This book really covers the "need to know" material well. Presented in a different format than some reviews facilitated thorough understanding. Outline format, tables, and histo pictures are a nice way to summarize all important points.

No Medical student taking pathology, preparing for USMLE 1 should go without this book. An EXCELLENT review with lots of pictures and clearly explained topics. Only problem is there is no section of Infectious disease on its own (although infections of individual organ system are covered in their respective chapters).

I thought Goljan's "Rapid Review Pathology" was excellent. Several of my peers agree and we wish we had it during our pathology classes. I recently purchased it to use as a review for the USMLE Step 1. It is an easy/quick read, written in a bulleted format. It is not written for pathologists but rather for medical students. I highly recomend it!

This book, so far, has been an excellent companion study guide to my pathology course. It helps summarize Big Robbins and I am hoping to utilize just the review book in the spring, come time for our shelf exam and Step 1's.

If you did well in path - this is a good book - it gives quick reminders of everything you already know and pounds it into your brain
if you need something with paragraphs, this is not the book. It is essentially a book of really good concise notes on everything in path

GOOD LUCK

Goljan is the man! This book is a must have for med students, espec for board review.

this book was brand new when I got it in mail. The book is amazing. The delivery was timely as well.

this book is amazing. it's tough for some to get used to the outline format, but once you do, you realize that it covers everything that's important in a very organized, readable fashion. there are good applicable pics and charts, along with big margins to write extra notes in. i wish i used it during my first year of medical school (i got it in the beginning of 2nd year).

I've heard some say this book is too detailed for a quick review, and they would rather stick with FA. They must of missed the memo that in medical school you have to know everything and know it in detail. This book is the real deal. If you know these concepts and can work them from a few angles you will surely do well on the boards. If you just read FA you're in trouble. This book should be mandatory!!! It might take a while to get through some chapters but don't fret, stay persistent and it will all come together. This is BY FAR the best book for review, read it a couple times and do a bunch of questions and you're set.

I bought Goljan's RR after having listened to his audio files throughout my M2 year. When it came time to review path for boards I realized I didn't like BRS path. RR has colored pictures, 2 tests at the end of the book (didn't do them, i was using a qbank online by then) and the outline format is great. The wide margins with notes was what I liked best (lots of room for me to write too). Definitely look at a copy before choosing a path review book!

...don't try to use this for your pathology review if you are only allotting yourself a month TOTAL for board review, and you haven't been through it before to highlight the key information. It is far too much material to get through. I spent 9 half days (4-5 hours each day) on pathology and came out of it feeling like I hadn't retained anything due to the density of the book. I think it's EXCELLENT and very well-organized, but it's far too much if this is your first complete pass through it. I ended up giving up and switching over to BRS Path because it was so much more concise. I did, though, go back through RR after reading BRS to look at images and read through the margin notes, which I found to be extremely helpful. I think for many people this will be a great resource because it's complete; you almost don't even need to read extra physio stuff! But for students who have limited time to prepare and/or who haven't read through the book during the course of the year, this may be too much.

Dense book but Goljan includes pretty much all the salient path you need to learn for the boards. A great adjunct to First Aid if you can handle it.

By far the best review book for pathology. I would recommend this with Kaplan for studying for the boards. Has high yield review along with images and there are questions in the back with answers and explanations.

This is a great book for pathology board review. I have not yet started studying for boards, but I use this as a quick read before I start reading Robbins. It helps me know what facts are really important and ingrains important facts in my head before I get overwhelmed by the large amount of information in Robbins. I have heard that many of my class mates only used this book to study for pathology board review and that it was great!

Goljan is definitely making studying pathology a little bit easier. Mostly, I use it as a study guide and add annotations from Robbin's Pathology and online path review from YouTube Shotgun histology and histopathology. I think it will be really useful once it gets around to the time for studying for the boards.

I highly recommend this book! I would describe it as "everything you really need to know condensed in outline format with tables, photos, and charts for a comprehensive by concise overview of organ systems and physiology."

this text is a awesome to teach you in a simplified version various pathology. I love it!

