Histology for Pathologists

Rating:
Summary: What is a Pathology intern?
Review: If you are a pathology intern or resident, this book was written just for you. How many of us graduate from medical school and remember basic histology? My guess would be few to none. The book is organized into sections based on organ systems and further subdivided into chapters on specific organs within those systems. It provides a "refresher" about the embryology and gross appearance of a particular organ before launching into the histology, and most people could probably use the review. The color pictures are excellent, and, in my opinion, a MUST for any book detailing histology; black and white photos just don't help me very much at this early stage in my career because they don't convey the details the way color photos do.

My only complaint is that the book has no photos that display the tissues as we actually see them in surgical pathology. For example, when I look at pictures of the histology of the colon, I would like to see a few shots of biopsied tissue rather than tissue that has been nicely sectioned from a colectomy specimen. Often, the tissue received for histology review is just a small fragment that is frequently missing some layers or may be crushed in areas, and it would be beneficial to see photos of the histologic appearance of these tissue fragments. That being said, the book is sometimes helpful in its written descriptions of artifact that may occur during tissue processing, and there are a few photos to go along with these descriptions. Perhaps I'm a little greedy in my desire for more photos, but someone once said that a picture is worth a thousand words!

Don't buy this book to learn pathology; buy it to learn normal histology.

Rating:
Summary: Great choice for the Pathology intern
Review: If you are a pathology intern or resident, this book was written just for you. How many of us graduate from medical school and remember basic histology? My guess would be few to none. The book is organized into sections based on organ systems and further subdivided into chapters on specific organs within those systems. It provides a "refresher" about the embryology and gross appearance of a particular organ before launching into the histology, and most people could probably use the review. The color pictures are excellent, and, in my opinion, a MUST for any book detailing histology; black and white photos just don't help me very much at this early stage in my career because they don't convey the details the way color photos do.

My only complaint is that the book has no photos that display the tissues as we actually see them in surgical pathology. For example, when I look at pictures of the histology of the colon, I would like to see a few shots of biopsied tissue rather than tissue that has been nicely sectioned from a colectomy specimen. Often, the tissue received for histology review is just a small fragment that is frequently missing some layers or may be crushed in areas, and it would be beneficial to see photos of the histologic appearance of these tissue fragments. That being said, the book is sometimes helpful in its written descriptions of artifact that may occur during tissue processing, and there are a few photos to go along with these descriptions. Perhaps I'm a little greedy in my desire for more photos, but someone once said that a picture is worth a thousand words!

Don't buy this book to learn pathology; buy it to learn normal histology.

Rating:
Summary: Too expensive, too voluminous, a bit boring, not great.
Review: It is not easy to write a good histology book. Most histologists are not pathologists, and do not know a bit about real histology. These guys are M.D.'s, but because there many of them, the book is not a great success. E.g. there is no Toker cell, try to find a Merkel cell (not in the index, present in text).

Rating:
Summary: Great text for path residents
Review: One of the most difficult parts of starting a path residency is knowing what is normal. This book is perfect as a review book and also during the residency.
I have reffered to it many times and feel it is an indispensible part of a pathologists library.

Rating:
Summary: What is a Pathology intern?
Review: Practical, helpful, useful book. An excellent, wise choice; you won't be disappointed.
I'm a bit puzzled by a phrase in the previous reviewer's review, however: What is a pathology intern?
As someone who did a year of internal medicine (that is, an internship) before going on to pathology residency, and who now works with pathology residents, I'd like to point out that, as far as I can tell, there is no comparison between the first year in internal medicine, or surgery, or pediatrics (that is, the internship), and the first year of pathology training (called simply the first year of residency).
My internship year was the first year that the term "internship" was officially supposed to be NOT used; rather, we were to be referred to as "first-postgraduate-year" or "level I" residents, or something like that.
Typical foolishness from folks with too much free time.
Guess what: we were still referred to as; were still treated as; still referred to ourselves as; and still worked the ridiculously, unreasonably, brutally long hours of: ...interns.
Anyway, a great book - buy it, and use it.

Rating:
Summary: Indespensible when you need a comprehensive histology source
Review: This is a well organized text/atlas of histology that includes a modicum of histopathology as well. In my experience as a PGY-3 pathology resident, I don't refer to it very often, but when I do I find it to be indespensible. I have not come across any histology book that is quite so comprehensive. In addition, it serves as a fairly good quality atlas. My only criticism is that I would have liked to see more charts and tables with regard to immunohistochemistry and special stains.