Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease

Rating:
Summary: The best pathology book for students!
Review: ...so goes your Medicine". That was on a T-shirt made by a path professor in med school, and while it seemed pretty self-serving at the time, it turns out to be largely true. To master the trade, you need a clear, concise understanding of pathology, and Robbins has been and continues to be the best source from which to learn our trade. I read mine through on schedule, re-read it each weekend with a highlighter one chapter at a time, then transferred my highlights to a notebook (I think for me that was where most of the info actually sunk in) and then at exam time used only my notebooks to review. It worked great for me, and while the "mini-Robbins" was loved by many, I never really used mine, finding the above system more than adequate. Robbins remains a great book that you must digest. Good luck!

Rating:
Summary: GREAT USMLE STEP 1 REVIEW
Review: For path on the USMLE step this book is essential. Use First Aid for a guide to what topics are high yield. BRS and other review books are not ideal as they are weak in introductory path (inflammation response, growth factors etc). This book will cover everything you need. This book is all you need for immunology also!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: The Original
Review: I refer to this book time and time again as a physician. It was the best book I read in medical school and it is still relevant to me now. In a time when "evidenced-based medicine" rules, it's good to refer to basic physiology and pathology at times.

Rating:
Summary: Great book for those going into pathology!
Review: If you are an ordinary medical student like myself this book is too detailed and has everything there is to know about the subject. It is a great book for those who have a basic understanding of pathology, but for those who don't good luck reading it for the first time. Some of the comments(jokes) in the book are also not needed. I believe that "Basic Pathology" 6th. edition from the same authors is a lot easier to understand with better and more colorful diagrams.

Rating:
Summary: thick but not good
Review: If you are looking at this text, then you should already know that Robbins is synonymous with pathology. There is nothing like sitting down on a Saturday night to brush up your pathology with this text.

Rating:
Summary: Med Students - MAKE TIME FOR THIS BOOK
Review: If you're able to plan enough ahead of time, read this book early and often. GREAT book - gives a good overview (yes, overview) without being too concise or too lengthy - appropriate level for Med Students, esp 2nd year. Its great to combine with Wheater's Basic Histopatholgy.
CRAMMING? then read BRS Pathology AND First Aid.

Rating:
Summary: THE path book for ppl who don't mess around!
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: thick but not good
Review: The book is written in a very dense matter and extremely unfriendly to reading but worst of all it has very few histological images so while the description is there you often times do not see it and so you don't learn it.

Rating:
Summary: Smart Book in Pathology
Review: There are hundreds of thousands of medical facts existing in this field. Memorizing all of them seems impossible to medical students. The only way to turn out this dead end is to understand fundamental mechanisms of diseases. Robbins illustrates those mechanisms with easy-to-understand ways. No confusion, no frustration. I also wannna criticize the "Basic Pathology". Although it's written by the same authors, it's too simple. With not much corcern to mechanisms. This book leads ambitious readers to hell!

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: This book is comprehensive. I bought it because my school issued me the "Robbin's Basic Pathology" and I wanted the extra detail. I wasn't disappointed. The explanations are quite clear, and the CD that comes with allows you access to the complete text of the book online, as well as some practice sample cases and lots of slides. It is a bit tough to get through, simply because it is long, but the rewards are considerable. I highly recommend this book.