Medical School: What are the best books for MBBS 1st year?

Hi everyone 👋😇

First of all Heartiest Congratulations to everyone who has cleared NEET UG, India's one of the most competitive exams. & welcome to this Medical field. All of you are the Champs & Would be Doctors 😎

So now, you'd be shifting from searching for how to score 650+ in NEET UG to how to study in 1st yr MBBS?😁

Anyways, see basically in 1st yr, there are 3 main subjects, ANATOMY, PHYSIOLOGY & BIOCHEMISTRY. In majority of the colleges, you'd also be taught PSM or Community Medicine (including in MCK), but you won't have any exam in 1st Prof for ComMed. There will be 1 Semester, however, but I'll tell about this in the end of this answer.

[ALERT: VERY LONG POST AHEAD. SO DON'T GET AFRAID😅😆. I'VE MENTIONED ALL THE POPULAR BOOKS FOLLOWED THROUGHOUT INDIA, SPECIALLY IN AIIMS & ALL OTHER TOP COLLEGES IN THE COUNTRY & FEW HIGH YIELD & MCQ PRACTICE BOOKS ALSO FOR YOUR COMPETITIVE EXAM PREPARATION. & ALSO, AT THE END I'LL TELL YOU REGARDING 1 MASTER BOOK FOR ALL THESE 3 SUBJECTS WHICH WILL MAKE YOUR STUDIES REALLY MUCH MUCH SIMPLER. SO DO READ TILL THE END & I'M SURE IT'LL HELP YOU SCORE EXCELLENTLY]

So, coming to your question about the books in 1st yr MBBS, it is one of the most common question asked by almost everyone & even I was asked this question so many times by so many people. Now before mentioning the books per se, first of all let me give you a few advice on how how to choose the books wisely, so that you don't make a mistake.😎😁

Now, gone are those days of NEET preparation, where you just used to read only 1 book & ie. NCERT & that was The Bible & all questions used to come from that book only. Now, things are Not like that. There are 100s of books in each & every subject or even topic & no single book is enough or like there's no single book from which all questions will be asked. But, obviously it's not possible to buy or even read so many books for a single subject & even if you want to, there's no time at all.

So, what I suggest is, see, there are already 250+ answers to this particular question in Quora. Similarly, there are many videos on Youtube & other social media platforms too, where everyone would have mentioned about few books. & there will be many books suggested by your seniors in college too. Now, you will always be in a confusion ki hum kon si book choose kre among these huge plethora of books?

So, see what you need to do is, don't buy any book now. You can go to your college library & take the books, if they allow you to do so. Or, you can borrow books from your seniors. Or, the most popular one, download the Pdf of the book & start reading. Almost all the books are available in Pdf format. You can download them from Google or Telegram or from Libgen. Otherwise, I also have a few Google Drive links & I think I've provided them in some of my previous answers too. You can go & download them from there. & in case you aren't able to find any Pdf of any book which I'll be mentioning down, just mention in the comments, I'll give you.😃

So, basically what you have to do is, take the book. Try to read the initial few chapters from it & see how it suits you. See how is the language, presentation, diagrams & flowcharts, etc. & then based on that, buy the book which you like the most. Remember, which book you like, varies from people to people. So, choose wisely & choose the one which you feel is better. & also, don't buy anything that comes on the way. Max 2 books per subject is ok. Otherwise, anyways you won't be able to finish that only. So, why waste your money on them. & also neither is it possible nor advisable also to read the same topic from 5 books.

So, what I suggest is buy max 2 books per subject, which you feel is better for you. Read them only & Revise regularly. That's more important, rather than buying 5 books, but not able to finish any of them fully.

& also another advice, very important, Remember, studying something & remembering it even from an Indian author book is much much much much better than just buying a foreign author book but not studying it or not able to remember anything from it. This is very important. Like, I have seen few people running after Harper's & then Not studying or not able to retain anything from it. So, rather than that, study just Satyanarayan or Pankaja Naik atleast & if you remember things from there, well & good. Much better.

