Greetings. I
have written this post half way before going on a vacation with my parents. I had
been pretty busy ever since I came back. I was only reminded to post this up
yesterday when Cheryl asked me “What books we need for second year ah?” Ops~!
Ok, let’s
roll~
Pathology
The study
load of this subject is relatively fair. I spent less time on this subject than
the rest. We did not touch all the system; only those that is important to us. The
lecturers of this subject explained things very clearly and they take it at a
slow pace. The class notes are lesser compared to other subject.
The textbooks
are quite thick. We are using the same books as the MBBS students. Since we don’t
use the whole text book, some of us Xerox the pages required, some opt to buy
the books. I prefer to have my own book because the colored photos inside really
helps in understanding. Underwood is
good for the basic concepts; we used it more in block I and block II. This book
is really simple and straight forward. Another book, Robbins for me was good for block III and IV. For this book, you
need to digest the information slowly; a little tougher than Underwood. Most of
the spotter’s photos were also taken from these two textbooks. Again, class
notes are very important. It’s good if you can add up the extra information from
the textbooks every time after class that day.
Microbiology
In 2nd
year, most of us suffer most on 2 subjects; microbiology and pharmacology. I
only got to like it when I was preparing for unis’. It’s a subject you have to
read from various source, link them together and try your very best not to mix
up the pathogenesis, clinical symptoms and lab diagnosis. Every organism might
look similar but they really differ in many ways. The first block was really
confusing. I remember we had an SDL session on the classification of various
forms of bacteria where the lecturer asked us to give examples of each group. I
just don’t know any of them yet and have to even purely memorize the names of
the bacteria for exam. Immunity chapter is actually interesting and I only
sorted out CD 4 and CD 8 function during my study break. I was really confused
about the whole picture throughout the year. Things started to become more
stable from block 2 onwards.
The textbooks
for microbiology are plenty. Certain books are good for certain topics. Mims was the standard textbook. It runs
a system based arrangement which differs from other textbook. Other textbooks
are organisms based i.e. Bacteria, virus, protozoa. Mims is sometimes detail in
certain topic and sometimes really brief on others. Levinson is good for immunity. Another book call ‘Arora for Dental Student’ is good for chapters
like bacteria genetics, malaria, oral microbes. This book is a must buy for 2nd
year because it really concentrate more on the microbe of the mouth and those
that are of significance in the dental profession. There is another 2 books
which are quite similar in content. Ananthanarayan
and Baveja. Baveja organizes the
information in notes like order whereas Ananthanarayan does it in paragraphs. They
both are good for the individual organisms learnt in block 2, 3 and 4. Except for
Arora, I suggest you just take a Xerox of the information you need in the other
books, or else you really have to spend a lot on the books.
Pharmacology
It’s the
subject I dislike the most. I don’t like things without understanding. It was a
real pain memorizing those drug names. The first two blocks I was merely
chanting away in my room and always end up forgetting everything the next day.
It nearly cost me to fail my block II exam. I find the best way to tackle this
subject is by group study. Do a thorough reading on the day the topic was
taught. And yes, it will take up a lot of time, maybe almost 2-3 hours. Later,
gather with a friend or two during the weekend and bombard each other with
question. It really helps. Just so you know, block 2 is terrible, so don’t even
dare slack a bit then!
The good
news, we just require one textbook, that is ‘Tara V. Shanbhag for Dental Student’. (There is also another
version for MBBS, so make sure you buy the correct one.) It’s quite complete
and easy to read. Class notes is still important but do also read the textbook
as MTF also cover whatever is in the book. Occasionally, the lecturer will
recommend Tripathi, a deeper textbook.
It’s not necessary to have this one though.
Dental Materials
I must say,
credits to our good lecturers for this subject, it was really easy going. I
still remember first year where we don’t pay attention and was totally clueless
what does strength or ductility means. Dr. Arul face will spell out the total
disappointment in us. Things were much clearer in second year. It’s not hard,
just a little effort and interest can help you do well in it. The topics
sometimes overlapped with conservative dentistry and prosthodontics. What I find
most important is to apply whatever we learnt in the other fields of dentistry.
An advice, always do your revision a day before Dr. Arul comes in, he always
conduct Self Assessments before starting class. You actually benefit a lot from
it, so don’t put it to waste.
Philips is a good book but I will recommend to start
off with Shama Bhat first. Class notes
are important but it’s good to read up the textbooks.
All in all,
I suggest consistency in your revision. Whatever
you learn, try to apply it in dentistry, especially the basic science subjects
(Patho, Microb, Pharmac). For practical wise, just try not do slack too much in
prostho and cons. You will really regret it if you do so.
That’s all
from my side. All the best for 2nd year.
(Ps: Sorry for
not posting any photos. I don’t have the books with me currently, couldn’t take
a photo of them)
