Physician-informed medical book reviews and clinical education resources.
Despite some important limitations, Board Basics (2019) is still the best single volume internal medicine review book for internists. (I reviewed a previous edition of this book elsewhere so I will restate the review and provide applicable relevant changes). Board Basics (2019) is loaded with essential and hard-to-find charts, lists, tips and answers to Board … Read more
Tropical Medicine Notebook (2017) is a smallish book (about 200 pages) crammed with usefully organized text, tables and drawings to help you learn and retain virtually all key ideas in medical microbiology. It’s an ideal handbook to have on your person as you try to learn or relearn the vast field of clinical microbiology in easy-to-digest bite-sized … Read more
Vademecum Metabolicum (2011) is an expensive, weirdly named, and hard-to-find 150-page niche book, but it’s the best in its genre. “Vademecum” is Latin for “handbook.” (I know this because I looked it up). So, this is a handbook about metabolic disorders. The book contains virtually everything you need to know if you are, or want … Read more
Essentials in Hematology and Clinical Pathology (2016) is one of the finest hematology books in the market today, and, strangely, you can buy it new for under $30 (US). Hematology is a specialty that straddles both clinical medicine and pathology, and this book is an absolute winner on two separate levels: (1) the clinical discussions … Read more
Metabolism is commonly taught in medical schools as a subcategory of biochemistry. While technically correct, metabolism has additional unique and important dimensions that must be understood and committed to memory, including the organs and organelles where the reactions take place. You don’t just need to know what is happening but you also need to understand … Read more
The Malformed Infant and Child: An Illustrated Guide (1983) is one of the finest medical books ever written. It is as unique and relevant today as it was when it was first published more than 35 years ago. The book contains monographs with exquisitely accurate and informative drawings of various congenital malformations including environmental (toxic) … Read more
I write with reverence about what I believe to be one of the best medical books of all time: Moffet’s Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 5e (2017). The main problem with tackling infectious diseases from a diagnostic standpoint is that ID can be hard to classify clinically. The traditional approach is, basically, to ask the question Does the patient have … Read more