Harrisons Manual of Medicine

This pocket manual really does contain everything you could possibly need for an excellent pocket reference during your internal medicine rotation. Also clearly references the larger text, in case you want even more information.

Once again the authors of Harrisons's Principles of Internal Medicine have come up with a succinct resource in this Manual. All the chapters have clear references back to the big tome. The tables are clearly laid out and have only the necessary data in them. If you're looking for just key words relating to a smattering of internal medicine, this is not the book for you. There is still a reasonable explanation in terms of pathophysiology and epidemiology of many conditions. The book is about A5 sized, and ~1000pages - but they're very thin sheafs of paper. I'd recommend getting the Principles of Internal Medicine too - or at least have access to a copy. A very good competitor is the Oxford Handbook series - though I think that this manual contains more information by more authoritative figures, without the 'artistic' writing that irritates me in the Oxford handbook.

What a wealth of information this book provides. The clinical vignettes and decision-making criteria were particularly helpful.

Briefly speaking: this book is for people who are familiar with the field of Medicine. Every few years I have to get a new edition as medicine is developing so rapidly. As I am now out of the mainstream of Medicine, when I want to look up something I read this book and the Merck Manual and I look up words I don't know in the on-line medical dictionary. That provides a fairly good intro. If I want to know more I go into the papers on PubMed. As far as I'm concerned, this book is a must-have, if you want to try to keep up with the field.

This is an excellent resource for those questions that need quick, consise answers. The chapters for Harrison's Principles of Internal medicine are neatly summarized into quick-reading two or three page summaries, with many helpful charts and management tips. Depth and underlying pathophysiology is not well covered, but that's what the big book (Principles) is for. My only complaint is that with this edition, the book is about 5"x8", which doesn't fit into my coat pocket. The companion to the 14th edition (4"x6") is virtually identical in information, and fits in my pocket.