Grays anatomy for students

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• aperback: 1136 pages
• Publisher: Churchill Livingstone; 2 edition (February 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0443069522
• ISBN-13: 978-0443069529

This is the single book that has made me enjoy anatomy. As a second year medical student who previously used Moore's Anatomy, I have to say this book is vastly superior, as another reviewer mentioned.

The book is very well-organised. It uses the time-tested tradition of segmenting the book by anatomical location (abdomen, pelvis, head & neck, etc.) like most other books. In each section, there is an overview section, and then it delves into each portion (e.g. Pharynx, Larynx, Nasal Cavity, Oral Cavity, etc.). For each of those sections, it then covers the bone/cartilages and ligaments, muscles, blood vessels, lymphatics and nerves in order. The table of contents list things so well, that I use it more than the index, something I cannot say about many other books.

The text is extremely clear, and doesn't use any unnecessary obfuscation. :) However, it is also very precise, meaning that it usually uses the correct anatomical words to describe locations of structures --- make sure you learn that well because it is the way it ought to be done. It also uses the updated Terminologia Anatomica terminologies. So, instead of finding the Eustachian tube, you have to look for the pharyngotympanic tube. This is both good and bad though, as your school might still not use the correct terms. Most of the time they do include the alternative names (ligament of Trietz, Sphincter of Oddi, etc.) for reference, but not always, as in the case of the Eustachian tube.

There are also many tables and figures. Muscles are always presented in both the text and tables to summarise their actions, origin, insertion, etc.. The figures are all very clear, and large with some taking up the whole page with clear labels. Most of the time, everything referred to in the text is also found on the figures (referenced by the text, or in the pages around that topic). This is not true for many other anatomy books, forcing the students to flip all over the books to get a clearer picture (especially if the index doesn't work, like in Moore's!) This can still be further improved in future editions, but as it is, I am satisfied (a big improvement over other texts I have used).

And yes, the index is very well organised, and indicates the pages with figures for the topic. I have yet to fail to find figures in the book using the index.

There are also good clinical discussions, questions, and also radiographic pictures (x-rays, ultrasound, CT, MRI).