Customer Reviews

Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary: 20th Edition (Thumb Index)

5 star:		(95)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Although Stedman's dictionary seems to be the preference for most medical schools, Taber's actually contains a lot more words than Stedman's. To be fair, there isn't much competition when it comes to medical dictionaries, it's either Stedman's or Taber's. Stedman's update is usually 4 to 5 years, but you'll only notice the lack of new words if you're in the research field. Taber's tends to release a new edition every year or two, plus you get more words at a lower price. In terms of the definitions in Taber's, it's written to be just a bit more considerate for the layman. Whereas in Stedman's, you would probably need to be at least a medical student or higher to make the most use of it. Best solution is to get both, at least one of the two definitions will make better sense to you.

The 20th edition is a new update to this well known book. It is updated with more than 8,400 new terms or revised definitions, for a total of 56,000 entries. Some 700 illustrations, 500 in color, expand and clarify particular points. Finally it includes a free six month subscription to Taber's online 3.0 which has these same 56,000 definitions along with features like searching and audio pronunciation for about 2,500 terms.

Obviously this book has to be compared with Stedman's. Here's the way I see it:

Taber's is bigger - 2788 pages vs. 2098 pages
Taber's is more current - Published in 2005 rather than in 2000
Stedman's has more definitions - 102,000 entries vs. 56,000 - With more pages and fewer definitions, Tabor's has more on each definition.
Stedman's is less expensive
Exciting reading - you gotta be kidding.

(Or a "quiz" for those already in the nursing program to review terms listed.)
If there's a nursing "Bible" then this is it as it's essential for nursing students. Around 90% of all the nursing books you'll purchase are so thick that there's no room for a glossary. Enter Taber's, problem solved. There are many excellent reviews for you to read here. My purpose of writing is to share some of the terms that nursing students awaiting entry into nursing school should go ahead and learn as they were mentioned over and over in my first year nursing books:

ADL, advance directive, adventitious, alveoli, aphasia, ascites, asepsis, aspiration, atelectasis, blanch, BP (and go ahead and learn how to take correctly,) Braden scale, bradycardia, bradypnea, bruit, BUN, cachexia, CAD, calculi, capillary refill, Cheyne-Stokes respiration, chloasma, cholecystitis, colonoscopy, colostomy, contracture, contraindication, COPD, creatinine, CSF, defibrillation, diastolic, digoxin, distention, diuretic, dysphasia, dyspnea, dysrhythmia, dysuria, ecchymosis, edema, emesis, epiglottitis, erythema, exacerbation, excoriation, febrile, flank, fundus, glaucoma, heart, Heimlich maneuver, hematuria, hemoptysis, HPV, hypertension, hypotension (orthostatic), hypoxia, idiopathic, infiltrate, insensible (loss), inspiration, ischemia, jejunocolostomy, Korotkoff's sounds, kyphosis, leukocytosis, living will, lordosis, maceration, mastitis, MCH, MCHC, metastasis, MI, NANDA, NLN, NCLEX-RN, necrosis, Nightingale, F., NPH insulin, nystagmus, obese, oliguria, opioid, orthopnea, os, osteoporosis, otalgia, O.U., pallid, pallor, papule, parenteral, paresis, paresthesia, patency, peak and trough, peduncle, pelvic tilt, perfusion, peristalsis, peritoneum, PERRLA, petechiae, photophobia, photosensitivity, PICC, pitting, polyp, position (know all of them and why and when place pt in them,) presbyopia, pressure point, pressure sore, puritis, pulse in pt care, purpura, purulent, qualitative and quantitative analysis, Reiki, respirations (learn all these and what they mean when a pt has them,) resusitation (you have to be CPR accredited for HCP so if you haven't done that, do it!) rhinitis, ROM, S1, S2, S3 and S4 heart sounds, scoliosis, sensible loss, sepsis, shunting, sign (learn every kind of sign you can and what they meant to the pt if they are positive,) Snellen chart, SOAP, somnambulism, specific gravity, Star of Life symbol, stenosis, stent, stoma, strabismus, syndrome X, synergistic, systolic, tachycardia, tachypnea, telemetry, test (take note of every kind of test there is and learn all you can about them,) TIA, TPN, trachoma, turgor, up and go test, urticaria, uvula, Valsalva's manuever and when and why you get pt to do it, valves (know the heart,) varicosity, vertigo, visceral, wounds and their care, xanthelasma, yin-yang, yoga and Z-track to name a few.

If you learn these you will have a great head start in nursing! I wish someone had told me to learn these before I began. Good luck future nurses.
Soar!

I've owned this dictionary for 6 months and the pages are already falling out. The pictures are hard to see. The other day, some fellow students and I were studying at a book store and we discovered that, for the money, there are a lot of better medical dictionaries out there. I really wish I'd bought Mosby's. It's about the same price and it's much better quality.

My wife used an earlier edition of Taber's during her training in the early 1960's. Our daughter called us and told us yesterday, her first day of classes, that her instructor said that each student had to have a Medical Dictionary for the class. Our daughter, although just starting her cirriculum, has raved to us of the depth of information in her latest edition. She is so happy that we ordered the book for her and she has said that she will be using it regularly and very often.

Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary is all encompassing, defining the simplest to the most complex terms. To be honest, however, I rarely even open it because it came with access to their website for a 6 mo trial. Since I do most of my work (I'm still in school) on the computer, it's much easier for me to run a search than go get the book. Potential buyers: this is more of a "dictionary" than encyclopedia. You're not going to get long explanations but short definitions, otherwise it would be volumes and volumes long. One more thing: it's a very pretty book - well bound; having it on your book shelf makes you look like you actually might know what you're doing!!

I really love the dictionary. It's my first time using a medical dictionary and I find it very informative. Just about any medical term you looked up had a detailed and descriptive meaning so you could easily understand the medical term. Another feature I particularly liked was the illustrations on some of the medical terms to give you a more comprehensive understanding of the meaning of the word. Some terminology of particular diseases gives symptoms, treatment and prevention information which is detrimental to understanding the disease and what can be done. Taber's Dictionary is number 1 on my list.

This is a beautiful book. Lots of pictures and very easy to find just what you are looking for. I use it to prepare papers and keep it by the phone to help answer questions from clients.

This rather small book offers greater insight into medical conditions. It is a book that in my eyes, may be appreciated by ordinary people, students, and medical personnel, etc.

For ordinary people, Taber's offers greater insight into medical issues that they might then use to posit questions to their clinicians and to better make decisions. I think it might be an excellent supplement to a book that is more immediately oriented to the patient perspective such as Mayo Clinic Family Health. For those wishing to take the book on a visit to the doctor's office, it is much easier to carry around Taber's than the large, unwieldy Mayo book.

For the pre-med student, Taber's offers brief but concise orientation to new concepts. It also points out related issues to the student that take them beyond the new concept. In addition, it has many useful to-the-point illustrations, several of which aided me more than some of the ones in my anatomy textbook by Marieb.

I am a student, and have used this book frequently with great satisfaction. All in all, Taber's is an excellent resource and I recommend it highly. Finally, I like it better than Stedman's as it offers greater insight.

Taber's has everything I need for my class and outside work. It's wonderful to refer to and have the information at my fingertips. The definitions and explanations are in-depth.