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Summary: The Bible of Medicine
Review: Dubbed the Bible of Medicine, the Merck manual is a book condensed enough to cover all the major aspects of of medicine in a text written that even though is targeted towards health care practitioners, can also be used by that layman. Written first at the end of the 19th century, the manual covers nearly most of everything in the medical field. From why epilepsy occurs to that dreadful itchy rash, the topics are concise, up to the point and easy to understand. Even though a home edition exists, the black book can be used by educated people to know anything they would like to know, with the exception of surgery.The book is divided into an alphabetical scheme, where all the topics are featured in that order. However that can be confusing as such since the subtopics are not arranged that way. Case in point, if you wanted to search for Candidiasis of the skin, you should not search under C, but S for skin disorders and then follow things through. This can be confusing at first, but then again, this is not an encyclopedia or dictionary of medical terms. The great thing about the book is the way everything is covered in the basic schema of background, signs and symptoms and then therapy. This helps people understand the topic in the right sense and actually makes it stick to your mind for a long time. The book is also good enough to mention the doses of the drugs used to treat an ailment. No medical clinician should be out there practicing without the Merck Manual on his desk. This is a quick reference that is essential in the day of evidence based medicine and where the patient is educated enough to be a part of his or her treatment plan and not just the silent recepient. The book can be found in the hard copy format and is available for the PALM, which makes it the best reference carried in a doctor's pocket. Very Highly Recommended!!!
Rating:
Summary: Best Medical Reference for Layman!
Review: Have owned both the 15th and 16th editions and find the information concise and useful. I am not a medical professional but using this reference I can find information on various conditions and then speak with some inteligence to my physician concerning my own situation. Look forward to owning the 17th edition soon. Best medical reference I've found.
Rating: 
Summary: Good for the lay public
Review: I am a Medical Doctor and a board certified anesthesiologist. This book would be a valuable asset to the lay person, but lacks the substance necessary to be considered a reference text for medical professionals.
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Summary: A NEED IN EVERY DAY MEDICAL PRACTICE...
Review: I HAVE BOUGHT THIS BOOK SINCE I START STUDYING MEDICINE 30 YEARS AGO, AND I HAVE MY NEWEST ONE FROM 1999. EVERY DOCTOR MUST HAVE IT AS A DESK HELP.
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Summary: A Medical Education for Amateurs
Review: I have owned a Merck Manual for the last 30 yearsand it has been invaluable. Our family has been through a lot of serious illnesses over the years and from our first Merck Manual and through the years we have educated ourselves. One great benefit of this is that you learn what questions to ask the doctor and also to take the doctor's answers to your Merck and enlarge upon the knowledge the doctor gave you. Merck Manual won't and shouldn't make you as knowledgeable as your doctor but it will make you a better educated patient.
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Summary: The best edition of the best medical reource available
Review: I have purchased every edition of The Merck Manual starting with the 10th edition. They all have been the best medical information resource available at the time. The new, 17th edition, has surpassed all past editions. The typeface has been improver (made larger), the layout of topics has been changed for the better and the writing style has been made more lay person reader friendly. In sum, the best has got even better.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, compulsory in my office, everyday's reading.
Review: I've got all editions since 1972. It used to be renewed every 5 years. Now I'm furious as there isn't yet fixed date for seventeenth edition. Reason?: extraordinary summarized compilation of medical theoretical and empirical updated information! Not a single line is redundant or vane.
Rating:
Summary: A must for every one in a human body
Review: If my doctors would have read this book, I would definitely be in a healthier condition. But all my propaganda did not help. In Switzerland they prefer Harrysson, which is larger, but therefore no doctor has the time to read it. The Merck Manual seems to be the best book for concise information about diseaes, diagnosis and therapy. The authors are high level in their fields and still present there topics in a comprehensible way. But still, some knowledge about physiology is assumed. Pathology can only be understood as a deviation from physiology.
Rating:
Summary: A complete textbook of medicine which you must buy
Review: In my country ( BRAZIL ) as in other parts of the world the Merck Manual is a standard of medical book.
Here in Brazil this books is used as a legal reference in cases of legal judgement of doctors by malpractice.The explanation for this : The Merck Manual has all of a good doctor must to know.
Merck Manual has chapters about every topic in medicine (except surgery).
I think this book very large and almost impossible to read until the end, word by word.But I think is a great book to read about a specific disease of a patient and so expand our compreention of that.
It is a great book to the resident doctor makes a first reading.
This book is very cheap too and I think it is a good acquisition to medical library of medical schools.
A final point : This book is easy to read and understand , a great feature for people of country where the official language is not the english.
Rating:
Summary: The best compact summary of internal medicine
Review: It's amazing to me that a book like this could still be current. In many ways the Merck Manual is a relic from another age, when doctors had to fit their entire medical libraries and equipment in a stagecoach and specialists were unheard of outside the largest cities. It remains a wonderful travel reference for the physician, great vacation reading for the medical student, and an affordable way for the educated layman to pursue a personal interest in medicine. A layman who wants to tackle the Merck Manual in its entirety will need a good college science background and a medical dictionary. While this book is very well written, it is quite dense and often assumes a basic knowledge of the medical sciences. The Merck manual is probably the only serious medical textbook that is affordable for the general reader. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in medicine--those considering medical school will probably find it especially valuable.
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