Treponema pallidum what? Updated 5/22/01

If you've read some of my reviews, you probably know that I'm currently a medical school student, and with the loads of information that we have to study, I'm all about "high yield" materials. In essence, "high yield" materials will focus on the things you need to know quick and easy - need to know for the USMLE board exams, school midterm exams, and the such.

This book I would definitely consider "high yield." It was a nice study companion for the immense packet of notes our profession included for our microbiology course. This book is also high rated by First Aid as review book. In the preface, the authors said they approached this book for "rapid assimilation" which means high yield to me! =)

The book covers all the major points of microbiology - bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites.

The bacteria section of the book is by far the most complete. It starts off with a bacteria review section that tells about taxonomy, gram stains, morphology, different classifications, and reproduction. Then it goes into the different types of bacterial and talks about anti-bacterial medication. The viruses are also covered pretty comprehensively with an anti-viral medication section. The sections on fungi and parasites could be a little more complete (they did not cover these topics as completely as my notes), but from the practice board exams that I've looked at, they cover the essential topics. After all, it's not a textbook, but a review book.

The thing about this book that made it really useful to me was the mnemonics and the pictures. For instance, to remember Rhabdoviridae which causes rabies, there's a picture of a dog foaming at the mouth (one animal from which you can contract rabies) shooting a bullet (which is the shape of that particular virus). Simple pictures that like are extremely useful. In addition, this book is written in a conversational manner which makes it easy to read. Bolding is used to highlight the most important points, and also, there are charts at the end of each chapter to use as study aids.

A couple of downsides to this book are that it 1) has no practice questions and 2) doesn't clinical integrate too much. Medical Microbiology and Immunology - http://www.epinions.com/content_23588343428 - has over 600 questions as well as excellent clinical correlates, but I think the high yield factor of Made Ridiculously Simple overrides the lack of questions and clinical correlates.

In conclusion, this is an excellent study aid for those taking microbiology in a clinical setting - not limited just to medical school students. This review book definitely won't be sold at my year end medical school book clearance. =)