Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary: Dorland's Illustrated Medical Dictionary with CD-ROM [With CDROM]

I'm not in a position to criticize anyone who prefers Mosby's or Stedman's dictionaries; however I have used all three and found the 30th ed. of Dorland's to be my personal favorite.1. Anyone who uses books regularly knows the importance of a dictionary's binding and printing. Dorland's has a beautiful layout, easy-to-read font, and subtle and effective illustrations. The paper is top quality, and few books these days are so well bound. The book stays open at any page and when shut feels like a brick. The binding doesn't flex and the pages don't sag.2. I am not a specialist, but I haven't found any word from a medical textbook that wasn't easy to locate and very well defined. The quality of the illustrations is really striking--particularly for anatomical terms. I find an excess of pictures and photographs distracting in a dictionary, and Dorland's are always well-chosen and relevant.3. The CD-ROM/registration code is a nice plus. I can't comment on the PDA feature, but the access to the internet version of Dorland's is an incredible time saver if one happens to be working at the computer.I love this dictionary. If I had time I'd read it cover to cover. The only downside is the size. There's definitely a place for Taber's or some other compact dictionary for travel, etc.P.S.-- Thanks to Ken Saladin for his excellent critical review. The editors at Dorland's must have been listening too, since the 30th edition has all the terms he listed as missing (and hopefully others as well!)

I have been a medical transcriber for years and Dorland's far surpasses any other dictionary I have used. The layout is that of a common dictionary, which we're all accustomed to using, and it is easy to find the word you're looking for. Compare Stedman's: the layout is confusing in that there are are often many subcategories to one word, and I often cannot find a word I'm looking for, only to find it another day under some heading where I never dreamed it would be. When reading Dorland's, it is clear that the dictionary is geared to the medical professional, with its concise, scientific definitions and detailed illustrations. It is expensive, but well worth it.

I have used the Dorland's Medical Dictionary for 25 years working in a hospital transcription position. This dictionary makes looking up words easy and in most cases I could find what I was looking for in here when I could not find it in the Stedman's. I am buying books for working at home and this is one of my first choices.

As a medical transcriptionist, I have used many different medical dictionaries, but for me, Dorland's has always been regarded as the "Bible." I can always count on it to be accurate in listing all variations and extensions of words. To the person who complained about the quality of the paper of the dictionary and all sorts of "non-essential" things, I can only say look to the essentials of what a dictionary is supposed to be -- accurate, informative, easy to use, and a source you can rely on it -- and Dorland's provides all of those things.

Dorland's and Stedman's are the two premier medical dictionaries. Any physician or other person who requires frequent reference to medical definitions should probably own both (I do). Both books have occasional errors; each book has terms that the other lacks; and each book has some definitions that are superior to the those in the other. However, if you purchase only one, I recommend Dorland's. In my opinion, Dorland's has definitions for more terms, better definitions and fewer errors.