This is a VERY GOOD book partner for Goljan's audio!!!!Know this book well you will get surely HIGH/GOOD usmle score...

see the SDN reviews--they say it all. Make sure you look up the errata on that same website.

I did well on step 1 (>260) and this book really helped me. You are putting yourself at a major loss without using this book. It is written for understanding and can really teach you a lot. Read it cover to cover before boards. Goljan is the master of step 1.

I began using this edition of Goljan, which was good. However, I flipped through a friend's first edition of Goljan's rapid review and was instantly surprised about the clarity and useful tricks it has for getting the Step 1 and path shelf questions correct. I purchased the red book, 1st edition immediately, and then solely relied on it to get most all of the path shelf and usmle path and integrated questions correct. Thanks Goljan!!!

this is a book that all who wish take step 1 most read, good pictures, good explanations

The book is in bullet form,

which was a bit discouraging at first, but the fact that I bought it in the middle of my second year is another factor that hurt me. I wish i would have bought it day one, and gone through it through the two years, my base would be so much stronger.

Also, for DO students, another book that i would recomend (For OMM) that you get at the begining of your two years is Saverese's green book, those questions were clutch for the comlex.

Its a great book indeed! I already had rapid review with red cover! But bought this one as it has more pages and more images! And I must say I love this book.. Absolute choice for step1 patho.

This is a great pathology review book for step 1. I highly recommend it.

As stated many times, when you first open this book, it can be sort of discouraging because it is written in bullet format. But after a while, the bullet formats start to click, and actually become a very effective way of learning the mechanisms. This is by far the best review book for Step 1 I have encountered. The integrations with other areas of basic sciences, plus the mechanisms behind each concept is very well described. One thing that I was a little annoyed with are all those " most common" correlates. Goljan loves " Most commons" for some reason. regardless, give this book a chance- way better than BRS pathology

Do not hesitate to buy this book! I wish I had something like that during Med School. Focused on key facts and extremely clinically oriented, making it great for both real life learning and preparation for USMLE exams.

It is disconcerting at first to open a book which is written entirely in "bullet" form. But this book is the most finely distilled, yet complete resource to study pathology that you can find. Everything in it is accurate, to the point of obsessiveness.

The only thing better is Goljan's audio recordings.

I love this book. The pictures are great and the explanations are detailed and HIGH YEILD. I reccomend this book to anyone who needs a supplement to a medical pathology text.

This book doesn't just aid in review, it is a great resource for initial learning. I find that having an outlined overview of what I'm trying to learn before I start studying helps me a lot. This book gives you a beautiful outline format with layers of detail that you can pick up as needed. I am so amazed at how much core pathology content has been squeezed in this book. I'm using it along side of my course notes in my Human Disease course at the UCSD School of Medicine and I've been very glad to have it when prepping for exams.

As the USMLE Step 1 exam creeps closer, I'm thankful I bought this book early. Knowing that Step 1 is about 50% pathology, upper level students who've already taken their boards have told me it is a good idea to have a solid concise Path resource that you can count on in the final weeks before the exam. I'm satisfied that Goljan's Rapid Review Path will pull me through. This is a great resource and I highly recommend it!

P.S. I also have Rapid Review Histology and Cell Biology: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access (Rapid Review) and I found it very helpful. Knowing what normal tissue structure looks like is an important foundation for pathology.

If you plan on taking the USMLE step 1, buy this book and read along with it during your basic sciences years and use it for reviewing for step 1. You can try adding information to it from your basic sciences classes, but honestly, except for mnemonics, Goljan doesn't leave out any necessary information. For step 1 study I used BRS pathology first and Goljan second and ended up crossing out the majority of my notes from BRS pathology after reading Goljan because his book is so much more complete, clear, and relevant. The best part about this book is that it helps you organize and think about USMLE material in ways that make it possible to answer questions correctly even when they aren't strictly path questions or when they seem completely foreign to you. Goljan knows step 1, so if you want to ace the exam learn to think like him and buy his book.

