Extras: Book Resources you Might Enjoy

Other Resources: Books

Everyone learns differently, so it’s hard to predict the best approach for your studies. Personally, I prefer small read-though books (like this one) that I can finish in a reasonable time and feel like I “accomplished something.” Others seem to prefer larger reference books and then home-in on specific topics as they encounter them in clinic.

Here’s a collection of books that I’ve read that I think you’ll find useful if you want to continue your ophthalmic studies.

Medical Student Books

The hardest part of your studies is getting a handle on this material. Ophthalmology is completely different than the rest of medicine, so you don’t have any scaffolding to build from. All of this is new, so you should probably start with a short book that you can read front-to-back, then expand with more in-depth material.

Ophthalmology Made Ridiculously Simple
A favorite book of mine that I carried throughout my medical school rotations. I especially liked the short length and inexpensive price. The book is well written but with different emphasis than the book you’re holding. The author wrote the neurology rid-simple book as well, so that portion is great. The latest edition has a CD-ROM with a small photo-atlas and short surgery videos. Overall, a good booklet for your collection.

BCSC Ophthalmology
This book is written by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and is geared toward medical students. As residents, we read a larger 13-book set by the same authors. This might make a good second book to peruse, but I don’t really like it as a primary text as the entire series reads like an encylopedia. It is more useful for the beginning resident who can use this intro book to branch into the other 13 books of the series.

Resident books

The emphasis for a new ophtho resident is a little different … not only must you get up to speed quickly, you also need to do well on your OKAP in-service exam. Here are my suggestions for necessary reading:

Ophthalmology Secrets
Probably the greatest ophthalmology book ever written for residents: high yield, easy-to-read question format, and comprehensive. Makes the perfect preparation for the OKAPs. Not great to read during the first 4 months of residency – I read the book the first month and very little of the info “stuck” that early in my training. Now the book is golden!

The BSCS Series
An enormously long and dry series written by the authors of the OKAPS. The books have great photos and diagrams but the text is mind-numbingly dry. Like a dictionary, this text is all-inclusive, but not quite deep enough to be interesting. The books do end with board-style questions that are quite useful to review prior to the OKAPS.

Chern’s Review Questions
The easiest of the question books, and well written. Read this one first, then consider delving into more challenging review books like PreTest and the Mass Eye and Ear series.