Customer Reviews

Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 16th Edition

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Indeed, this well-organized and thoroughly illustrated 16th edition of "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine" provides authoritative information on both medicine and surgery. Its contents show a true reflection of the experience, as well as the extensive individual knowledge of its numerous authors and/or contributors.
This edition not only guaranteed one of the most comprehensive coverage of every aspect of health and medicine, but offers many case-study insights, self-assessment questions (and answers), and diagnostically useful image databank. It also introduced many full color algorithms: in the form of additional scans, charts, and tables. Several chapters and sub-sections did receive remarkable updates: in particular are those dealing with infectious diseases, critical care, cardiology, oncology, and orthopaedics.
Also, the purchase of this book entitles the owner to a free online access to all the latest updates and materials, which became available only after the book has been printed. This free online access is said to remain valid until a newer edition of the book is published. That should be around 2009: which is some four years from the time of this review. The online access code is on a piece of paper embedded inside the book. Be sure not to misplace it!
There is quite a lot of things going for this 2607-paged book that I may end-up writing several pages in an attempt to highlight them all. Still, be assured that its depth of clinical information is simply voracious. But despite this, I do not honestly believe that anyone, (especially a student), who has already acquired the 15th edition need to spend again on this one. The information in the 15th edition is still very useful, as well as being current enough. In fact, anyone who cares to check will notice that the 'older' 15th edition has some twenty-two more pages than this 'newer' 16th edition. And in spite of being a few years older, its educational strength favorably matches those of this one. So, sticking with the 15th-ed until the next edition comes out is what I would suggest. This same suggestion applies to anyone who owns or uses either Kelley's or Cecil Textbook of Medicine, which is not more than five years old. But for all first-time buyers, who are considering this one, I will gladly advise you to proceed with the purchase. It is an investment, which is worth its weight in gold!

Harrison's is a detailed, robust and in-depth text ideal for medical students. There is no stone unturned. The single book is rather bulky and I therefore recommend purchasing the two volume version.

overall an excellent book, but the section on renal physiology is not as detailed as the previous editions. I felt the book skimed over the new class of loop diuretics; otherwise a good book...as usual.

Of course there are other textbooks out there that can be of use too, but Harrison's has always been the gold standard. Beware of people telling you to use more "interesting" material; Harrison's can only be boring to those who are either not really interested in learning internal medicine, or those who have just given up on trying to become the best practitioner they can be.
If you are interested in learning, then this is one of the books you must have.

So, everyone knows that Harrison's is the Bible for internists and residents of internal medicine. As a 3rd year medical student, I used the book to research whenever I had to give a presentation or wanted to know more about my patients.

As a pgy-1 in psychiatry now, I find this book more useful than ever, but in a different sense. Being on psych rotations now, I often find that new onset psychosis might be the result of a general medical condition. Although the interface between psychiatry and medicine has improved over the years, my colleagues in medicine of see in black and white regarding this kind of presentation (ie this person is crazy; psych should be treating him).

Consequently, I want to remain not only diplomatic when talking with ER and Medicine residents and attendings, but also want to seem knowledgeable and tailor my thought process more to their speciality. This is where Harrison's is helping me. I read up on the conditions, labs, and treatments of my differential so that when I call, I sound knowledgeable and have a specific idea of how they can help me out. Stating that you're reading from Harrison's lets others know that you're thinking about the patient and not just wanting to dump on another service.

Other reviews have discussed how this version is great with color and treatment boxes; I completely agree. It's nice to have such a large text that you can actually read.

I recommend this book for any of the following:

1. 3rd year students on an internal medicine rotation
2. Obviously internal medicine residents and internists
3. Everyone else in medicine for the reasons listed above. No matter what our specialties, we're all medical doctors and should have an excellent medical reference. Harrison's has been and will always be the gold standard!

Despite the new lay out this book just feels dated. New texts such as ACP medicine seem to have claimed the throne. The ACP book is just as complete, has better pictures and graphics and an excellent web site. Could also skip the books and just invest in UpToDate.

I've been using the online edition of Harrison's 16th for a while now, and only just got the physical book. Even though the print is tiny and there's a dearth of white space to rest your eyes, the colorized text boxes are a big help. I really like the Treatment boxes in with color-coordinated headings - it makes it much easier to get to the heart of what you're looking for. Also, the charts in color make a difference that you don't necessarily appreciate in the online version.

Harrison's is of course The Bible of internal medicine. No other text I know of contains quite the wealth of information on pretty much every topic in internal medicine. This edition lives up to its stellar reputation in the IM world.

For the last 30 years of my medical practice I have bought Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine and I have never found anything better than Harrison's. Most of my talks and classes at the Medical School are based on the chapters found in Harrison's.
Valter Araujo MD Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases
Florianopolis/Brazil

No matter what your professors/classmates/nay-sayers say about how thick and heavy, convoluted or expensive this book is, it doesn't matter because YOU NEED THIS BOOK if you are a medical student, period. In fact, you'll save money in the long run b/c this book will pre-empt your need for many other books (not all, so be careful).

I read this as a student in my 3rd and 4th year. This book will help you be a better physician, no matter what specialty. If you buy one book your entire career, this is it.