Pocket Medicine: The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine (Pocket Notebook Series)

It's very resourceful. Just a bit heavy to carry around. I should have chosen the PDA version.

Although I consider this to be one of the best handbooks for a quick superficial review, there are several other books which allow for more in depth learning while on the wards... such as The Consult Manual of Internal Medicine & of course... The Washington Manual. I would definitely carry around, or at least have handy, one of these while on the wards. If you get Pocket Med, make sure you get the new edition (2nd) as there is a new neurology section which is very nice.

This reference has been incredibly helpful during my 3rd and 4th year of medical school to gain an appreciation for evidence-based medicine and an approach to patient care. It is not a tell-all book on pathophysiology - that not the point of the reference. While it lacks in volume (thank goodness), it is amazingly packed full of useful information to make informed decisions surrounding patient care. If I wanted to read more about the pathophysiology of a disease, I would look on UptoDate or Currents b/c I knew that Pocket Medicine wouldn't have enough. However, if I wanted to review a differential, review what I know about SBP and whether antibiotics should be given prophylacticlly to patients with cirrhosis, or whatever - Pocket medicine was great. I'm starting internship in a couple of months and will be carrying two references with me: 1. Pocket Medicine; 2. UCSF Housestaff Handbook.

Read an UpToDate article and then read about that topic in Pocket Medicine and you will see 99% of the information from Uptodate but in concise format, including references to key articles. This book is packed with information. However, it's more in bullet and table format than in paragraph form, so not easy to read from if you're learning about a topic for the first time. More of a reference to the key points in each disease process assuming that you know a little about it beforehand. For that, you need 5 minute clinical consults or something similar. Also, the index could use some more cross-indexing, it can be tough to find subjects sometimes if you are in a hurry. It's available for handhelds too...haven't tried it yet though.

Extremely good book