Koda-Kimble or Dipiro?

[gaba101]

For those of you who are registered pharmacists or currently a P1 or higher, state which one you like(d) and why...this would help those of us considering which one to purchase. thanks.

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[KARM12]

For those of you who are registered pharmacists or currently a P1 or higher, state which one you like(d) and why...this would help those of us considering which one to purchase. thanks.

Which ever one your school uses. Your profs will likely make that the required text for therapeutics

I have seen both and like the DiPiro's better.

 

[rxrobot]

Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach I assume is what you are referring to? I am a first-year student that uses the 5th edition textbook as a guide extensively.

 

[gaba101]

Which ever one your school uses. Your profs will likely make that the required text for therapeutics

I have seen both and like the DiPiro's better.

I understand, but I'm trying to think far down the line (read--boards). I'm trying to gauge which one people have found more useful to study for the boards. I have spoken to my pharmacist who said she read every word in Koda-Kimble, haha. I own Dipiro and find the book hard to read; in fact, one pharmacist who lectured in my therapeutics class said he can't read dipiro, it's too big. That's what my pharmacist says. My prof says Dipiro is very good and he likes it over Koda-Kimble. I hope my school library will have a copy of Koda Kimble for me to look at but in the meantime, it'd be nice to hear what other students have to say--especially useful would be those who have passed the boards (is your current brain made from Koda Kimble or Dipiro or something else? )

 

[Priapism321]

I have actually had experience with both texts. While we were waiting for a new edition of Pharmacotherapy, my school went with Koda-Kimble for a year. And, for good reason, the next year we switched back to Dipiro. Even during the year my school switched, I still relied on the Dipiro text, slightly out of date or not.

I suppose that I may have just preferred the didactic approach of Dipiro over the case-based strategy from Koda-Kimble. I would rather take in a disease state and its treatment options in the broad sense when looking at a tertiary reference, rather than constantly feeling like I am reading patient cases that are more specific; Just how I process information I suppose.

 

[gaba101]

I have actually had experience with both texts. While we were waiting for a new edition of Pharmacotherapy, my school went with Koda-Kimble for a year. And, for good reason, the next year we switched back to Dipiro. Even during the year my school switched, I still relied on the Dipiro text, slightly out of date or not.

I suppose that I may have just preferred the didactic approach of Dipiro over the case-based strategy from Koda-Kimble. I would rather take in a disease state and its treatment options in the broad sense when looking at a tertiary reference, rather than constantly feeling like I am reading patient cases that are more specific; Just how I process information I suppose.

Regarding Koda-Kimble, do you know what the difference in quality is between the spiral manual series vs. the hardcover?

 

[gaba101]

for those of you interested, the older version is just 20 bucks online! even though it was published in 2001, koda-kimble's been around for decades, so i assume it'll be just as good as the 2004 one (the pharmacist who said her brain's made of koda-kimble graduated in 2003, so that makes me happy )

 

[dgroulx]

I have actually had experience with both texts. While we were waiting for a new edition of Pharmacotherapy, my school went with Koda-Kimble for a year. And, for good reason, the next year we switched back to Dipiro. Even during the year my school switched, I still relied on the Dipiro text, slightly out of date or not.

I suppose that I may have just preferred the didactic approach of Dipiro over the case-based strategy from Koda-Kimble. I would rather take in a disease state and its treatment options in the broad sense when looking at a tertiary reference, rather than constantly feeling like I am reading patient cases that are more specific; Just how I process information I suppose.

I was in the class that got assigned Koda Kimble. It's big, heavy and takes up valuable shelf space. I'm going to sell it and all my pharmacy books, since I only use electronic resources nowadays.

 

[DrugDealer]

My school uses DiPiro, but I am a nerd and like to read, so I also bought a copy of Koda-Kimble. I got the previous edition (2001) for only $30 on Amazon, brand-new!! For the most part, it doesn't matter that it's a few years old. And if there is a new drug to read about, I still have DiPiro and all the online databases from school. I like it's Q&A format, and some of the charts are better. Plus, it's just nice to read two different explanations of the same topic.

 

[Motiv8]

I agree with drugdealer...Our class used Dipiro, which didn't always clarify concepts..Koda Kimble on the other hand used a case-based format, which made it a lot easier to memorize the drugs, cause you can think of that particular case scenario. Granted not all cases will be the same, but pharmacy is headed in the clinical direction so Koda-Kimble gets my vote all the way...

 

[ZpackSux]

Get both.

 

[gaba101]

I just ordered my copy of Koda-Kimble yesterday and I can't wait for it to arrive, if it's just as good as you guys say!!

I have Dipiro right now. It's alright. I guess I'll know when I get the Koda Kimble for comparison.

thanks!

 

[DrugDealer]

I just ordered my copy of Koda-Kimble yesterday

Yay! Books are fun!

 

[golf299]

I wouldn't waste the money on a big, heavy textbook that's going to be out-of-date the moment it comes off the press. My school "requires" DiPiro and I've found that the companion handbook does the job just as well as the large version. Go with the Pharmacotherapy Handbook by DiPiro for $50 and you won't be kicking yourself when you realize that some of the info is already useless because new guidelines were just published.

