Robbins and Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease is one of the most important medical textbook in the field of textbook. In fact, many med students call this book the "bible" of pathology. That statement is not an overstatement considering the breadth and depth of this pathology textbook. WIth more than 1400 pages comprising 29 concepts ranging from hyperthrophy to eye pathology. This is THE PATHOLOGY BOOK
As any other pathology book, this book is divided into two main sections: the first one is general pathology that tries to expalin the basic of pathology knowledge. General pathology includes many basic concept in pathology such as carcinogenesis, cellular response to injury and a bit of genetics. This introduction to pathology is followed with systemic presentation of disease from each organ system. Diseases of organ system tries to systematically discuss all of the diseases in each organ systems.
The strong point of this book is the usage of figure and tables that is very supportive to the learning environment. For example, in the first chapter, we can see the process of how normal cell can change into dead cell which is called necrosis. This is explained well with the figures and the pictures. This is very supportive to learn the material well.
The other strong point of this book is the usage of interactive material in this book. This book is linked with studentconsult website from elsevier. Studentconsult tries to bring the pathological laboratory right at your fingertips. In the website, you can access microscopic slides in your house.
One of the weakness of this book is its size, with more than 1400 pages of this book is very bulky to bring to your clinical rotations. The weight of this book is more than 1.5 kilograms, enough to become a dumbell for your exercise. For more portable book, please see the smaller size "Robbin and Cottran Basic Pathology"
This is a book that is recommended for all medical student and pathology resident alike! 5 star book