Which one to pick up first going into the 1st year? My hospital provides the ACS book
Could anyone compare the relative pros and cons of each
If your residency program uses one of the big three (Schwartz, Sabiston or Greenfield) then go with the book that your program uses in their educational sessions. If not, then go to a medical bookstore and look at each one. Pick the one that you like best.
My base book is Sabiston. I loved the illustration and many of the authors are faculty (or former residents) at my program. I also have Cameron too. I find Sabiston an easy read with good illustrations. I also give the specialties section here a bit of an edge.
Greenfield covers the basic sciences the best of the three and was the last to be updated. Again, no real weaknesses in this book and it's popular with many programs.
Schwartz has been recently updated (the same year as Sabiston). In my opinion, this text doesn't read as nicely as the other two and was my least favorite (pictures were as nice in my opinion). Again, this book is quite comparable to the others but I was raised on Sabiston since medical school. Great coverage of both basic and clinical science and popular with many programs.
All three texts have accompaning question books and on line versions so no differences there. It comes down to which book appeals to you on a personal level.
I use Cameron's because of its emphasis on handling clinical situations. It has been my major read for the senior-level ABSITE exam each year and thus my copy is pretty marked up.
No real cons with any of the above books and the pros are strictly personal preferences. I don't think you could go wrong with any of these.
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