Customer Reviews

USMLE Road Map: Physiology

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people always recommend the brs, however, I felt that I need to read another review book to enhance my understanding of this subject. Therefore, I picked this book. And I am actually surprised that I am the first one to write a review. and it was published in 2003! This is 2007 already. (I didn't know that my review was published under the 2005 second edition, but the one that I read was the first edition.)

Anyway, I haven't finished reading, and it seems to be an ok book. sometimes, it has less information than the BRS book which could be good or bad. however, I have two problems which I felt the need to write them down just in case I may forget about them in the future.

1. The way he writes sometimes is confusing, hard to understand. For example, on page 157, he wrote:"Resorption of bone by osteoclasts is dependent on an increased H concentration in the resorption zone and an increased release of lysosomal enzymes to promote breakdown of the bone matrix." And that is one long sentence which made for one paragraph!

I just found another one on page 48, "This response, called cushing' phenomenon, is caused by cerebral ischemic stimulation of vasomotor regions in the medulla that help maintain cerebral blood flow in the face of increased resistance caused by expanding intracranial tumors."

I had to read those several times, and it got me frustrated, because it is not easy to understand especially when i am studying late at night, when I am already tired. Now I just realized why my reading is not fast enough, it was partly because of the way he writes the book. Another reason that I picked this book, because it seems to have less information than the BRS book. However, the BRS sometimes has a little too much information, and it gets boring quick. So now I am studying those two books together, pick on a chapter and see which one is better written, and just read that particular chapter.

2. on page 190-191, he wrote:" if the head is rotated to the left, both eyes move to the right." however, on page 191, the picture has "head rotates to right, with a big arrow pointing toward right." So as you can see, it is confusing. You are reading one thing, and the picture is showing you the opposite direction. So that description and the picture only make readers more confused.

Since I haven't finished reading, maybe I should stop reading, I will rate it a 3 as average. One thing that I like is its clinical correlation, that is one thing that I like about the whole series.

This book is so plagued by errors that I wonder whether the author knows even the basics of physiology. Use the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon, where the first few pages are available to view. Notice one of the first points that the book makes is that "The Na+/K+ ATP-ase generates high intracellular Na+ concentrations." This is, of course, absurd, as the ATP-ase pumps sodium out of the cell. Given that this atrocity carried over from the book's first edition, I would avoid this book at all costs.

Instead, I recommend the BRS review book by Constanzo or the new Elsevier's Integrated Physiology.

I used this book to review for the SHELF, and I found it very useful. I am even planning on using it as one of the resources to study for the USMLE 1. I highly recommend this book, they are short, easy to read and they have good practice questions after each chapter to test your knowledge on the subject.