Customer Reviews

Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When I started vet school, I wanted the biggest, most expensive medical dictionary because I figured it would be the best. I bought Dorland's medical dictionary which is intended for human medicine, and it weighs about 10 lbs. I found that, for my purposes, it was close to useless. Too big to carry around, not very user friendly, and of course lacking in veterinary terminology. I was constantly borrowing my classmates' Saunders dictionary (it was small enough that they could carry it around easily) and I was SO impressed. It's an excellent resource and is on the bookshelf of nearly every veterinarian I know. I now own a copy for myself.

I am a third semester veterinary student and I use this dictionary at least once almost every time I study. The reason I say that first year students will need this book is that I find I am using it less as my basic medical vocabulary grows, but I am still using it regularly. I too borrowed this book from my roommate constantly before I bought my own, even though I own a medical dictionary and had to walk farther to use her vet dictionary. This book simply has more of the veterinary terminology that I need definitions for. It is just the right size to bring with me when I study - it's not too heavy and it has enough words to make it useful. It does have some words that are unnecessary though, such as 'pooper-scooper'!
Another `pro' for this book is the appendix at the back: there is one for arteries, bones, joints, muscles, nerves, etc. Honestly, the only one I've used is the muscle chart, but that one was great when I was studying for anatomy lab since it has origins and insertions as well as innervations.
Since I do use it so much, I would recommend the hardcover version. If you want to see the picture of the cover or use the `look inside' feature, you can see these features on the paperback book webpage since they are currently not available at the hardcover webpage. ...
Don't get me wrong; I still think a medical dictionary is useful. I often find words (and their pronunciations, since the Saunders does not have pronunciations) in the medical dictionary that I didn't find in the veterinary dictionary. But I almost always try the veterinary dictionary first, and I almost always find the word I'm looking for in this book.

I am a medical transcriptionist for a major hospital in the Mid-South. We have a DVM pathologist on site who does cases for vet clinics, hospitals, the Memphis Zoo, and several other places. This book has helped me out tremendously when it has been a word I have never encountered before, especially when you go to school to learn about the human anatomy and not animals. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to get good definitions for vet words. The defininitions are easy to understand and will give several different ones if the word can pertain to more than one anatomical area. We have one at work for all of us to use. I am going to get one for myself.

Saunder's dictionary is well-organized, and contains most ever term that I have needed to look up the definition is for. However, it is frustrating that the pronunciation is not listed for any word in the entire book. When learning a new vocubulary it is important to not only know what it means, but also how to say it. The definitions concerning pathology terms where often misleading or contradictory to those in the pathology book.

This was a recommended text in my first animal anatomy class at the college level. It's well organized and has a wealth of information that can be used by the novice and experienced alike. One negative is that it doesn't give you pronunciations like a normal dictionary. Luckily that isn't something I need but some people might consider it important. Its as correct as any veterinary or any other subject reference will be...no book is absolutely perfect. I refer to this book more often than my other animal science or veterinary textbooks. It does a great job of breaking terms down so they're easily understood.

I am a first year vet student who hasn't had that much clinical experience. Thus, I am constantly running across terminology and verbage that I am not familiar with. This dictionary is great! I use it constantly. This book has basic medical/vet vocabulary in addition to the veterinary-specific terminology that I need for my classes. It is a great size, too--fits great in the backpack and is not heavy.

This book is my constant companion when I am reading something very heavy in veternary terminology. However, it does not show you how to pronounce the words! This peeves me as I am not only trying to learn the meaning of veterinary words but how to say them as well. It also doesn't tell you what part of speech the words are (e.g. noun, verb, adverb etc.) which I wish it did because it would help me learn how to use the words.

I really like this dictionary except it doesn't provide pronounciations (which is why I have it 4 stars instead of 5). Apart from that, this is a must have book for veterinary or veterinary technicians.

During orientation, we were constantly told that the first semester of vet school was just like learning a whole new language - the language of medicine. This dictionary helped me translate terminology used in anatomy and physiology, in addition to other courses, which I was not familiar with. The soft-cover makes it slightly more portable than the hard-cover version, although it is still a beast of a book to be lugging back and forth from class or the library. In addition to providing excellent definitions, there are a number of useful charts and tables provided, as well as color images to supplement some of the definitions. Having only completed a single semester, I cannot vouch for it's usefulness beyond this point, however, it has already proven to be an extremely valuable resource and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for somewhere to start.

Great definitions: very complete, concise, and understandable. Clear diagrams and photos illustrated some definitions. Every word I have looked up has been included. Very helpful tables in the appendix section listing all the muscles, nerves, vessels and more (complete with origin and insertion of each muscle).

The only frustration I had with this dictionary is that it is HUGE! Other reviews claimed it was handy and portable, but I have to leave it at home since there is no way it will fit in my backpack with my other textbooks and laptop. Dimensions: 9 x 7.5 x 3 inches, about 3-4 lbs.

Overall, great dictionary, quite large. I've used it almost every day since I got it and would highly recommend it.