Customer Reviews

The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics, 31st Edition (Spiral Manual Series)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

5 stars for what it's supposed to be used for:

Have used both Ferri's and the Washington Manual and would have to say Washington is by far tops (also Ferri's has unfortunately gotten so fat and its binder is terrible to boot!!). In terms of what to exactly treat your patients with and how to give it, as an intern this can be very nerve-racking. The Washington Manual helps lessen some of this anxiety with good recommendations and timely pearls. The Washington Manual is also nice for the quick jogging of memory as a more senior resident or for an attending treating easy or mildly-complex out-of-specialty problems. Nothing as of yet really beats this time-tested cook book like ole' Washington to get your bearings.

Once again, it's a cook book albeit a very good one. But obviously, as a chef is much more than the recipes he knows, it's assumed that the diligent clinician's "unwritten job" is to appraise the literature, read solid textbooks, go to conferences, use time-tested clinical experience.

The MGH blue / black pocket Medicine guide is also really good! Uses lots of new studies as evidence, excellent tables and algorithms, but doesn't cover as much. MGH and Washington complement each other quite well in many respects.

You must have this to know what to do when you start residency, when on call in the middle of the night to manage problems. The transition from student to resident is difficult. Ferris does not fit into your white coat as well as this slim, spiral bound sweetie. Other books I would get as intern would be Pharmacopia to carry in your front pocket, and NMS/Strong Medicine to pass step 3.

This book doesn't need an introduction. For years it has been "The Book" for medical residents. It is a very nice practical book that can save your life if you are taking care of inpatient issues. The reason for 4 stars: I like Ferri's Guide better. Since washington seperated its outpatient and inpatient books, the quality of this manual has decreased. Overall, I think Ferri's guide is more complete and more readable(Apart from its size!), but you can't go wrong with washington. Cardiology sections are excellent (esp. HTN). I also highly recommend the PDA version. It contains all the information in the book and is very easy to navigate and read.

Adult medicine is not my specialty so when I was deployed as a volunteer to St Bernard Parish, Louisiana as a volunteer I knew I'd be seeing all ages of patients. I needed a good easy to use quick reference and this book was highly recommended and now I know why!! It was very easy to find the info I needed to treat many, many illnesses and conditions that I needed to brush up on.

Sharon Dembinski

Nurse Practitioner

Massachusetts

A perfec book for residents, is mostly treatment oriented and the Tx part is very practical, dx is oki howevere is very useful. by use of this book you can address your patient's problem very well than I can't say that there is any better source (I compaired this book with Merck manuel, Ferri, Current medical dx/Tx and manual of ambulatory medicine).

As a pharmacy student, I found the Washington Manual to be the best pocket guide for looking up guidelines and treatment options, as well as interaction charts and pregnancy categories. This is a well written book that covers most of the major cronic health conditions and treatment. This book does not waste time and space talking about every detail of each disease state, but rather focuses on the causes, measurements and treatments. My only criticism is that this latest edition is dated 2004 and in medical therapeutics, is considered old.

When I was an Internal Medicine resident I used to say: I am never alone on call; it is always me and "Dr. Washington"!

I never had to search into another source of information being on call with this book! I could perfectly associate theory and practice even in emergency situations through its pages.

Must have book for anybody entering into a internal medicine residency. Very well planned out book with nice tables and summary.

This book contains a lot of information in tables and is in outline form. I am currently studying to take the NAPLEX to be a licensed pharmacist and this book is usefull. I think during pharmacy school this would have been a good source to have also

This manual has been a great resource for me. It clearly shows how to interpret test results, diagnose conditions and outlines treatment options, to include dosing.