Electives in what you think will be your residency specialty 2. Electives in things that interest you 4. Electives your friends are taking 5. As with the syllabi, a good set of cans renders a textbook moot. Not all schools allow the canning of lectures, but if they are offered you should absolutely sign up and get them.
Some people love to read the texts.
Some people like lectures and don't read much at all. Determine where you fall in the scheme of things and plan your purchases accordingly. PBL represents a more integrated way of presenting the materials. Groups meet and are given clinical situations in keeping with the current subject material. These situations can involve anatomy, pathology, pharmacology, etc.