It depends very much on your learning style... first of all, you need to find a book that you'll be able to spend a great deal of time with
You also need to find a book that is comprehensive, and really up-to-date, not just in terms of facts but also in terms of teaching style. That means look closely at the great tomes, Guyton & Hall,
Boron, and Ganong.
Finally, you have to be ready and willing to supplement whatever book you pick as your main textbook with other sources! That is, check out physiology monographs, articles, and the lovely internet.
Of the three books I listed, I like Boron the most. I feel it has much better illustrations than does Guyton, and makes better use of analogies. The equations that seem to infest it may be daunting at first, but they actually help even a mathophobe like me to understand important relationships. The advantages of the concept--single textbook with two main editors, but written by many authors who are experts and experienced teachers in their fields--should become clear after just a few minutes of reading--they
really know what they're talking about and (usually) how best to say it
A number of criticisms are commonly directed against this book, and chief among them seems to be those relating to the great level of detail. This can be very problematic for the reader who hasn't yet developed the ability (and willingness
) to differentiate between "important" and "unimportant" information, ignoring the latter.
I personally find it easy to do this with Boron, due to the clear structure of every chapter, along with the (generally) very well-designed illustrations. I found sorting through Guyton much more difficult, due to his writing style (when I learned that he
dictated much--if not most--of the book, it made sense...). However, I'm told Guyton is easier to read as a novel about physiology, so to speak!
Another criticism I've seen a few times is the lack of a comprehensive neuro section. I feel this is actually one of the best things about the book, as neuro is better dealt with in eg. Purves
Neuroscience--ie. a proper neuro book. The neuro section in Boron is a pleasant way to deepen one's understanding of the material that may be found in a dedicated neuro textbook.
The final criticism I've seen very often is about the book's focus on cellular aspects. I can't for the life of me understand why this is seen as a disadvantage. Even though I struggled with cell-biology, and found the semester we spent with The Cell to be very very tedious on many occasions, I think it's undeniable that an understanding of the cellular basis of physiology is crucial for developing an understanding of physiology on the whole. Without that basis, you will have to spend a lot more time and effort memorising facts and details without understanding the material properly.
Guyton is generally acknowledged as being very good for learning CV-physiology. I used to consider this a major selling point, until I discovered
www.cvphysiology.com, a site based on the book Cardiovascular Physiology concepts. Both the site and the book are the best resources I've found--so far--for learning CV-phsiology, esp. when combined with a couple of good introductory lectures on hemodynamics.
Vander's book on renal physiology is a fantastic resource, but it's a great deal of reading... for my purposes, I've found Boron, lectures and articles to be much more suitable. If anyone's interested, I can share the articles--they're like precious little physiology tutorials that are esp. good at adressing misconceptions that at least I had no idea I had
Ganong is a very special book... some sections are very comprehensive, and some appear to be severely lacking (eg. the section on renal physiology), at least for learning physiology from scratch. Depending on your state of mind and the nature of your course, it can be an easy read or a real pain. The structure of the book doesn't mesh with the structure of my course, and it's pretty different from both Guyton and Boron in that respect.
Nevertheless, it can often be an almost refreshing read. It's very concise, and the pictures, though very simple, are generally pretty illustrative.
When it comes to learning biochemistry properly (in the context of human physiology), I'd recommend either Medical Biochemistry by Dominiczak, or Basic Medical Biochemistry: A Clinical Approach, by... er, I forget. I found the latter to be too much for my purposes, but the problem-based approch it takes is fantastic!
That was a lot more writing than I'd planned on... I hope it helps you with your decision :-) good luck!
-- P
