Gray's Anatomy Book - Review

Pros

• Completeness - From simply glancing at the table of contents, you can immediately see that ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ itself is an entire library of anatomy knowledge. Including multiple layers of knowledge like cellular biology, embryogenesis together with developmental anatomy, gross anatomy, clinical information, and scientific techniques, this book leaves no stone unturned. It even has neuroanatomy, an area that is often explained in completely separate books.
• Evidence based information - Dotted throughout the book and compiled in a huge list at the very end are the sources from which all the content within this book has been extracted. In addition, if you look closely at the years, something becomes crystal clear - the knowledge provided in this book is current and based on the newest scientific evidence. These are the aspects separating good medical professions from the best ones nowadays.
• Longevity - How many academic books can you name that have been continuously printed forty one times for nearly 160 years, and that people still buy earnestly? Very few, if any! This longevity definitely proves the merit of ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ book.
• Online resources - 170 extra pages, 300 illustrations and tables, 28 videos and 24 commentaries are included online. Who doesn’t want additional material for the same price?
• Illustrations - Vividly depicted, coloured, and clearly labelled drawings bring the book to life and help you visualize the concepts. Rest assured, embryogenesis has got nothing on you once you start visualizing it, regardless of how difficult it is (or how much you hate it). It even has radiological images, cross-sections, microscopy images, histological slides, and clinical photos, filling up any potential knowledge gaps.

• Commentaries - No, these are not your favourite sports match commentaries, although they are equally exciting. Appearing at the end of every chapter (section), they describe, analyze, and comment (duh!) about injuries, surgeries, procedures or anything clinically relevant to that specific section.

Cons

Although beneficial to have on your library shelf, ‘Gray’s Anatomy 41st edition’ comes with some problems:

• Lack of quizzes/questions - Unfortunately, there is no way to test and cement your acquired knowledge, since ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ doesn’t offer any MCQs or review questions. It’s true, you can make your own, but they can take an awful amount of time to prepare. Are you prepared for such an investment?
• Price - If you search the library of any physician or anatomy expert, you will certainly find this book as a hardback. Some argue that a copy of ‘Gray’s Anatomy’ is for life, so the hardback version is the obvious choice for durability purposes. However, longevity and sturdiness come at a price. Getting your hands on a brand new one can burn a $230 USD hole in your wallet (depending on discounts and offers), so it’s quite an investment compared to its competition.
• Access to resources - The extra online resources certainly sound like a nice addition, but you cannot access them without buying the book itself, so you’re back to where you started.
• Limited resources - While ‘Gray’s Anatomy 41st Edition’ has a huge variety of illustrations, certain sections and topics can have only a few of each specific type. In addition, some of them are more for adding flavour to the book, rather than clarifying or simplifying a particular point. Radiological images and transverse views are also somewhat lacking, with the emphasis being on frontal and sagittal perspectives. The text and explanations are indeed extremely detailed and well written, but a picture can speak 1000 words, right?  
• Big, thick and heavy - You thought your typical anatomy textbook or atlas is heavy? Wait until you pick this bad boy up. The hardback has 1584 pages, is close to A4 in size, and weighs almost 5 kgs. No wonder readers keep it in the library...
• Unfriendly format - The book’s completeness and success at having all the answers can also be the chink in its armor. Having the most complete anatomy book geared towards a wide target audience, meaning experts as well, does come at a cost - unfriendliness and lack of engagement. Overall, the book does exactly what it says on the tin - presents anatomy. However, it can feel dry and even daunting for students or beginners. When you look at certain parts, you are hit with a page full of complicated and cramped text with no illustrations or tables to provide some breathing room. Have a look below:

Although very informational and factual, it’s not the prettiest sight to see when you are reading anatomy. Small text, lengthy paragraphs, and no illustrations will suck the joy out of every study session. It sounds a lot easier to just hit the ‘Play’ button, sit back, and listen to a video tutorial, doesn’t it?

Gray’s Anatomy vs Kenhub

As you can see, ‘Gray’s Anatomy 41st edition’ comes in a mixed bag. It didn’t become the world’s Bible of anatomy on empty promises. It definitely succeeds in providing readers with all the required levels of knowledge to understand this subject, but the book still has its limitations.

If you want to distill the knowledge and learn it in an engaging, active and student friendly way, Kenhub is your go-to platform. After all, learning anatomy is already a massive undertaking, so you need to take advantage of anything that makes it as manageable as possible. Here’s how Kenhub can help you to achieve this - and how it compares with ‘Gray’s Anatomy’:

Using Kenhub gives you more than one way to skin a cat and tackle anatomy. Through the integration of several teaching methods, you receive all the explanations and descriptions about your favourite anatomical structures. There is only so much you can do by reading articles and watching videos (although it certainly doesn’t hurt). You need to apply the knowledge and test yourself as much as possible. Have you heard that the quizzes offered by Kenhub are organized into four levels of difficulty and can be customized to match your personal learning objectives? They also use spaced repetition, the most effective, scientifically proven way to retain information long-term - so what are you waiting for?! Go and try it out now!