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Thursday, August 6, 2009

Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary

This dictionary has enough information to be useful for even the most learned medical professional and is still simple enough to use to be accessible to any mildly educated member of society. The dictionary is much more than simply a dictionary. Consisting of the vocabulary section and then some appendices, this 2270-page godsend is chockfull of definitions, examples, full-color diagrams, charts, diagnoses, and more. The preface to the dictionary actually lists all of the features of this cyclopedic dictionary, so I will regurgitate it here:
1. Vocabulary
2. Easy-to-Use Entry Format
3. Alphabetization
4. Eponyms (including biographies of those after whom things were named)
5. Definitions
6. Pronunciations
7. Singular/Plural Forms
8. Etymologies
9. Abbreviations
10. Encyclopedic Entries
11. Illustrations
12. Tables
13. Adjective Forms of Words
14. Cautionary Statements
15. Synonyms (Very helpful!)
16. Cross-References
17. Appendices (Basically all the stuff that doesn't fit well within the dictionary, like medical terminology prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms as well as lots of various classification schemes)
18. Nursing Diagnoses Appendix

The book comes with a trial subscription to Taber's Online. This is my only complaint. Taber's Online does not appear to have received the thorough thought that the printed version did. I found that it was generally unhelpful, but you don't have to pay any extra for it, so I'm not complaining, just commenting. Overall, I would strongly recommend buying the Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. Having taken a medical terminology class at the hospital where I work, I quizzed the instructor on a suitable medical dictionary in his opinion that I could use for my daily work needs. He suggested a few including this one. Next day in work, I was about to ask a few of the many people in my department what their preferences were but decided to take a stroll around the cubicles instead. Sure enough, nearly every cubicle I passed, held a copy of this dictionary. After purchasing a copy, I wasn't surprised to see why. The book is very easy to follow and understand so, if you find yourself in need of this subject, I'd definitely recommend Taber's.