Merriam-Webster's Medical Desk Dictionary, Revised Edition: Softcover Edition

Rating:
Summary: A not so great investment
Review: I have taught allied health students for years and I can say that I was most disappointed with this book. It is surprising that Delmar Learning, who claim to be such a leader in health textbooks, would put their name on something this miserable. The terms are largely out of date, definitions are badly written, there are no illustrations and students (who apparently this is designed for) would find a hard time using this book. I hate to be so negative but in a word IT IS AWFUL!

Rating:
Summary: Great Dictionary!
Review: Medicine is not my field, but I have had no problems in understanding medical terms with this dictionary, ranging from simple words like "drive" from a medical point of view, including Ct-Scan, to the strangest words for the laymen. It should be useful for a wide range of professionals working in health care. A very fine presentation!

Rating:
Summary: Not my favorite medical dictionary/manual.
Review: This was the first medical dictionary I got while in medical school. Since I was in there for Neuroscience and not to get an MD. perhaps my area of speciality was too limited for those who would usually use this dictionary. It was extremely frustrating to look up things such as encephalocele and find either no information or very little information. I decided that as a dictionary of medical terminology, books such as this cannot be limited to the concise words given in other dictionaries. There were too many times I was reading or writing medical papers in which I had to put this particular version down and look up the information I needed either at school or on the Internet. When you are in a hurry, you don't have time to do either of those things and prefer to have something you can just flip open alphabetically and get the answer you were looking for. I realize someone put a lot of work into this, but it just isn't enough and I have since gotten another dictionary to which I regularly refer. It isn't this one. Karen Sadler Science Education, University of Pittsburgh