Respiratory Physiology: The Essentials

I used this book for my pulmonary block in medical school. If you like to preview topics before class, this book covers everything that will be discussed. It's also good for clarifying the more difficult concepts from lecture. The book goes into more detail than is strictly required for basic medical pulmonology (e.g. derivations of mathematical representations of concepts), however, the biggest ideas are well-summarized at the end of each chapter in the practice question section. Taking into account the relatively low cost, short length, and usefulness as a reference and practice question bank, I recommend this book for medical school pulmonary coursework.

This tiny book took me a week and a half to read because I found that some of the difficult concepts were no sufficiently explained so I found myself consulting different sources to explain things on a more fundamental levelIf you are looking to just memorize what you need to know, this book is perfect for you. However, if you are wanting a more fundamental understanding of respiratory physiology, I would advice you to go a different route.

I had a much earlier version of this book for medical school and often found myself wanting to revisit the principles outlined by West. So, I got this recently. It is such an easy read with no fluff. The true sign of a teacher is someone able to take a complex subject and simplify it for the learner. West does this impeccably. This can easily be read in a day without much effort. It's too bad all physiology isn't presented in such a manner. Thank you John West!

I've been using this book alongside respiratory physiology lectures in a med school physiology class. Most of the lecture notes actually use cited images and diagrams from this book, and reading it after lectures has really helped with my understanding. Not sure if this happened with other buyers, but my copy came with some pages from chapters 9 and 10 somehow in the book twice. It's not a big enough deal to cost a star, though.

A fantastic textbook! The chapters are well-written and concise, plus they are well introduced and reviewed with key points and objectives all laid out. Reading assignments from this text aren't nearly as much of a chore so I really love to learn from it.

Very easy to understand and breaks everything down

This book is a clear guide to respiration, without all the 'fluff' in most texts. Especially useful in one watches Dr. West's video lectures posted on the web. Wish all my classes had books, videos like this one.

Respiratory Physiology is just what it promises an in depth look at the workings of the respiratory system broken down into manageable units. This book does a phenomenal job of explaining the key concepts simply without sacrificing detail.

Dont like it, weinburger is so much better!!,

As always an excellent read. In the highly physiological field that is Respiratory Medicine I find that this volume and its companion, Pulmonary Pathophysiology, provide a first taste into the field that can hardly be improved upon.Information that might be expanded upon (after all, such a small volume could never pretend to be comprehensive) is readily identifiable and so might be readily complemented by further reading.Maintains within LWW's wonderful tradition of small succinct books intended for easy learning.

There's no doubt that this book is a good revision aid for anaesthetics exam. However, when it comes to everyday clinical practice, it is not an easy read and does not offer solutions to clinical dilemmas.I do not recommend this for respiratory physicians, as I found it if little clinical use.

It's a great book, as everyone should know. Enough info to get you thinking about the relevance clinically. Good for student to residents/specialists.

Excellent and interesting read. Clear explanations of everything. Don't hesitate to buy this book if this is the subject matter you need to know.