Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary -Thumb-Indexed Version [Unabridged] [Hardcover]

Donald Venes (Editor), Clayton L. Thomas (Editor), Clarence Wilbur Taber (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary (Thumb Index Version) | Publication Date: June 1, 2001

Detailed illustrations, full-color images and tables are cross-referenced from their entries and bring the outstanding definitions to life. With 56,000 terms in all, Taber's 19th is the most comprehensive health science dictionary available.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2439 pages
• Publisher: F a Davis Co; 19th edition (June 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803606540
• ISBN-13: 978-0803606548
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.7 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #280,038 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

134 of 141 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable for Professionals, Students, & Laypeople, May 4, 2004

By 

Jacob Hantla "hantla.com" (Chandler, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary -Thumb-Indexed Version (Hardcover)

This dictionary has enough information to be useful for even the most learned medical professional and is still simple enough to use to be accessible to any mildly educated member of society. The dictionary is much more than simply a dictionary. Consisting of the vocabulary section and then some appendices, this 2270-page godsend is chockfull of definitions, examples, full-color diagrams, charts, diagnoses, and more. The preface to the dictionary actually lists all of the features of this cyclopedic dictionary, so I will regurgitate it here:
1. Vocabulary
2. Easy-to-Use Entry Format
3. Alphabetization
4. Eponyms (including biographies of those after whom things were named)
5. Definitions
6. Pronunciations
7. Singular/Plural Forms
8. Etymologies
9. Abbreviations
10. Encyclopedic Entries
11. Illustrations
12. Tables
13. Adjective Forms of Words
14. Cautionary Statements
15. Synonyms (Very helpful!)
16. Cross-References
17. Appendices (Basically all the stuff that doesn't fit well within the dictionary, like medical terminology prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms as well as lots of various classification schemes)
18. Nursing Diagnoses Appendix

The book comes with a trial subscription to Taber's Online. This is my only complaint. Taber's Online does not appear to have received the thorough thought that the printed version did. I found that it was generally unhelpful, but you don't have to pay any extra for it, so I'm not complaining, just commenting. Overall, I would strongly recommend buying the Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary.

69 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for non-medical persons too!, August 24, 2001

By 

D. Feindel "bluebrit" (USA/England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary -Thumb-Indexed Version (Hardcover)

Having taken a medical terminology class at the hospital where I work, I quizzed the instructor on a suitable medical dictionary in his opinion that I could use for my daily work needs. He suggested a few including this one. Next day in work, I was about to ask a few of the many people in my department what their preferences were but decided to take a stroll around the cubicles instead. Sure enough, nearly every cubicle I passed, held a copy of this dictionary. After purchasing a copy, I wasn't surprised to see why. The book is very easy to follow and understand so, if you find yourself in need of this subject, I'd definitely recommend Taber's.

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must have for any Nursing student, June 19, 2004

By 

Little Greek - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary -Thumb-Indexed Version (Hardcover)

I can't tell you how invaluable this book is to me. It is safe to say I would be lost without it. I am in a bridge nursing program (RN-Masters) and have never worked in the medical feild before. Upper division textbooks are usually unhelpful because they contain no glossary at the back of the book. If your books are the same way this book is a necessity!

Definitions are in plain english rather than crazy medical jargon so you rarely have to filp pages to define words in the definition of the original word in question. Even better are the multitude of pictures and diagrams that really solidify your understanding of select terms.

There are some additional niceties specifially for nurses or nursing students. The appendix is filled with useful nursing guides such as:
1. Nutrition and dietary refrence values
2. Herbal medicines and their uses
3. Normal refrence laboratory values
4. Prefixes and suffixes
5. Latin and Greek nomenclature
6. Medical abbreviations
7. Units of measurement
8. Mini English-Spanish-French dictionary inclusive of specific medical phrases that may be used on the job
9. Classification of poisons and poisoning, including pathology, symptoms, and medical treatment
10. Addresses for health care resources and organizations, and nursing organizations
11. NIC and NOC lists
12. Nursing diagnosis
13. Conceptual models and theories of nursing

Those additional resources alone are worth the price of this book. You may be on a tight budget, but this is one book you cannot afford to be without.