Rating: 
Summary: Swanson's is The One book of Family Medicine !!
Review: A friend of mine used to tell me many times how great this book is. While he was telling me about it, I was thinking (OMG, what is so great about it?) Before taking my Family Medicine rotation last year, I saw it in a book exhibition, and had a chance to look at it. I was convinced to buy it without hesitancy !This book is well organized and uses the most recent management guidelines.
It's divided into 9 sections: (Adult Medicine), (Obstetrics), (Women's health), (Psychiatry, behavioral science, and communication), (Children and adolescents), (General surgery and surgical specialties), (Geriatric medicine), (Epidemiology and public health), (Emergency and sports medicine). Each disease is divided into sections:
Section 1 starts with a problem in a scenario.
Section 2: you're asked multiple choice questions (MCQs) and (Short Answer Management problem) about clinical signs and symptoms, best investigations, and management. I felt that some MCQs are not well written, may be these represent the Board Exam style!
Section 3: Answers to the MCQs and Short answer management problem.
Section 4: Summary.
Section 5: Suggested readings. I found the information flowing smoothly and made me think of what I'm doing in managing a patient, and what the next step should be.
I think it's very useful for a revision of the basic info about a disease. Congratulations for the authors about this excellent book!
Rating: 
Summary: You can do better for step 3/for FP boards OK
Review: get nms questions and strong medicine for step 3
this is way out of date and does not even cover the topics tested on step 3 let alone ccs
Rating:
Summary: Great Review
Review: Great Step III or Family Med review book. Very dense but excellent content. Note that some of the HTN guidelines are based on JNC VI (Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure) and JNV VII was published in Fall of 03 so a few of the recommendations have been adjusted.
Rating:
Summary: Great Review
Review: Great Step III or Family Med review book. Very dense but excellent content. Note that some of the HTN guidelines are based on JNC VI (Joint National Committee on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure) and JNV VII was published in Fall of 03 so a few of the recommendations have been adjusted.
Rating: 
Summary: Good concept but loads of errors - buyer beware
Review: I have never written an Amazon review but I thought I'd share my reservations about this book that I got to prepare USMLE step 3. As many others have commented, the concept is excellent, the case-questions-summary format really good to facilitate retention of the material. However, I am amazed at the huge number of mistakes that this manuscript contains. Some of the errors are so bizarre that they are unlikely to fool anyone, for example the recommendation to treat hypertension with "betablockers with intracarotid sodium amytal" (!!) (p.26, apparently they mean intrinsic sympathomimetic activity). Others are much more dangerous for your exam and your potential patients, like using "a PTT of 1.2 to 1.5" to monitor warfarin (should be PT or INR, p.35), stating that "one random glucose exceeding 125 mg/dl" defines diabetes (p. 95, should be two), treating status epliepticus with 50 mg dextrose (should be 50%, p.126), saying that "MCV<100" characterizes megaloblasic anemia (should be >100) etc. etc. In the adult medicine section I picked up an error like that every 4 pages or so - so imagine how many I must have missed!
In summary, I think this is a good concept bogged down by what I assume is sloppy proofreading. I would not trust this book to review material I am not very familiar with and I returned the book. I hope they'll do better in the next edition.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Review for USMLE STEP-3
Review: If I could rate this book higher, I would. Although written for the Family Practice Boards it was an excellent review for USMLE STEP-3. All the areas that are presented appear on the USMLE exam. Of course one will have to suppliment this book with other sources, but not much. It was particularly helpful with the accompanying questions. It seems like alot of pages to read, but the style makes it fast reading, and consequently comprehension. If you have limited time, funds, even medical knowledge--this is the one book to purchase
Rating: 
Summary: Swanson's Family Practice Review
Review: Overall the book has a great format. It covers topics well and it is interesting to read -- unlike many others. It addresses why the right answers are right and the wrong answers are wrong for the multiple choice questions. Some books only address the right answers. CAUTION: there are quite a few errors and it is not up to date on many topics. Hormone replacement therapy does not protect from heart disease. Many references are from the late 80s, some from mid to late 90s and occasionally 2000 or later. If the reader has been keeping up with the recent changes in the medical field these errors will be obvious. I still like this book because it is easier and more fun to read than others. If you need this for more than just review and plan to use this to learn family practice -- get a different book. Be very cautious of those other reviewers that gave this book 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Swanson's Family Practice Review
Review: Overall the book has a great format. It covers topics well and it is interesting to read -- unlike many others. It addresses why the right answers are right and the wrong answers are wrong for the multiple choice questions. Some books only address the right answers. CAUTION: there are quite a few errors and it is not up to date on many topics. Hormone replacement therapy does not protect from heart disease. Many references are from the late 80s, some from mid to late 90s and occasionally 2000 or later. If the reader has been keeping up with the recent changes in the medical field these errors will be obvious. I still like this book because it is easier and more fun to read than others. If you need this for more than just review and plan to use this to learn family practice -- get a different book. Be very cautious of those other reviewers that gave this book 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A CME Rip-off
Review: Potential buyer's of this review book should be aware that it was published in 2000 and is seriously out-of date. I thought that the advertised web site would make up for that deficiency by being more up to date . . . it is not. Most disturbingly, the advertised "75 hours in Category 1 CEM credits" are simply not available. When I sent in my check to register for these credits, it was returned "address unknown." Stay away from this rip-off!
Rating:
Summary: Good format but out of date!
Review: Several years ago, word was out that this was the book to use for Step 3 review. That may have been the case, but it is no longer. I saw this book was out in a 4th (2001) edition, so assumed it would be up to 2001 standard of care. Unfortunately, each section ends with a couple of references, and most of these were dated from 1992-1996. When I saw penicillin G recommended as S. pneumonia treatment, my red flag went up (30% of community S. pneumonia isolates were Pen-resistant in 2000), and when I saw cisapride recommended as definitive treatment for heartburn - well, that drug's been off the market for safety reasons for 2 years. So I closed the book - I'm a neurologist, I can't be expected to know what *else* is out of date in here! I realize that Swanson's multiple choice format is no longer appropriate to the new patient-oriented boards, but I was surprised to discover such out-of-date content, too, in a book ostensibly dated 2001. USMLE Step takers and all other physicians, purchase and read only with great caution - I suggest using a different book.
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