In the past I did some comparisons between Harrison's, Cecil's, and ACP Medicine. For the most part they all cover the same information. They're all solid texts and include all the major topics that a future internist needs to know. In terms of level of content, I think Harrison's includes more basic science and has more chapters for the beginner. When I assembled the list of chapters I wanted to cover for my first medicine rotation, I remember Harrison's having a number of good chapters for that (Harrison's had "Approach to the patient with cancer" but Cecil's and ACP Medicine doesn't have similar "internal medicine for idiots" chapters). ACP Medicine seemed to be at the highest level and intended more for those who have a clue - senior residents and practicing physicians I suppose. The ACP Medicine chapters are updated more frequently, with each chapter noting the month and year of last revision - something that's really nice if you are concerned about fast moving topics and the online edition then is usually a bit more up to date then the other print book (although Harrison's does a nice job posting updates). Cecil's is somewhere in the middle - they cover the basic science, but not as in-depth as Harrison's.
The biggest differences IMO are not in content, but in the packaging - what can you get online at your particular institution, is online access a pain in the butt to use or really easy and convenient, is the font used easy for you to read, and the quality and number of graphics. Personally, I think Harrison's has the nicest looking layout, text, and graphics. Online access through my school is also reasonably fast and it will give me a whole chapter at a time if I want, making it easier to print a chapter. My copy of Cecil's has slightly shiny pages, which reflects my desklamp and give me a headache faster. My online access to Cecil's only gives me one small chapter section at a time and is relatively slow, so reading a chapter online is a lot of work. I have access to ACP Medicine through school, and use it on occasion, but I prefer to read more of the "intro" chapters that Harrison's has. So overall I prefer Harrison's (though not for huge reasons), and so as to minimize redundancy that's where I usually do my reading.
I you register with
Merck Medicus, you get access to many books online. You might feel dirty given the association with Big Pharma, but you do get access to many books, including:
* Cecil Textbook of Medicine
* Ferri's Clinical Advisor
* Harrison's Online
* Hospital Medicine
* The Merck Manual of Geriatrics 3rd ed.
* Merck Manual, Professional Edition
* ICU Book
* Kelley's Textbook of Internal Medicine
* Patterson's Allergic Diseases
* Principles and Practice of Endocrinology and Metabolism
* Raj: Practical Management of Pain
* Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine
They also now give you access to
Harrison's Practice, which is an amazing resource in my opinion. Want a differential for abdominal pain? Want to know what tests you should order? Want some pearls that you might not think of? Want a link to the full text chapter "approach to the patient with abdominal pain" out of Harrison's? Harrison's Practice, available through Merck Medicus will set you up, for free. This is an amazing resource, IMO.
