Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple (Medmaster)

I grew to appreciate these stupid cartoons, as I did remember stuff I would have otherwise forgotten. If you are burning out, this is a good resource!

This is not a real textbook, however. You get a guerilla introduction to some basics, but the presentation of material is not as systematic as a text. At the end of each chapter is a chart to summarize the information presented, but the font is tiny and I never bothered using it.

I would recommend checking this book out to see if the book's style works for you. If it does, this is a good way to study microbiology even if you are tired and sick of studying for Step I. If it does not, there are plenty of more standard texts and reviews to choose.


Excellent review of microbiology..   April 29, 2002
Kersi Von Zerububbel (San Diego, CA USA)
42 out of 44 found this review helpful

This text will give you a good review of clinical microbiology. The information is geared towards the medical student. Important facts are presented in a easy-to-memorize manner which gives the student what is needed to pass exams. This is not meant to be a textbook on clinical microbiology and therefore one should not expect cogent narratives. However, if you are over 50 like myself; make sure you have your reading glasses or magnifiers handy. The font size is quite small and the print could have been a little darker. Also you may find parts of the book a bit too flippant but remind yourself that this is supposed to be a review text.

Well worth your time.


Micro Can Only Be Learned Through This Book   July 2, 2000
Nicolas Melgarejo (Bogotá, DC Colombia)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful

You can go to class, or you can read a big fat ugly book, and still you won't learn about micro bugs until you buy this book. AN EXCELLENT REVIEW on almost all of the important bacteria, fungi, virus and parasites. The toons are very funny (and you keep them in your head all your life ). And for learning the basics on antibiotics it is wonderful. This book has helped me in the most desperate conditions (impossible exams), and believe me, YOU GOTTA HAVE IT !


An otherwise excellent book compromised by poor editing   January 8, 2005
Eric Wu (Miami, Florida)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

This book is of the typical "Ridiculously Simple" style. This is an excellent book that transforms a boring subject into something fun to read. Mnemonics, coded in words or illustrated by cartoons, are scattered all over the book. Many of them do help!

However, as other reviewers have complained, this book is full of spelling errors, typos, and misplaced figures and legends. The overall impression about its editing is "ridiculously chaotic". Try to imagine that. An example is the CD4+ T-cell count. On page 197 and 198, it is mentioned many times when its unit is "ul", "uL", "ml", and "mL". How confusing! The last two are the correct ones. But "ml" may be a preferred format. Or simply leave the unit out if you are not sure about it. Improve this. This kind of problem has nothing to do with being "Ridiculously Simple", I believe.

Some information in the book is outdated. For example, smallpox probably will not show up in the exam any more. And the vaccines for polio. Does the author know that we use a combination of Salk and Sabin vaccines today? Why is this not mentioned in the book?

Cartoons are nice. But I also like some real pictures about the worms and the diseases that they cause.

This book has the potential to get a 5-star rating. However, it is spoiled by abusing the word "ridiculously".


Very readable and generally good book   July 2, 1999
11 out of 17 found this review helpful

I can't believe the shitty book that I was forced to try to read for my course. This one gives you a good picture of what's relevant. I'll toss this one in since everyone else has - it has excellent tables. I rate them book as execellent. Don't force yourself to read another book. There's nothing to understand in micro - just memorize it. This book makes it easier. I only wish I had had this as a text for the course!