Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine (2 Volume Set) (Hardcover)

by Irwin M., Md. Freedberg (Editor), Arthur Z. Eisen (Editor), Klaus Wolff (Editor), K. Frank Austen (Editor), Lowell A. Goldsmith (Editor), Stephen I. Katz (Editor), Thomas B. Fitzpatrick (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine, 5th edition, is a must have for any dermatologists library."

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he points out that most tend to "reflect the biases and shortcomings of the experts who write them," are about 2 years out of date by publication, and are "narrative reviews that do not consider the quality of the evidence reported."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 the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 3129 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional Publishing; 5th edition (January 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0079129382
• ISBN-13: 978-0079129383
• Product Dimensions: 11.5 x 9.2 x 5.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 21.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,294,499 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 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

This review is from: Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine (2 Volumes) (Hardcover)

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.

7 of 10 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)

This review is from: Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine (2 Volumes) (Hardcover)

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.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best version of this already great book!!!!, December 20, 2007

By	Leslie Baumann MD (Miami Beach FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fitzpatrick's Dermatology in General Medicine (2 Volumes) (Hardcover)

I have relied on this book for years to keep me up to date on the science and practice of dermatology. I was thrilled to be asked to write the chapter on cosmetics and skin care (ch 251) and counted the days until this edition was out. Once my book arrived I went to the website, entered my code and downloaded the book to my laptop. It is UNBELIEVABLE!!! You can search the entire 2 volume book for a search term in seconds. I can carry the book with me on my lap top to grand rounds, conferences and on airplanes. It is now my peripheral brain. Thanks to McGraw Hill for making it even easier on those of us who constantly write a need references at our fingertips. In addition- the illustrations are beautiful. If you are trying to decide whether to chunk your old one and spring for the new one- DO IT!