Customer Reviews

Pocket Medicine: The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine (Pocket Notebook Series)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pocket Medicine is an outstanding quick reference, covering an astonishing amount of information in a small notebook.

During spare moments, I can review the well-designed chapters. When I need a reference, the facts are laid out in a clear and logical format, and referenced to journals and studies where appropriate.

A more complete index is the one thing I would add to this book, but that's a small quibble. It's easy enough to add notations to the back of the book, or add a few extra pages (the binder takes standard six-ring refills, such as FiloFax Personal pages).

My pockets are lighter since I found Pocket Medicine.

Excellent information. Great looseleaf format for adding and subtracting as needed. A "Must have" for anyone seeing general medical patients, particularly if in a specialty - to "do no harm". I waited for the 3rd edition for a liong time. Have used it since the first edition. Great reference to use daily.

This is an excellent book for the wards that allows you to look up etiology, pathophysiology, clinical manifestations, diagnostic workup, and management for many conditions you see in the hospital. It's not too much that you would get lost in details, and it's not too little that it leaves you with no idea of what to do. I see just about every Medicine resident carrying one around, and it has helped me just as a medical student so I highly recommend this book. I wish I'd had it when I was doing my Family Medicine rotation too because it would have been useful in the hospital then as well, and I also saw Family Medicine residents carrying around this book as well. I do want to point out that it is NOT a textbook, and if you would like something more of a text, perhaps you should try Washington Manual.
It also includes a section on ICU meds, antibiotics, formulas, etc. It's such a great book, and you'd be surprised how much valuable info is in here! I also love this book because it is small enough that it is not weighing down my white coat (I already have enough weight in my pockets as it is).

I cannot deny that this book fills a great need in internal medicine, where evidence based medicine is the current trend. For an advanced 3rd year medical student, 4th year medical student and interns alike, this book is solid gold. Get ready to begin practicing evidence based medicine the second you pick this book up. The most common ailments encountered by a house officer are listed with pretty much everything that you would need to know from A-Z to treat the disease or keep it under control until a specialty service is consulted. It is filled with references and one line key pointers to update you on current research. This book elegantly bullet points the crux of medicine that every true doctor, regardless of their field, should know. Keep in mind, however, that this book doesn't cover everything. It is meant as a starting point and will do an excellent job at that. It doesn't make you a specialist, but I feel confident that I could cover all the basic problems that are encountered in the hospital with this in my pocket. On a side note, I think that this book is too advanced for a beginning third year. They are still trying to find out what different acronyms mean, and it would be overly frustrating to have them read through this book that is littered with them. I might suggest reading a page or two out of this book and if you aren't comfortable understanding what you read, then try another source first until you feel better about this one.

I love this little book. A preceptor had recommended it, so I bought it. I have used it a lot!! Has most of the important things for internal medicine in it!

Excellent book for a quick review and update on salient points regarding most important medical issues. Also contains references from the source journal articles so you can read them for yourself if necessary. Bottom line: I would recommend this to my friends and buy it again.

Although the expectations for medical students are not that of residents and interns, this book is very helpful. Evidence-based medicine is the term heard over and over on the wards and this pocket book will help with that. When presenting a patient, you may be asked which study showed the effectiveness of which treatment. This book has it. It is updated with references as recent as 2007 which is impressive. It will also save time when preparing a talk because as mentioned, the landmark studies are all incorporated in the text. Worth upgrading from the 2nd edition.

Better than having a palm. I do use my palm for epocrates, but its too hard to try and look up medical issues on the fly. Much easier to pull this book out and read the section. Very high yield stuff, no fluff. Just tells you what you need to know. Even includes references to major studies on that topic. I really suggest having this book when you start residency.

It was the best money I spent in residency!!! A concise, quick reference guide/read/review when on call or just sitting in on a morning report 'snooze-fest'. It fits into your coat pocket easily and light enough to prevent kyphosis! Definitely a must have for all in primary care specialties, period!!!

As a chief resident, we purchased this for our incoming interns to replace the previous survival guide. This is EBM medicine, with sources provided. I used this to study for IM boards along with medstudy and mksap with good results. I would read medstudy, then use this book to paraphrase what i just read and get "bullet-points." very effective on wards. better for inpt >outpt management. pretty amazing bang for its buck and the book i take with me everywhere.