Physiology/Guyton

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

ProteinTreasure

Full Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2008
Messages
80
Reaction score
6
While Guyton's Physiology is easy to read, I am having a hard time absorbing much of the material from the big edition. Most of the information is so much in detail, that I am missing the point.

Any suggestions for alternative text or review books? How about the pocket edition?

Members don't see this ad.
 
:smuggrin:Guyton is way better than Costanzo.:smuggrin: Just study what you need to know and ignore the rest, cos its a big book, no way you can memorize it from A to Z in 2 or even 3 yrs.:idea:
 
Members don't see this ad :)
While Guyton's Physiology is easy to read, I am having a hard time absorbing much of the material from the big edition. Most of the information is so much in detail, that I am missing the point.

Any suggestions for alternative text or review books? How about the pocket edition?

In that case I would suggest Costanzo. The chapters are relatively brief and to the point. Plus, the renal physio. chapter is great considering how author does research in that area.
 
Costanzo tells you exactly what you need to know and leaves out everything you don't.
 
We used Guyton for our physio, and I really wished we didn't. Seriously, the book is like 1,500 pages or so. Costanzo is like 550 pgs. BRS Costanzo is like 250.

Guyton is way overkill in my opinion.
 
I really like the little Guyton book. I'm not big on text books anyway. If you can't read the big one the little one hits the main points pretty well.
 
Some people hate the book. Arthur (God rest his soul) is my boy. Costanzo is great too, but check her dedications at the beginning of the book. One goes out to, you guessed it, Arthur C. Guyton, MD. By the way, despite Costanzo's purported expertise in renal phys, I think that chapter is a hodge-podge of a confusing mess. Anyone actually like Boron????
 
BRS phys is great--probably not detailed enough for your class, but give you the foundation, plus it's what everyone uses for boards
 
Some people hate the book. Arthur (God rest his soul) is my boy. Costanzo is great too, but check her dedications at the beginning of the book. One goes out to, you guessed it, Arthur C. Guyton, MD. By the way, despite Costanzo's purported expertise in renal phys, I think that chapter is a hodge-podge of a confusing mess. Anyone actually like Boron????

I think Boron has the worst illustrations ever. I'm on board with Guyton.
 
BRS phys is great--probably not detailed enough for your class, but give you the foundation, plus it's what everyone uses for boards

I agree. I've tried Guyton, but it's just too thick and it takes too much time for me to read. I've done really well, however, with both BRS and Rapid Review Physiology. They have proven to be adequate for my needs.
 
Guyton is a bit different than other books...
You don't try to memorize Guyton or obsess over every detail.
You just read it and read it, just like a novel.
And in the end you realize that you now all the material...
 
I just think textbooks are worthless in general, and for phys that's exceptionally true. Why would you waste your time reading that massive book when you can go through the incredibly well-written BRS in a fraction of the time and learn the same info?
 
Our class was required to read (seriously, our grade was dependent on us reading the assignment before the lecture due to in-class quizzes) Guyton. All of Guyton is overkill, but I still found it one of the best standard textbooks I've read so far (other than Robbins). Guyton goes overboard on CV and Renal because that's what the authors did a lot of their research on. Just get the salient points out and ignore the small stuff. The pocket companion textbook does a great job on this.

One note though is that the hematology section is pretty weak. You may need to find another source to supplement.
 
guyton is a great book... for reference

i personally used costanzo as its super easy to read, lapped the info i read in costanzo with brs (same info, just easier to digest and hammer in the important info due to bullet point format) and did plenty of questions (pre test, guyton review etc).

for shelf, i read rapid review phys which did a good job of introducing various pathologies and pharmacology to an otherwise strictly physio review book.

you could always use the guyton at your library or try and get your hands on a pdf for guyton just for reference... but in terms of learning: costanzo and brs+ questions are all you need


ps. i did pretty well on the shelf so im talking for experience if you will haha
 
Top