 

[Caverject]

I was in the class that got assigned Koda Kimble. It's big, heavy and takes up valuable shelf space. I'm going to sell it and all my pharmacy books, since I only use electronic resources nowadays.

what? you dont have room in that gigantic house of yours for a few books?

 

[pinkyrx]

I wouldn't waste the money on a big, heavy textbook that's going to be out-of-date the moment it comes off the press. My school "requires" DiPiro and I've found that the companion handbook does the job just as well as the large version. Go with the Pharmacotherapy Handbook by DiPiro for $50 and you won't be kicking yourself when you realize that some of the info is already useless because new guidelines were just published.

I think this is good advice. I recently sold my gigantic Dipiro and purchased the small handbook that goes with it. I've found that the handbook really has as much info as I personally want to read on most subjects. I still have the PDF version that came with my original copy of Dipiro, so if I need to read something further I could access that, but 99% of the time the small book works perfectly for me.

 

[PharmDMBA]

I prefer Dipiro's especially due to the detail on disease states (comes in handy on fourth year rotations). Also, when you buy Dipiro's you get to download an ebook version in pdf you can keep on your computer. The ebook version is searchable and makes looking things up very quick. As far as cases, I purchased the case book that accompanies Dipiro's (~30 bucks) and this tied a lot of the concepts together.

 

[gaba101]

nvm

 

[gaba101]

got my copy of Koda-Kimble today. Simply the best.

 

[PharmDonduty]

Hi, Gaba 101,
I'm assuming you have therapeutics. I'm taking first sem of therapeutics and I'm already freaking out!! I also have Dipiro, but all of our quizzes and exams are ALLLL CASE BASED, so what do you guys think??

For someone like me with trouble in case based questions/soaping/identifying drug therapeutic problems dtps, should I just go ahead and purchase the Kimble book? and how helpful is this for first semester of therapeutics (soaping, identifying dtp's in medical records/charts)?

Thanks guys!

 

[gaba101]

I suppose that I may have just preferred the didactic approach of Dipiro over the case-based strategy from Koda-Kimble. I would rather take in a disease state and its treatment options in the broad sense when looking at a tertiary reference, rather than constantly feeling like I am reading patient cases that are more specific; Just how I process information I suppose.

PharmDonduty, look around on this thread and your answers are here--I really don't know what more you want with 3 posts (2 new threads today here and here ) Posting multiple times on the same topic (or in your case copying and pasting the same post in 2 different areas) isn't necessarily going to get you answers faster, if anything aggravating only because the answers to your questions are crystal clear in this thread (just scroll up) and I have helped you by quoting it again here. Oh and nobody knows what the hell you're talking about with DTPs Perhaps nobody can help you b/c nobody knows what a DTP is. Want to clarify?

 

[gaba101]

all of our quizzes and exams are ALLLL CASE BASED, so what do you guys think??

Think about what? shouldn't be shocking b/c that's pharmacy! Welcome to pharmacy school.

 

[PharmDonduty]

DTP, drug therapy problems (such as drug-drug interactions, inappropriate dosing) and identifying them given a patient's chart/record. Or some say DRP-drug reaction problems.

I only posted the second time because I couldn't find the first thread, which I clearly said in the first sentence of my second post. Excuse me for being new to this site. Next time don't be so quick to assume things; it only shows ignorance.

Also, why all the unnecessary sarcasm? What is it you're trying to prove?

I suggest you take up interpersonal skills and hope you don't talk to your patients that way.
Using words such as "what the hell you're talking about" is offensive; I am a young lady and furthermore, a professional and didn't expect to be directed to in such manner. You're not a very good representative of this forum of medical professionals. Your reply shows your character of a 'professional' who's not humble and a bit disrespectful.

It's very simple, you either respond respectfully to others or you don't. Obviously, you don't know the difference between the two.

 

[tussionex]

go with the DiPiro's handbook....way easier to carry, to use, and enough info...
and, definately online resources...think about free or subscription services such as emedicine.com and medscape.com
i used them extensively on rotations

it's all i used..i don't think i ever opened my large DiPiro's...but if buying it gives you the PDF version, i would get it just to have the electronic version, which i would have killed for in school!

 

[DrugDealer]

I love the PDF that comes with DiPiro...I just copy and paste in charts for the notes I make while preparing my cases for class. But, just an FYI: it's encrypted so that you can only open it on the computer you originally download it to. So if you have a desktop and a laptop, think about which one you'll be using it on the most. And you can't just throw it onto a USB drive and take it to school.

 

[SonDu]

Does anybody know if there is an answer casebook for Dipiro´s??? and for Koda-Kimble? I am not sure about which one I should buy and having the answers to the cases offered can help me. Thanks!

 

[Sevarious]

I think DiPiro is the better of the two and it gets better with age. It can be a real hard book to use when you're beginning, but once you've got the basic concepts down (by the time you start your later rotations or enter practice), you'll be able to get a lot out of it.

 

[WVUPharm2007]

A new Dipiro just came out, too. One of the editors is the clinical pharmacy director at WVU. I think I'm required by alumnus law to like that one better...