Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple (Medmaster)
ISBN:9780940780811 read summary

I'm using this book for a class. It basically contains MOST of what you need to know about micro, and I imagine that it will be a more than adequate review when it comes time for Boards. However, if I used it as my only source of information (ie I didn't read the assigned text at all)I'd probably be in trouble when it came time for exams. It does not have EVERYTHING you need to know, and there's a good chance that your specific instructors want a great deal more detail than this book might cover. In addition, bear in mind that new things are being discovered about micro every year, and you need to keep an eye as to new developments and not assume that EVERYTHING in CMMRS is current.

My overall assessment? Buy or borrow this book, particularly if you are a visual learner or you remember things well through crazy mnemonics. It gives you an excellent foundational framework, and it is adorable and funny.

The silly references, wordplay, cartoons and mnemonics plus the conversational style of the text in this book makes a hefty subject like microbiology so much more bearable. HOWEVER, much as I enjoyed the book, I cannot rate it more than two stars because the numerous typo errors and wrong grammar drove me crazy. I can understand if the editor missed a couple of words but more than 10, no way. Surely Dr Gladwin, as the book is selling so well that a 4th edition has been published, can you not afford to pay an expert proofreader to edit it? I see that this is a common complaint mentioned by reviewers of previous editions. Major mistakes such as wrong spelling of drug names (delavirIdine for delavirdine, iNtraconazole for itraconazole) - how can the authors let this go to print?!? And what about misspelled bug names such as Staph aureAs - this is unacceptable for a microbiology book! Other errors: hepatoxicity, respiratory tracK infection, efficancy, "on the heals" (instead of "on the heels"), "have in confirmed" (instead of "have been confirmed"), "HIV viruses causes" (instead of "HIV causes"), "CMV virus invades" (instead of "CMV invades", as V already stands for virus)... and the list goes on. It's not fair to ask us to pay premium price for a shoddily edited book. Either improve the editing or reduce the price to reflect the quality.

A must for any med student who doesn't have a strong microbio background. I wish I had this book a year ago!

Microbiology has always been one of my weaker subjects so I thought this would be really helpful. When I received it in the mail, it was not as short and concise as I had hoped, but perhaps that was only wishful thinking. I haven't read through all of it yet, but when I look things up in it, so far I have been pleased with their explanations. Easy to understand. They also help you with picture memory aids to help you connect things that you have to memorize. Overall, I'm glad I bought this.

If you want to learn micro via 400 pages of ridiculous pictures and mneumonics, this is the book for you. If you want a concise resource with straight-to-the-point, clinically relevant information, buy Microcards instead.