To med students and lecturers: which is better Grey's Anatomy for students or Clinically Oriented anatomy?

Question

I'm a first year med student, and for the last month I've been trying to decide which of the two books to buy. I can't afford both and I've glanced through both of them and they seem equally good.

I've also read Amazon reviews and I can swear there is a conspiracy as the both have identical review ratings. So please could any med student (not first years prefferably) or lecturers who have had experience with both and have a prefference for one over the other please explain why it's the better of the two.

No silly comments e.g: "Grey's rock period" just sensible concise answers please. If you are a KCL student, I'll be very greateful if you said so because your preffered book maybe more suited to the course.

Thank you very much in advance.

Answer 1

We used "Essential Clinical Anatomy" but the only useful thing in the book were the sidebars about clinical correlations. If your school gives out a notepacket in addition to the book, I would skip the book and just go with your notepacket. That's what I should have done. Do invest in a good atlas though. I have Netter's, and I like it. I also have the Haines neuroanatomy atlas which isn't bad.

also try http://www.netanatomy.com/

Ask your fellow students that are ahead of you what they used, you may even be able to buy their old book cheap!

Answer 2

Clinically Oriented Anatomy

Answer 3

I study anatomy on my own without any formal assistance of any kind like you do. Further I audit online Medical School lectures at a certain Medical School therein and even further I have both books .... I bought Moore first as it was the required text at most of the Med Schools I wanted to get into... then I found out about Grey's....

I still use Grey's for clarity of thought and manners with regard to teaching a subject that most of us 'cept maybe Berkeley have very little immersion in.

I look forward to reading my for students grey's every time... I didn't enjoy the dead ends and blind alleys of Moore and the pictures in Grey's are a lot more relevant least to this guy.

Answer 4

Hey I'm a first year KCL medic :D but my brother is a 5th year( at KCL) and I asked him the same question he said he prefers Clinically oriented anatomy but it depends on what you want to do with it like an anatomy atlas like Human Anatomy by Gosling Harris Whitmore Willan would be better if pictures and want to understand dissections better as it' got pic from dissections. (I think it was one of the recomended books in Dr Hunters hand out.)

I'm Ali btw :)

just to point out some people might be reffering to Gray's anatomy rather than grays anatomy for students.

Answer 5

Apparently you didn't like the answers given when you asked this a few days ago. A regional anatomy book with subject headings such as the head, the neck, the upper extremity, etc. is more helpful at the dissecting table. Remember, there is life after freshman year, too. Occasionally in practice you will want to review a part of anatomy. So think twice before you sell your books.

Gray's is a comprehensive reference, but it is arranged by systems, not regions. There are pros and cons to each approach. And yes, an atlas is also helpful throughout your career.

Answer 6

Gray's (not Grey's) is a painfully boring textbook that has been edited over the years to make it more palatable.
I don't have experience with the other text.
Grant's Atlas is a must.
I still use my Grant's from many years ago but I cannot remember when I even thought of opening my Gray's.
It is just a shelf filler.
Perhaps it has changed over the years but my guess is this year's sophomores will know which book is easier or better.
Old Doc

Answer 7

I am not a med student...I am an athletic training/pre-pt student....but I have "clinically oriented anatomy" and personally I am not a huge fan...it just doesnt ever seem to have exacrly what I want in it...I would go with Gray's

Answer 8

If you understand the basics of A&P and your eventual goal is to go to medical school then I would recommend Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy.

Answer 9

I personally liked Gray's. It offers all the info you would need in order to learn everything about the different sections of the body. There are lots of pictures and things are reiterated which helped me learn.