Customer Reviews

BRS Physiology (Board Review Series)

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My school has a unique curriculum, we only have a year of basic sciences before going to clinic. As a result, everything, including Physiology, was ridiculously crammed. We had to read cardiac physiology in a NIGHT, with about 100 pages+ from a Guyton physiology to understand on first reading. But this BRS Physiology was sufficient even for first learning. Just read the book and if there is any point that you are interested to pursue deeper or are not sure about, check it in a conventional textbook like Guyton.

I highly recommend BRS physiology for medical students who are overwhelmed and desperate.

This is one of the best medical physiology review books that I've seen. Others people on Amazon have extensively reviewed this book, so I'll use the following format for review:

Clarity: 5/5- It was easy to read and understand.
Brevity: 5/5- Used few words without sacrificing clarity.
Depth: 3/5- If you need more depth read her other book published by Saunders.
Breadth: 4/5- Not as comprehensive as could be, but good for a review.
Illustration quality: 4/5- I would have preferred a little more illustrations, however, again, can't ask too much from a review book.

I think this is the best BRS there is. I used this book for course exam prep as well as board review. It is a great tool to highlight important concepts, and it explains things in a simple and effective way with the right amount of information.

not too much informations and details
but after i read thru once, i could review this book within 3-4days top.
really good to go over every chapters quickly

This is a good review book. But you would need a reference book also since BRS Physiology is very compact.

Truthfully, you'll get lots of conflicting opinions from med students when it comes to which review books are the best for each course. Everyone has their own favorite, but this is the one book I hear consistently praised by everyone I've met from a wide variety of med schools across the US. Honestly, I'm not sure why this book works so well. The book is pretty short, & there aren't that many review questions with it. In fact, it's pretty cut & dry, but I think it's the straight to the point tone that makes this book great. Phys is a conceptual course, & Dr. Costanzo shows you only what you need to understand why a physiological principle is what it is, & then will build on it with relevant applications. Also, she does a good job of deconstructing all the fun graphs you'll see in your phys course - always the worst part of everyone's phys experience. She makes it bearable, though, especially in the cardiovascular & pulmonary chapters. I thought that some of the disorders discussed in the Renal chapter weren't necessary & made discussion of the topic less straightforward than what is typical of the book, & I do wish there were a chapter for musculoskeletal physiology. These, however, are pretty minor complaints (muscles & bones were pretty minor topics in my phys course, though, I suppose that would be different if we had a larger MS unit). I'd recommend supplementing it with a larger book of review questions (like Guyton's Review), but it's definitely a great place to start learning about phys topics.

This book is an absolute requirement for physiology. GET this book. You will use it throughout med school.

Awesome awesome book. A simply must have for first year med students for their physiology class and for second years stuyding for the board.

This book came highly recommended from an upperclassman. It's short, sweet, and to the point. It presents medical physiology in a clear and logical manner, making it easy to understand and assimilate.

This book is awesome, but I can still criticize it. I read it along with the little Guyton book, and used it as a main source a couple of days before the NBME, which we took at the end of our physiology class in medical school. I read the entire book in two days, and understood it all! It is a fast dirty way to study physiology that hits all the necessary points. However, it has its down points. The book is in bullet point format all the time. It became a little degrading to see point after point, which is why I used the pocket Guyton book. Guytons pocket book is another source that I highly recommend because it explains rather than bullet points, and if the bullet points in this book become too much for you, try pocket Guyton. Also, the sections of this book may not follow your class lecture. It can be unpleasant to search for what your studying. If the book had sections smaller than 30 pages it would help. Another word of warning, this book is build for medical school. This book is not intended as a source for PhD work, etc. However, if you are in med school, this is a necessary evil!