Acid-Base, Fluids, and Electrolytes Made Ridiculously Simple (MedMaster Series)

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Summary: All you need to start learning about fluids and lytes
Review: Acid-Base, Fluids and Electrolytes MRS is an outstanding book. It presents a traditionaly complex subject in a clear way. It is an excellent teaching tool for medical students and internal medicine residents.

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Summary: Thank goodness for this book
Review: Acid/Base Made Simple was a very valuable guide during all four years of med school -- it saved me more than a few times from embarassing gaps in knowledge. Three of my residents said that they still use it as their primary reference when they encounter acid/base physiology problems. The explanations were crystal clear and the topics addressed are all clinically important ones that come up again and again in the hospital. The book has excellent diagrams, but its strongest point I thought was it's writing style. In contrast to many books on the subject, this one is written in a casual, almost conversational style that makes it so much easier to read and learn. This is one of the few books that has earned a spot on my bookshelf and will not be sold at the end of med school!

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Summary: Ridiculously Amazing
Review: First - to comment on the "negative reviews":
1 - Yes, you need to know some renal physio to read this book, this is a book that is highly recommended for Medical Students, not for patient education.
2 - Right - this book is not intended to teach Renal physio -- read the title of this book. Dont look for explanations on GFR and the such in here -- this book was not made for this.
Ok - now my review:
This book will help you in your clinical studies tremendously -- it helped me while taking internal medicine (helps you finally learn which patients need which kinds of fluids with which supplementations, and at what rate to give it, etc.), tx of DKA is prevalent in my hospital and it helped with that too. It helped me in Critical Care -- where accurate reading of ABGs is mandatory, hyponatremia/pseudohyponatremia is super common, and other electrolyte disturbances need to be evaluated. Even helped me in GI! I haven't taken Nephro yet -- but I am sure it will help me there too.
This book is concise, logical, and clear. It makes tough topics easy to understand, but does not oversimplify. Topics that are super high yield for clinical practice and step 2 are explained perfectly. Perfect for med students. I think it will be too simplistic for residents -- who I think already know this stuff cold. This book is great and I highly recommend it.


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Summary: Acid-Base, fluids and Electrolytes made ridiculously simple
Review: I think Acid - Base and Electrolytes is one of the most challenging topics in Medicine . During my second year in Med. School our Head of the Department of Nephrology, on the first day of the course said that if there is one book I would like you all to follow is Acid-Base , Fluids and electrolytes made ridiculously simple. After reading this book I will say that our chief was absolutely on the money . This is a Classic book , not only for medical students but also for residents. There are many different clinical cases and the explanation on each of the cases is great . I think the most important aspect of the book is that it is an easy read .

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Summary: This book saved me.
Review: I'm a first year PA student about to enter into the second clinical year. This "Ridculously Simple" book saved me during our nephrology unit. It made difficult topics accessible and in plain English; the questions section at the end of each chapter helps to bring concepts together clinically. I struggled with kidneys and ended up acing the test, mostly due to this book...I hear from many medical students/PA's they often refer to this book during their internal medicine rotations. Lastly, I found the neuroanatamy book by the same publishers equally as helpful.

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Summary: Excellent nuts and bolts perspective
Review: I'm glad I found this - fluids and acid/base is one of those topics that is easy to get a grip on (even basic EMT's have a fair working knowledge of it) but very difficult to master, unless someone shows you the path. In this case, the path goes through the loop of Henle, and while you will get lost if you don't know your renal physiology (you better know the loop cold) this is the best little volume I've ever seen for laying it all out. It is a very dense book - there is no fluff. I gave up highlighting after a while because nearly every line was important. It will also bear repeated readings. Some of the chapters only made sense on the second or third reading, and this was with the material made as simple as it could be made. But if you're stuck on nephrology and acid/base and can't seem to make heads or tails of this topic, I highly recommend this little book. It also greatly benefits from multiple real world exercises using the many formulae that you'll learn, calculating fluid and electrolyte defecits. Great stuff.

For PA's and MD's (and students of same.) I can't see it being of any real use to staff nurses unless they work in a really high speed ICU or they just want to know a lot more than they learned in school.

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Summary: Do you have a background in renal physiology?
Review: If you are a medical professional or student you will probably LOVE this book and I enjoyed what I could comprehend. But I would mention that the marketing of the book is misleading because there is a prerequisite renal knowledge which is not directly disclosed. It is not 'ridiculously simple' at all without the background. The cartoon cover implies it would reflect a simpler content. The sample book pages skip page 1 and 2 explaining the prerequisites. The last on-line page identifies the target audience. So buyer beware. I am not qualified to comment on the content other than it is very well organized, concise and has lots of examples.

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Summary: Acid-Base, Fluids, and Electrolytes Made Ridiculously Simple
Review: It is Just great. it opens your concepts for further and more complicated problems on these topic. Is a Must have for students and for all residents.

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Summary: This book saved me.
Review: Ok well it seems that everyone loved this book. This is an excellent basics approach to the kidney topic. It has excellent clinical applications for hyper/hypo kal and natrimia. It also has a great section on approaching acid-base problems in a 3 step system. This was a wonderful inclusion. The one problem for those wanting to know about physiology, this book doesn't contain it! NOTHING on clearance, GFR, or Renal blood flow! If it had this it would be a 5 star. It is a complete power house if you buy it and Lippencott's physiology board review.

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Summary: Clear and Readable
Review: This is a wonderful little book that makes these complex topics clear. The concepts are laid out in easy-to-follow steps, and the cases at the end of each chapter really help you integrate the concepts.

If you are looking for a clear introduction to this complex topic, you will find this book a superb guide. I've enjoyed Acid-Base the most of the "Ridiculously Simple" series, and found it to be elegantly simple.