Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine (2 Volumes) (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Lowell Goldsmith (Author), Stephen Katz (Author), Barbara Gilchrest (Author), Amy Paller (Author), David Leffell (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine, 5th edition, is a must have for any dermatologists library." --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

It has been said that dermatology is the most inclusive specialty because it deals not only with the skin but also with everything that the skin contains and touches. There's some truth to that. For instance, where else can you find the editors of a medical textbook, as in Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine, waxing proudly in the preface about including fresh material on anthrax, smallpox, and Botox? In other words, the field considers its domain to range from the war on terrorism to our narcissistic culture. Happily, the Botox chapter does not include tips on how to throw a "Botox party."

There is also a new chapter on "Evidence-Based Dermatology." I must admit that when I first heard of the evidence-based approach, I wasn't much impressed with its novelty, seeming to remember at least one old-timer who made a comment about experiment being treacherous and judgment difficult (Hippocrates). But the author does a good job of defending the system, and in an honest self-referential bit of criticism of textbooks, he points out that most tend to "reflect the biases and shortcomings of the experts who write them," are about 2 years out of date by publication, and are "narrative reviews that do not consider the quality of the evidence reported." Evidence itself, of course, is as indisputably wholesome as apple pie—it's how you interpret the evidence that matters.

This edition remains heavily invested in basic science, which is becoming daily more of a misnomer as skin biology reveals an ever increasing complexity. The first part, almost 15%, is given over to anatomy, physiology, immunology, molecular biology, and so forth, and there's much more interspersed throughout the clinical chapters. These chapters have shown the most profound changes over time, with progressive improvement at each turn. Whereas the first edition relegated color clinical photographs to a relatively thin "atlas" section, this edition features them on seemingly every page. Color abounds, and the quality of the illustrations is excellent. Indeed, the difference between the first and latest edition is so great that you'd never guess at the lineage if you did not look at the titles.

With all the new material, I was astonished to discover that something unheard of had apparently occurred in medical publishing: the sixth edition is shorter than the fifth! And not by just a little: hundreds of pages have evaporated. I compared typefaces, considered a gross error in the pagination, had a colleague check my eyesight, and finally contacted the senior editor, who gave me the lowdown: they did it on purpose.

Having decided that the book had grown "too long, too heavy, too redundant," a 2-year effort was launched in which 10% was cut by "rigid editing, eliminating as much duplication as possible, cutting long, long lists of references." Another improvement was making both volumes roughly equal in size (the considerable inequality of which had always annoyed me) and using a thinner but ample stock paper. The overall weight has been reduced from 22 lb to a more portable 17 lb.

All in all, this sixth edition of Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine is the premier textbook of dermatology, a bargain if there ever was one, and a blessing for those of us with derangements in our rotator cuffs.

Michael B. Brodin, MD
Monroe, NY (Journal of American Medical Association )

"The book is well formatted and easy to read. It summarizes all the crucial recent studies that have a major impact in our approach to treatment of hypertension in diabetes mellitus." "4 stars" (Doody's ) --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 2402 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 7th edition (October 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071466908
• ISBN-13: 978-0071466905
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 3.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #431,155 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Most user-unfriendly book in a long time , February 11, 2008

By	DermMD (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

I had been looking forward to the new edition of Fitzpatrick after the announcements of new, updated format, improved web-content, etc. What a disappointment! Only part of the text is actually in the book, additional content only to be found on the web-version, which is both cumbersome to use (PDF version of the book rather than html with hyperlinks) and appears to deliver only part of what was promised (i.e. there is no way to copy the figures and paste into powerpoint). As a bonus, the entire text is littered with "e" symbols indicating additional e-only text, which makes for quite annoying reading and is just plain ugly.

The general unattractiveness of the layout is compounded by the 3-column design, which means that practically every word longer than 10 letters (i.e. most of derm nomenclature) is hyphenated at least once (often twice). Not the way forward for residents and practicioners alike, methinks. Figure quality is definitely below the Bolognia standard and after reviewing several chapters it is obvious that a lot of the material is duplicated throughout both volumes (amazingly, the same picture that looks fine in volume I will be off-color in volume II and vice versa, which is quite annoying in a field like dermatology, which relies heavily on visual clues).

If this is the future of textbooks, then I hope I will be able to get on without using any. In the meantime, I shall return my copy of Fitz and go with the new edition of Bolognia.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars false advertisement over e-edition, update just OK, November 30, 2007

By	M. Bishop (mo) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very unhappy with purchase
1. originally publisher just sent volume 1 (not through amazon)
2. documentation online and even the back cover of the book claims it includes e-edition with 'ability to annotate text' and use pictures for presentations. THIS IS NOT TRUE! It does include a download for one copy of the text to adobe digital edition... but you CAN NOT annotate the text or copy the pictures. I contacted the publisher and they say this is only the case if you purchase the additional online yearly subscription (this is CLEARLY NOT as advertised).
3. You CAN NOT use the e-edition on a handheld of any kind- as is CLEARLY pictured on the website. I contacted the publisher several weeks ago and all they said is that it was an error and they will remove it from their website... it is still there.

If you ask me they tried too hard to get this book out on time and the result is an edition that has sloppy errors even on the back hard cover of the text. When it comes to content..it seems OK. Not clearly any better than previous editions. Just in color. Many chapter are just so, so in quality. Very, very annoying that citations are online.... I have a feeling as more people purchase this book there will be more people unhappy with it and their 'e-edition' and just return it and go with Bolognia.

5.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read and practical, June 11, 2009

By	lau g "resident" (CR) - See all my reviews

I am a resident of dermatology, for my tests i have to read the hole book. when i saw this new edition i was very pleased.
Compared to others editions it has more comparative tables so is easier to make diferences between diseases that are alike, also brings new algorithms that makes easier to understand the evolution and what do you spect to find.
the chapter of embiogenesis and the part of inmunology in some chapters are also illustrated (the last one does not bring those illustrations.
Its true, it cames in three collums, but the letter is big enough for read it, also i prefer that that three o 4 volumes.
in comparison of the bologna, this one brings more diseases.