I found Robbins a good reminder book at the end while studying for boards, and for certain things usually covered in the first few chapters (basic cellular mechanistic kinda stuff, etc.). I don't think it's particularly useful as a primary source while learning surgical pathology though. Frankly I wish someone had pointed me to one of those Molavi-style books. Instead I was basically told, or given the impression, that if I hadn't memorized Robbins before starting residency I was wasting everyone's time, if I didn't quickly memorize Rosai or Sternberg I was destined to fail and be lucky to land a job serving french fries in the future, and really why bother with those when you should really be memorizing the WHO specialty books, AFIP fascicles, and select other specialty reference books anyway. It was a bit dramatic, but made me jump into Rosai right off the bat -- which can be great, but isn't necessary per se, and for some people I think slows their progress considerably.
Nowadays I suggest to people they should first learn small, reputable texts very well, and work upward from there. Otherwise risk drowning in a sea of mostly irrelevant details while never learning to properly tie your shoelaces.
