Pocket Medicine Ring-bound

was good

Use on floor as a resident. Good resource

Yet, another person who's taken his school notes, typed them up, and charges money for them. The print is too small. The information is often disjointed. If the editor (a loose term at that) wants to do us a favor, charge less and add a little structure.

Though one would think that this handbook would contain the pinnacle of organized medical information given its MGH roots, upon using it they would be sorely disappointed.One major issue with this book is the extreme amount of acronyms present. Though a legend exists explaining the acronyms, it is cumbersome to require the reader to flay to and fro when trying to decipher a statement from the book. Compounding on this problem is the minuscule font size - you'd better have 20/20 vision if you're going to use this manual. The layout is also confusing and ugly, with no real pattern to each page. It looks as if Dr.Sabatine made mini-copies of his personal internal medicine notes and put them up for sale.I cannot recommend this book to anyone. If you're a medical student on the wards, you're better off reading actual textbooks, like Robbins and Cecil, to understand the material. Books like this will only confuse you - they're a tool for knowing what to order, not a way to learn the material. Residents and attendings would be better served with the Oxford handbook(written in actual prose), the Washington Manual(again, prose though very textually dense), and for the residents that use the metric system - all but those in the USA - the excellent "Approach to Internal Medicine" book by Hui.

I see a lot of both good and poor reviews for this book. Personally, I like the book a lot. What it has that Ferri's doesn't is evidence-based medicine. Several major studies (PIOPED, and the like) are summarized. Yes, it is someone's notebook in fancy form. But it's cheap, it's small, and it's good. I found that it was too light on details when I was starting out, but once I felt a little more comfortable with my ability to come up with a basic differential, this was the book for me. It was great help for those long medicine write-ups, providing clinical research correlations. Now it is the only book that I carry in my pocket, full of micrographic notes that I have made from lectures, other books, etc. Ferri's isn't exactly pocket-friendly.

Unfortunately, the previous reviews have failed to adequately address the role and purpose of this publication. Pocket Medicine, at least as I have used it, is the most concise and accurate reference for the practice of Internal Medicine in the United States as conducted at most teaching institutions today. It essentially covers all the major organ systems and disease processes as the most recent literature and textbooks recommend. Possession of this book will allow students, residents and staff to give patients the best care possible from evidence based medicine. You will shine on the wards and at morning report with this material. In fact, you could easily pass the Internal Medicine board certification exam if you knew everything in this book. For those practicing internal medicine from med students on up, it renders Scut Monkey, Ferre, Wash Manual, tarascon ICU books etc, all obsolete. Just look at the section about Swan Ganz monitoring -it's all there. Look at microscopic polyangiitis- it's all there. These are all real patients I've treated and this book works. More than half of the residents, students and staff in my hospital use it. Even surgeons own it. As medicine becomes more complex and scientifically based, publications such as this will be the only way to keep up. In fact, it's very inexpensive for what you get. One caution is that it may be too advanced for 3rd year med students with a poor knowledge base. A wash manual may be a simpler way to start. Unfortunately, those people who gave it a poor review have simply demonstrated their complete ignorance of the modern scientific practice of medicine. I simply hope they never treat any of my relatives!

I agree w/ many of the other reviews. This is a fantastic book for RESIDENTS, not medical students. It tends to gloss over basic information that any resident should already know. For that reason , the book is concise and has all the relevant info in order to manage patients. I also like the small notebook format, so I can add additional pages of info. I agree that this book does need a neuro/psych section to cover CVA/Seizures, delirium/dementia and ETOH withdrawal management. I've already worn my book out in the past two years and look forward to future editions. I have recommended this book to every intern I have supervised on the Wards...It is the only reference book I carry.

This small ring bound book is an excellentresource for the most current diagnostic,prognostic,and therapeutic information when evaluating many patientsduring a limited time frame.Typically, the authors provide references after each subject, to which you can "quote"to your senior resident or attending or make a dash tothe library, only to return with copies of an up to date journalarticle to distribute on rounds while discussing your patient.One suggestion I offer for improvement would be to includea brief review of the basic neurological events that we are oftenfaced with on the wards, such as: CVA (ischemic/thrombotic), seizure,etiologies of dementia/delirium.