Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease: With Student Consult Online Access

If your pathology lecture handouts look like this: "toxoplasma - immunocompromised host - cardiac transplant" and you are thinking, "What causes what? Can professors use verbs?" then this may be the book for you. I found myself in the situation of requiring more explanation, and R & C PBD fits the bill. Pros: - Thorough (at over 1500 pages, it better be!). - Readable - I noticed that people disagreed on this point. No, it is not "fun" to read, but I think it is as good as you can get. The text does not assume that you have mastered the previous chapters, it provides explanation throughout, making it possible to open it anywhere and still understand what is going on. - Summary tables, nice photos, clear diagrams - could maybe use more of them. Cons: - It's enormous! of course, that's a problem with the subject, not the book. I guess you have to ask yourself if you can set aside the time and concentration to get through it, if not, purchase BRS pathology. (Tip: if the weight of a 1500-pg. book bothers you, get the binding removed at a copy shop and carry the currently relevant pages) - No study questions - I recommend its Review of Pathology companion with 1100+ questions for ample board review. Good luck, you hardcore path master!

This text is very concise compared with Robbins Pathologic Basis of Disease. Both are excellent, but this "smaller" book actually has everything you need for the general pathology part of the written AP boards. I am specifically referring to chapters 1-9 with 10 and 11. It needs to be read with near total comprehension, but the color graphics are excellent aids. All other systemic pathology topics should be covered in a surgical pathology text, of course.

This is THE textbook of pathology for students of medicine and dentistry! Pros? Well, it has all the 4 C's...1) Clear language... minimal verbosity, straight to the point2) Comprehensive ... it has all the facts the student needs to know for exams as well as future clinical practice3) Colour pictures ... not the black and white stuff but full colours to add more morphological meaning to the texts4) Cast ... I'm sure everyone wants to read a book written by authoritative pathologists? Cons? 1) Cumbersome ... students just initiated into the world of pathology may find it tough to plough through the thousand over pages of text (like I did while in med school), but believe me, if you stick by it, you'll enjoy the fruits of your labour in due time. 2) Some of the facts and tumour classifications may be a little out of date (latest edition published in 1999) but if you're a student, don't brood over it. Tutors would probably highlight major updates during your pathology course.

The 7th addition of Robbins Basic pathology is several hundred pages shorter than the previous edition. Most of what was removed was basic physiology and anatomy review. I found that while it's good to have a shorter textbook, the loss of these subjects made for less interesting reading. The 7th edition also adds quite a bit more molecular biology and molecular genetics, reflecting chnages in the study of pathology. Overall, it's an excellent pathology review book and will be very useful for medical students and path residents who want to review. The main flaw of the book is an unavoidable one. Many important areas of pathology are covered in a single paragraph and much detail is lacking. However, the authors had to do this to keep the book relatively short (only 700 pages). I recomment this book highly as a good way to begin studying pathology.

This edition of Basic Pathology is a very good book for Medicine students, because it is as complete as necessary for a graduation course, and this book's easy language and beautiful diagrams, pictures and tables makes Pathology easier to understand.