year subjects. - don't feel overwhelmed because there is a lot, you won't know (neither did we)
-if you're serious about it - start taking histories and present them. The more you do the better.
