Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd
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Principles of Pulmonary Medicine, 8th Edition
Steven Weinberger, Barbara Cockrill and Jess Mandell
ISBN 9780323880565 (Published June 2023)
Price of Vital Source eBook £44.99
I had the pleasure of reviewing the eBook, which, for many students and healthcare professionals, is the preferred method of accessing a trusted textbook, rather than the traditional paper textbook. Using a digital textbook has many advantages, including portability on a website, smartphone, or tablet. This particular eBook is beautifully rendered with easy access to search facilities, and using the publisher’s well-established interface, it is easy to navigate.
The book is now in its 8th edition, and it has become a well-oiled machine. It does the basics very well and would be ideal for medical students, specialist respiratory healthcare professionals, junior doctors and GPs. The authors are American-based, but the book can easily be of use to any English-speaking healthcare professional.
I found it easy to read from the screen, the layout is logical, and there are good illustrations. There are 30 chapters, and each chapter can be easily read in isolation; in fact, including the index, the book comprises 386 pages. So, it is possible to read the whole book and obtain a bird’s-eye view of the speciality. As an online product, it offers videos, audios, a self-assessment tool, and is easy to search. For example, I wanted to read the section on Sarcoidosis, and it was easily located on page 154. It was a very readable account, and its concentrated style means it does not take long to read, absorb and enhance your understanding of the condition.
Chapter 3 which it titled “Evaluation of the patient with pulmonary disease” is an excellent review of the subject and everyone who has to deal with chest conditions should read this. In particular, the section on pulmonary function tests on Page 46 is excellent and provides a clear explanation of an important topic. In fact, this is further amplified in Appendix B on page 365, which provides additional guidance on the interpretation of pulmonary function tests.
In addition to the search facility available on both the web version and app version (tested on an iPhone), using the chapter index headings section on the left-hand side is a convenient way to access the information you need quickly. There are also hyperlinks at the beginning of each paragraph, which also aid a quick dive into a subject.
I liked this book’s no-nonsense approach, which provides a clear and very readable description of all the common problems that respiratory medicine presents. It can be easily read from a screen, easily searched, and comes at a very good price (or, for a little bit more, you can buy the textbook bundled with the eBook).
