Pocket Companion to Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease

The best part about the "Pocket Robbins" is its concise explanation of just about everything that the "big Robbins" says. I have found that one of the most important decisions I make in medical school is how I focus my time. I can usually read through the pocket robbins in about half the time as the big robbins. I then use the big robbins as reference to clarify any concepts the the pocket robbins may not have explained in enough detail. One of the only real drawbacks to the pocket edition is that there are no images. The pocket edition references the page numbers of the topic in the big robbins so that you can go and look up the corresponding pictures. All in all, I really think this is a great book and if I had to choose between it and the big robbins, I would probably pick the pocket and supplement it with a pathology atlas. Happy studying.

I love this pocket edition of Robbins. I use it to look up items when I am studying the week before exams. Everything high yield is in here and the index is great. I travel with this little thing, it lives on my desktop...it's the only book on my desktop. Cross-reference with Big Robbins, especially for photos.

The small Robbins pulled me through my pathology. There is no time to read the big Robbins. I used it to prepare Step1 and i am glad that i use it.

There is no way around it. You must read this book, and review it thoroughly. If you haven't time to read the Papa or Mama Robbins and review with the baby, then just read the baby. You may utilise the Papa or Mama for its pictures otherwise. This is the only way you'll ever come to understanding pathology; I've finally come to realise it. Much easier to grasp the pathophysiology than in the BRS.

This is one my pearl for all second year students preparing for the boards: This book is the gold standard for being properly prepared for the Boards. I memorized this book, Ganong's Physiology, Katzung's pharm review, Jawetz's Micro review. I also memorized Lippincot's Biochem, NMS Neuroscience, NMS Genetics. I broke 255 and am now a first year resident at my first choice for neurosurgery (and I only wanted the most prestigous programs). If you have high aspirations, then you must memorize Robbins' pocket companion also. It is so much more thorough than the BRS and retains some element of succinctness. There are no path questions on the boards that you won't be able to get if you memorize this book from cover to cover. That is the key. Memorize this book and the others mentioned above and you too can pick where you want to do your residency.