Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Pharmacology, 4th Edition (Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews Series)

It reads like Phonebook, but that is a problem with all pharm texts. However, it is fairly comprehensive and more concise than Katzung. I used Lippincott's as a primary text and supplemented with Mediglyphics (...). These 2 sources were sufficient to rock USMLE Step 1.

I love this book, it doesn't assume you already have every mechanism memorized like many teachers assume that you do. Every drug and every mechanism is explained so it is easy to understand. The diagrams are very helpful in understanding the text. Overall it is very easy to read and a good study aid. However, be careful as a veterinary student studying with this book as it has some contradictions between animal and human medications and pk/pd.

For most medical students, pharmacology is just route memorization. This book does a great deal to let you understand the mechanism of action and indications for the major drugs. By no means is this book to be substituted for your pharmacology textbook but it perfect to read as a companion to your textbook and lecture. Goes through the high yield material and allows you to know what is important for your test.
I do not recommend this book for USMLE, I think it is too big and detailed. I think you need to stick with a book that allows you to cram. What i would suggest is to read the pharmacology section of First Aid.

I used this text to prepair for the boards, having already read Katzung's Pharmacology in class. This is a concise book, uniform, with many illustrations (many of them however could easily be omitted, since they simply present drug adverse effects graphically), and does a good job in selecting the prototypical drugs from each class. It could be a lot more complete in the section on CNS pharmacology, and on drugs for heart failure and hypertension (for example, it is stated that beta-blockers are contraindicated in heart failure, whereas it is well-known that this kind of drugs is essential for reducing mortality and hospitalizations in these patients). I particularly liked the section on antimicrobial chemotherapy, another high-yield topic for the boards. I have a positive overall impression of the book, but I found myself consulting Katzung more than often; also, it does not compare to the clearly superior Lippincott title on Biochemistry (keep in mind however than biochemistry lends itself much more easily to illustrated presentations than pharmacology). It will help you, but in order to top the exams, you will need an additional resource.

I used this book primarily for my pharmacology course. I really didn't use it much as I prepared for Step 1. If you are going to get this, get it early while you are taking the course. It is too long to use for board prep, so learn it early and learn it well.