Great path book! I really enjoy Robbins, but I'm a slow reader and can't possibly finish Robbins on top of reading all my other med school stuff. This book is in outline form, so it may not "flow" & difficult to read if it's your first time looking at the material. I recommend reading another book (or class notes as was in my case) and then going to Goljan, it really helps organize all the info in a short amount of time. As for board prep, this book is ~700 pages, Robbins is ~1500...which would you rather read?

This is the book for the Boards. This is better than the Kaplan pathology and BRS Path. Use it alongside Goljan's audio lectures! This book has been good enough for Board reviewing but also for class. If you are going to use it as the book for second year pathology classes I would recomend supplementing it with the Robbin's question book (as those questions tended to prepare you really well for class).

First of all, I should say frankly, that I like review books from "Robbins" family - "Pocket Companion to Robbins & Cotran PBD" and "Robbins & Cotran Review of Pathology" - more than either "BRS Pathology" or "Rapid Review: Pathology"; on the other hand, if this combo is too much for you, then you should make your choice between BRS and RR; I think that both these books are mandatory if you want to be well prepared for step 1, but, again, this couldn't be an option for many people - they are forced to read either BRS or RR and have a big question - which one is better? my answer is - pick RR - you will not be disappointed.
OK, what do you like in BRS?
Do you like that there are glaring omissions of many high yield topics and you'll be unable to answer many questions on your USMLE step 1? or, maybe, do you like, that BRS has no explanations of mechanisms of pathophysiology - the flesh and bone of the USMLE step 1 - and you'll be forced to cram without understanding?
RR is much more complete and comprehensive; it ellegantly describes pathogenesis, leaving no stone unturned; this book even contains excellent integrated topics from other subjects - for example, concise and very high yield acid-base chapter.
Do you like that in BRS there are boring lengthy descriptions of gross and microscopic pathology, without any picture of what is desribed?
In RR you can find numerous full color slides and drawings, mostly, from "Robbins" - remember, that on your step 1 you'll get many pathology MCQs with accompanying pictures.
Or, do you like, that MCQs in BRS are too easy and not like those on the actual exam?
RR contains many USMLE-ish MCQs and even more - online.
BRS is oversimplified - you'll be reading mostly the stuff you already know, so, you wouldn't need much effort - that's why it's more easy to read BRS than RR - but don't be tempted by comfortable reading - RR will make your performance on the USMLE step 1 much better, than BRS.

I've read through BRS Pathology many times, but I decided to give RR Pathology a try after hearing all the praise. I went through half of it so far and frankly I don't like it. I find it very difficult to read mainly because of its poor structure. It has improved over the first edition, but it still feels like a plethora of detail without any flow. Granted, there is quite alot of information that you won't find in the other books and it does integrate physiology better. But I really think there's too much detail and redundancy which makes it a less efficient source. After reading each chapter, I found it hard to retain alot of the detail.

My advice is, stick with the book that you feel most comfortable with and could easily master. Many students have done extremely well using BRS.

But most importantly, don't change books! If you know your first source well, don't jump to another thinking you'll have more knowledge. Most of the time, it will just confuse you more like this book did to me. Good luck.

This is a great resource for pathology. If you read it and listen to Goljan's lectures, you'll know almost everything you need for pathology.
If you need more details, read Robbins Pathology.
It is very organized, with all of the most commons and other high-yield info.
The new edition has color pictures.
Get it if you don't have it!

I bought this book from the publisher as soon as I could. The layout is beautiful, with many good pathology pics to view. However, after going through just 2 chapters so far, I have noticed many errors, which is why I took off 2 stars. If you know your path well enough, you can make note of the errors and get great use of the book.

