Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access (Robbins Pathology) 8th Edition

Pathology is a difficult subject - the sheer volume of material, the new vocabulary, and strikingly similar disease entities seem to conspire with each other to confuse us medical students. Robbins and Cotran is ideal for pathology in that it merges completeness of information with readability (it's about as enjoyable to read as pathology can be...). It is dense, and it can take a while to get through, but compared to Rubin's it is a much more straightforward and less "dense", while providing equivalent information. Figures are well-integrated and provide excellent examples of both histopathology and gross pathology. Normal physiology is reviewed briefly, so if you're like me and need a quick reminder, Robbins has you covered.I would NOT recommend this for cramming or trying to bone up on an entire organ system quickly, nor is it the best choice if path isn't your thing and you're more of a "just the facts" type learner - but if you are the type of learner that absolutely needs to have read everything about everything (at least for the preclinical years), this is the book for you. This is the type of book that you need to read through fairly slowly (I try to pace myself to completing the relevant chapters for an organ system over a 2-3 week block), but it definitely contains all of the information you are likely to need to do well. The (almost) encyclopedic nature and clear organization also make it my go-to when I have to go back and review something in particular.Additionally, I would recommend this over Rubin's (the other major pathology text) - the text is clearer and I prefer this book's organization. My classmates use both Rubin's and Robbins (faculty recommend using either), but those who have read/skimmed both here prefer Robbins.

I cannot say enough good about this book. My friends think I am quite strange for the way I rave about it. Throughout my NP program, in clinical practice and in my teaching, this is the book I return to again and again and again. I am constantly amazed at how the chapter authors were able provide the essential information without becoming pedantic. Each time I re-read a section, I learn something new and yet it is the overall smooth progression of thought that is awe-inspiring to me. I have learned so much about the pathology of disease and I am actually hoping they come out with a new edition soon. When I turn to the book, I can see how my medical thinking has evolved and become more sophisticated, yet more holistic, with the help of this text. Another plus is that once I read this text, reading journal articles that are highly specific to one aspect of a topic is much more manageable; I already have the background understanding to make sense of the journal articles, thanks to Professor Kumar et al.The illustrations are great (and you can download them with Student Consult online access) and the explanations are clear. What more could one ask for? I should note, however, that sometimes I have to turn to the Basic Pathology book to get background information before Pathologic Basis of Disease makes complete sense. The two books together are a dynamic combination.

Some people may complain that this book is too dense, however, anybody that has had to listen to 8 hours of pathology lectures would know that this text is a lovely escape from the disjunct rambling that some professors may be guilty of. The text organized in systems as would be expected and often overlaps on multiple topics depending on the topic (i.e. infections and cancer are introduced early on and are then reiterated in the individual systems). There are convenient reviews of organ specific topics (e.g. anatomy, histo, physio) at the beginning of each chapter to help jog your memory (although I would not use this as my sole source of background knowledge). A useful supplement may be Ross' Histology: a text and atlas and Costanzo Physiology. These these three will pretty much cover 90% of what you learn in the preclinical years (pharm and some microbio not withstanding). Like I said, this book is the gold standard for a reason and has been passed from generation to generation of medical students.

The 9th edition of this book is on our required list for school. While I have the electronic version of that edition, there are times when I want to read from a hardcopy. However, on a student budget, spending lots of money on the same book twice seemed frivolous. I also knew from experience how much you can save by getting a book that's 1 edition older since usually there isn't much that changed. This proved to be true for this book too. While there are times I need to cross reference with the newer edition to make sure I'm covering all my assigned readings, the information is all there just sometimes in a slightly different order in the chapters.