Rosai vs Sternberg vs Weidner

[Doctor B.]

Hey everyone. With new editions of Sternberg and Rosai coming out as well as Weidner's Modern Surgical Pathology out just last year, I'm trying to decide which one to buy. Which book do you all prefer? I've tended to like Rosai better but I recently read some of Weidner's book and it seems really good. Thanks for any input.

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[Rudy]

Great question. Many of the 4th year med students on this board will be grappling with this issue when they get their first installment of the "book fund". I personally think I am going to go with Sternberg because I like the fact that you get exposure to multiple world-wide experts versus only Rosai's perspective (as good as he may be). However, I can see the argument of sticking with Rosai if you enjoy his writing style and his way of explaining things becomes familiar. The residents at my program seem to be split, though Sternberg may have a slight edge.

I have also heard some good things about Weidner's book, though it generally does not seem to be regarded as highly as Rosai and Sternberg.

I hope some of the other folks will throw their .02 in on this discussion. I think the bottom line is that all three are good books; but that still doesn't help you decide which one to buy...

 

[yaah]

I think you can't really go wrong with any of them. I have looked at the Weidner a bit, and I do find that Sternberg seems to give a bit more useful information at times, particularly in regards to clinical information. Weidner does a good job with integrating immunohistochemistry though. I think the Weidner book is really good at stating features of a disease, how to diagnose it, and what it can be confused with. It's not great for "light" reading, if one could refer to a pathology text as light reading.

I think, for residency, the Rosai is a good choice because it does a great job with explaining the basics and taking you through a topic well so that you can be well versed.

The sternberg is probably the best for looking up one disease or tumor that you want to learn more about - very concise but detailed.

I guess I haven't looked at them enough to know which I ultimately prefer. But I find if I am having trouble with an organ system in general (like bone marrow), Rosai is most helpful. But if I want to learn about a certain disease, Sternberg is most helpful.

I guess that doesn't really help at all, sorry. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to choose one or the trigger would be pulled, I guess I would pick Rosai. But like I said, all 3 are pretty good.

 

[Doctor B.]

Thanks guys. I have read Sternberg quite a bit and there are some good chapters but some just suck. Hopefully, the new edition will improve things. I imagine I'll wait and see how the new Rosai edition is and then choose b/w that or Weidner.