Like most of you, I bought this book because I heard amazing things about it. Maybe the Golgian audio is amazing but this book is lousy. It's written in an outline form, however, it offers minimal text. It's basically a bullet point type of outline that offers barely any explanation. Please indicate an example of RR explaining a mechanism. Thus far, the only book that offers any details regarding mechanisms and pathophysiology is the big Robbins text. If you think you will get that from RR, you are sadly mistaken. The reason why people love this book is due to it's color photos and full details. Details are nice but when presented in a bullet point outline style, it distracts one from the pertinent information. You have no sense of what are the main important concepts. Rather, this is just a regurgitation of details in a glossy format. This book is great for those who already understand pathology intuitively and just need to glance at these topics and commit them to memory. Imagine if you took the Robbins text and then just compiled a bunch of bullet points from each chapter into an outline form. There is no sense of organization and I have no idea how someone would retain the information by reading this "book". Again, I don't even consider this a book. It's merely a 600 page outline.

I personally like to understand what I read this and this book doesn't explain items. Granted, no one has time to read the full Robbins text or even the baby Robbins text but I feel the BRS Pathology book offers the best of both worlds. It's concise but it's written in sentence form so it explains things without going into overkill. Granted the BRS Pathology leaves out some details but let's be realistic, if you can master that book, you will have 90% of all the Pathology you will need to know for the boards. You have to be realistic. Sure, you could read Golgian's book and then not retain anything because it was 600 pages of bullet points or you can read BRS and master 400 pages of concise well written sentences.

Yes, it lacks pictures and quality MCQ's. However, those who love this book are fully aware of this and we use other sources for pictures and MCQ's. I love the Robbins MCQ book. For pictures, there is webpath in addition to Netter Pathology which is far better.

I bought this book from the publisher as soon as I could. The layout is beautiful, with many good pathology pics to view. However, after going through just 2 chapters so far, I have noticed many errors, which is why I took off 2 stars. If you know your path well enough, you can make note of the errors and get great use of the book.

Like most of you, I bought this book because I heard amazing things about it. Maybe the Golgian audio is amazing but this book is lousy. It's written in an outline form, however, it offers minimal text. It's basically a bullet point type of outline that offers barely any explanation. This book is great for those who already understand pathology intuitively and just need to glance at these topics and commit them to memory. Imagine if you took the Robbins text and then just compiled a bunch of bullet points from each chapter into an outline form. There is no sense of organization and I have no idea how someone would retain the information by reading this "book".

I personally like to understand what I read this and this book doesn't explain items. Granted, no one has time to read the full Robbins text or even the baby Robbins text but I feel the BRS Pathology book offers the best of both worlds. It's concise but it's written in sentence form so it explains things without going into overkill. Granted the BRS Pathology leaves out some details but let's be realistic, if you can master that book, you will have 90% of all the Pathology you will need to know for the boards. You have to be realistic. Sure, you could read Golgian's book and then not retain anything because it was 600 pages of bullet points or you can read BRS and master 400 pages of concise well written sentences.

Of course, as we all know, Dr Goljan is world famous for Path. I just took Kaplan for Step1 live, which he taught. This was recommended as supplement, and I love it.
Thanks Dr Goljan

If you have the old edition, strongly consider upgrading. There are tons of color images and clinical correlations. I love the way Goljan integrates concepts. For example, he'll mention something you learned in biochem and give you a brief reminder of the concept (sometimes with a little diagram) or he'll mention a drug or a vitamin and he'll remind you about the mechanisms. He even ties in a little anatomy every once in a while. It does make it take a little longer than the equivalent BRS chapter, but I feel like I remember it a lot better. I also feel like things are starting to fit together from all of the different subjects now. Also, there are high yield notes in the margins. You can run through them very quickly before an exam. You're guaranteed to get some questions right just from those margin notes. I'm using this now for class, but when I review for the boards, I know the high yield margin notes, clinical correlation boxes, and the charts will help with a quick review. I owned the last edition and bought this one because of the great updates. It was well worth spending the money.

I dare to say , i know Dr/Goljan in person and he showed me the book before being published but i couldn't get how great the book is till i started reading from it. the book is not only integrates all the subjects together but somehow makes a meaning to them all.Thank u Sir