Bates' Guide to Physical Examination and History-Taking (11th Edition)

My opinion is solely on the Kindle version of this text and has nothing to do with the actual content of the book. I am an avid reader. I made the change to e-readers back when the first generation b&w Kindle came on the scene. It was a difficult transition then but all these years later, I do 95% of my reading on some type of electronic device. I only purchase "real" books when the electronic version of the text is not available. I was really excited to find out that this book, required for one of my MSN classes, was available as an e-text. It meant that I could study on the go and not worry about lugging around a big text. Well.... I am less than satisfied with the quality of this e-text for the following reasons. (1)Illustrations crucial to identifying important landmarks and disorders are frequently mislabeled. I noticed when the font is changed the subheading switch around to different pictures. (2)There are no references to the actual page numbers in the book, so if you are assigned certain pages to read or if your instructor references a "real" page number, you have no clue where to go. (3) It did not come with an access code for the online content. I had to go back and forth with the publishers to get an access code for the coveted online material which leads to (4) The only complaint about the actual content of this text is that they reference the online material as though it is really helpful but there are no case scenarios or practice test that would be really helpful to prepare for exams. (5) the e-text utilizes way too may links as apposed to just including the information/ text close to the illustrations.

I don't usually write reviews but I really had to write this one in hopes of saving some people the trouble I'm having right now. If you need this text DO NOT GET THE E-BOOK.

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I've had the 10th edition previously, which was the dark green book with the interactive CD to supplement some materials in the reading. Now I have the 11th edition, which doesn't have the CD but you have to access it online. I prefer the CD where you can take it anywhere and play heart sounds, etc. One noticeable difference, of course, is the updated look and color scheme used throughout the book - less blues/greens and more orange/yellow theme. At first I didn't like the new look, but after awhile it was actually better overall. Cover has a more smooth glossy metallic appearance than the 10th edition, which had a flat dark-green rough leatherlike feel. The pages are more glossy and thinner compared to the 10th edition, and feels more "magazine-like". The gloss may hurt reader's eyes with light hitting it and reflecting off. There are new updates here and there but they are very minor. They've added more red headings (examples of abnormalities) on the side and changed words around a bit just to make the feel of "updated". However, many errors are found throughout the book that are still present from the previous edition such as extra spaces and double words to name a few.

If your school require you to have the new 11th edition since everything taught is word for word, then get this edition. If not, you can use the tenth edition instead. Please note if you do get the older tenth edition, the pages do not match perfectly to the 11th editition in case you have specific assigned readings page to page. Some sections in the book are switched around also. Overall, the 11th edition is an update to a well-known and widely-read book for anyone in the medical field, but it feels a little unnecessary to update within a few years with minor things just to cash in more money. Even the mistakes don't make up for it.