[.ca] Sabiston Textbook of Surgery (ISBN 0721604099)

a must for 3rd & 4th yr med surgical minded students:
This book is an excellent book to establish a broad fundamental understanding of surgery, but detailed enough to use as reference. Every medical student who plans to pursue a career in a surgical field should read this book prior to graduation from medical school.

A surgical Bible:
I was slightly disappointed by the fact that this book is considerably thinner than the previous edition -- we're losing something here. I found the Liver chapter a bit vague sometimes (e.g. on the precise indications for resection and/or transplantation for liver cancer), and chapters on fundamental topics such as Preoperative Care are rich in concepts but lacking in practical information. However, the Sabiston Textbook of Surgery, while somewhat less majestic, is still king -- some chapters, like Soft Tissue Sarcomas and Vascular Trauma (written by none less than Brennan and Mattox respectively) are outstanding. The chapters on Management of Acute Trauma, Surgery of Morbid Obesity, Cerebrovascular Disease and Gynecology, to name just a few, also deserve much praise. This tome is a must for all medical students and surgical interns/residents.