Cutting the binding on Harrison's

[GreenT]

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I am an IM resident and find reading Harrison's very helpful. The problem is the book is so huge that the pages dont lay flat. Also it would be nice to carry a chapter with me to read when the wards are slow. Therefore, I have been thinking of cutting the binding on my harrison's. This may be a stupid idea but I wonder if anyone out there did the same thing. I know I can read Harrison's text on the computer but I just don't retain the information as much as if I read it off a page and can go back to that same page (ie, can envision where on the page the facts were etc). Basically I am a visual learner and it helps to read from the text for me.

Any thoughts, the pages seem kind of thin so not sure how this would actually work out...

 

[Frugal Traveler]

I am an IM resident and find reading Harrison's very helpful. The problem is the book is so huge that the pages dont lay flat. Also it would be nice to carry a chapter with me to read when the wards are slow. Therefore, I have been thinking of cutting the binding on my harrison's. This may be a stupid idea but I wonder if anyone out there did the same thing. I know I can read Harrison's text on the computer but I just don't retain the information as much as if I read it off a page and can go back to that same page (ie, can envision where on the page the facts were etc). Basically I am a visual learner and it helps to read from the text for me.

Any thoughts, the pages seem kind of thin so not sure how this would actually work out...

Cecil's may be a good alternative (but just as big)... I find Harrison's somewhat dry but it is a definitive source (whereas Cecil's does not delve too much into treatment... at least the essentials book I have).

If you want to have chapters on hand, two options that I can think of:
1. Access the book through the electronic library. Hit the view all the chapter button (or something like that)... then you can print out the entire chapter as you read them.
2. Go to Staples or an office store nearby. It depends on what binder size you like. I would go with the 2 inch that holds about 250 pages (so you are going to need several binders to contain Harrison's, which is around 3000 pages). In that way, you will have a little bit of the book to carry around with you in the 2 inch binder.

I used this strategy for First Aid for Step 1 (which is obviously about 250 pages)... worked out great because I have the same learning style as you and like to take notes or add things to the book from wikipedia or whatever else into the binder.

I think this is the more advanced version of Cecil's:
http://www.amazon.com/Cecil-Medicin...=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1258237393&sr=1-2

From what I have heard, East coast uses Harrison's and West coast uses Cecil's... take a look at Cecil's if you have a chance... really liked that book as well.

All in all, I would prefer printing out the chapters as I read them... Harrison's is a huge book to cut!

Good luck reading!

 

[Ariee]

I'll be careful with my words here so I don't impinge on any copyright laws. However, in the past I have seen a pdf version of the latest Harrisons, instead of cutting ur beloved book (which I have cut the binding on many of my books, actually, only $2 @ Office Depot), print out the pages on the pdf version and presto...

Also, have seen some kids walking around with Harrison's on their smart phone, I'm not sure how this works and hate reading things on a computer screen. Not conducive to my obsessive highlighting!

 

[matthewcas]

Yeah I don't know if you want to cut up Harrison's. I feel like that's a ticket to bad internal medicine karma. It might come up during fellowship interviews.

 

[tarlovcyst]

So you'll cut the binding, and then where will you find a binder that is big enough to hold the Harrison pages?? Office Depot doesn't even make rings that big.

Harrisons PDF is available... as an alternative.

 

[Ariee]

Yeah I don't know if you want to cut up Harrison's. I feel like that's a ticket to bad internal medicine karma. It might come up during fellowship interviews.

LOL- brilliant

So you'll cut the binding, and then where will you find a binder that is big enough to hold the Harrison pages?? Office Depot doesn't even make rings that big.

Harrisons PDF is available... as an alternative.

U'd be surprised, I actually have a 5" D-ring binder from the good Old Depot...but so hard to flip pages...PDF it is!

 

[Non-TradTulsa]

I've never accused anybody of being a troll before, but cutting your Harrison's in half is an old tradition that dates back many, many years - hardly a new idea. And if you're in an IM program that doesn't have a Harrison's available from any computer terminal that has a web browser, I don't want to be in that program.

 

[Frugal Traveler]

As I said above, get several 2 inch binders... you don't have to find a gigantic binder for the whole book. You can carry in the 2 inch binder good portions of the book that are very portable instead of a massive binder or book.

I'm a book cutting advocate!

 

[GreenT]

Thanks everyone! I decided to go ahead and cut it. My program does have harrisons via computer but my thinking was, why waste paper and reprint when I have a perfectly good physical copy sitting on my desk collecting dust.

In the future it would be nice if the publishers offered it in volumes, like they do mksap or cecil's.

Thanks again!

 

[shinjiru]

I apologize in advance if this is a stupid newbie question, but why are you reading harrison's as a resident? We get the impression that our residents live on uptodate and other review sources like that? Are harrison and cecils the bibles of IM residency?

 

[Jccripe]

you should cut the binding on the big harrisons, then re-bind each chapter so that you have many managable pamphlets to carry around; you can leave most at home they dont need to be in one large binder. I was thinkin of doin this

 

[Scaredshizzles]

you should cut the binding on the big harrisons, then re-bind each chapter so that you have many managable pamphlets to carry around; you can leave most at home they dont need to be in one large binder. I was thinkin of doin this

Might be more advisable just to have a PDF copy of it...you can print out whatever pages you want as needed, or just read it on the computer. There was (I imagine still is) a very smooth pdf o the 16th edition floating around...The later editions aren't as good as pdfs because they are scanned in copies....But I believe the 16th edition must have been published as an ebook by the manufacturer (i.e. before they realized how big of a mistake it is to publish anything as a pdf in today's internet era.)

 

[Frugal Traveler]

Might be more advisable just to have a PDF copy of it...you can print out whatever pages you want as needed, or just read it on the computer. There was (I imagine still is) a very smooth pdf o the 16th edition floating around...The later editions aren't as good as pdfs because they are scanned in copies....But I believe the 16th edition must have been published as an ebook by the manufacturer (i.e. before they realized how big of a mistake it is to publish anything as a pdf in today's internet era.)

If you have legit access through your institution (and an unmonitored printer at the hospital), then you can print out the PDFs for each chapter.

 

[chitown82]

Do residents read Harrisons (or Cecils)? The majority of the residents I've talked to (at all sorts of programs including top-tier ones) do not mention reading these textbooks. Most tend to read MKSAP and various primary studies/review articles. When it comes to reading, I tend to learn by repetition and I doubt it's feasible to re-read Harrisons multiple times.

 

[buckley]

The international edition of harrison's has two volumes. just fyi...