So, in short, don't just run around books. Try to choose the best 1 suitable for you & also, don't jump always in foreign author books. Yes, you should try them obviously, but if you aren't able to grasp them, then leave it, bcoz those type of books aren't for everyone. Instead, follow a simple Indian author book & try to remember everything from that. That's sufficient & absolutely ok.

Now, regarding this question, ie. Books in 1st yr MBBS, I have already written an answer last year, while I was towards the end of my 1st yr. But, I didn't mention some books there & also that answer was specifically only for those who are from WB. So, if you're someone who is planning to study MBBS in WB, you can go & check that out, ie. Books to be followed for 1st yr MBBS in WB. That'll help you. I'll be giving the link of that answer in the end.

So, in this answer, I'll be telling you regarding all the important books in all the 3 subjects, followed throughout India & not only listing them, but their advantages, disadvantages, which 1 to choose, which 1 not to choose, what are the other available options, etc etc. & I'll also be segregating the books in categories like Foreign author, Indian author, Concept building books, Exam Preparatory books, MCQ practicing books, etc. & around 50% of this answer from now will just be a copy paste of that previous answer only. But yes, I'll be mentioning a few more things & books here. & also I'll be mentioning 1 Master book in the end, as I said. So, try to read till the end & I can guarantee you it'll help you immensely & will clear all your doubts & will help to choose the best book & excel in the exam.

So, finally, let's get started 🤩😅

ANATOMY

Now, first of all, before beginning, I'd just like to mention 1 thing. I got an Honours in Anatomy (>75% marks in 1st Prof) [in both Theory& Practical] & that too just by reading only 1 book & that is Vishram Singh, nothing else. Why I'm telling this is bcoz I'm Not flexing, but I just wanted to emphasize upon the points I told earlier. Follow the minimal number of sources, study & revise that properly & don't just run for foreign author books.

Anyways, now let me tell you the books.

1.General Anatomy

Very neglected part, but very easy & majority of it is already known to you. So, please give some time & read it.

a) Vishram Singh

b) BD Chaurasia

Both are equally good. To the point content, written in point wise manner & supplemented with diagrams. Easy to remember & replicate in exams.

You can follow any 1 of these you like. No problem. Almost both of them are equal in all aspects. So, choose any 1.

2. Gross Anatomy

Now this is what majority of the students keep on studying all the time. But, please give importance to other areas as well.

a) Vishram Singh (3volumes)

b) BD Chaurasia (4volumes)

Again, 95% similar materials. Both are given in point wise manner with colourful diagrams (Important from Exam point of view). I found Vishram Singh's language a bit more lucid than BDC & also diagrams are a bit better & easier to replicate in Vishram Singh. So, I followed Vishram Singh. But, you can very well follow BDC also. No problem. Infact, BDC is much older & also more popular throughout India. So, you can follow that too. But as I said, books vary from person to person. Some prefer BDC. I liked Vishram Singh, but again I repeat, both are 95% similar only. So, buy any 1 of them. No need to buy or follow both. But whatever you choose, follow that fully.

3. Embryology

Most neglected part of entire Anatomy. Even it was the most neglected part even by me. Just studied before the exam. But, please try to put some more time in this. It'll help you later in Pediatrics & ObG.

a) IB Singh (more content but good diagrams)

b) Yogesh Sontake (less content)

c) Vishram Singh (more clinically oriented & better diagrams)

I followed IB Singh but you can buy any one of the 3. All are equally good.

4. Neuroanatomy

This is the most toughest part. So, try to stick to only 1 source & don't go into too much details. It would ultimately confuse you even more.

Only Vishram Singh.

It's the best as everything is well explained in very easy way with diagrams & written in point format. Must buy book.

& I'd recommend you to follow this only, rather than BDC Neuroanatomy book.

5. Histology

So, this is all about Histo slides (pink & blue under microscope). Again, might seem a bit boring, or difficult & in some colleges neglected too if Dept. is not strict. But let me tell you if you're not good at Histology, you'll terribly falter next yr in Pathology. Your basic understanding of all the Histopathological slides next yr is based on this Histology only bcoz unless you learn what is normal (Histology), you won't be able to appreciate what is abnormal (Pathology).

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