App Review: The Merck Veterinary Manual

The Merck Veterinary Manual, 10th edition app (iTunes page here)
Cost: $49.99

This is the Merck Veterinary Manual you’ve come to know and love but now in a mobile form.  It is the 10th edition, and is available for both your iPhone and optimized for iPad. The mobile Manual is divided into both “Outline” form (organized by body system), and “Topics” which includes everything from aardvark nutrition to zygomycosis. There is also a search function and favorites list where you can bookmark the sections you reference the most.

 

The different navigation methods make it pretty easy to find what you are looking for. There are pictures, audio, and video included, with over 1,100 color photos.  References sections are linked within each article so you can quickly jump around to the pertinent information you need.

I’ve been using this app on my small animal internal medicine and emergency/critical care rotations and so far it has proven a handy resource to help read up on my cases, since it has a little bit on just about everything.  I especially like the table formats used for everything from pharmaceuticals to poisonous plants, because concise, quick information is important to me.  I’ve been using it in conjunction with a differentials resource like Saunders “Small Animal Medical Differential Diagnosis” to prepare for cases. 

 

If you are interested in checking out what the Manual has to offer before purchasing this app, check out the free online  9th edition here .  The 10th edition lists updated content and 10 new chapters as an advancement upon the previous edition. 

Straight from Merck, here is what you are getting:

• 1,100+ full-color images for enhanced understanding

• Audio and video examples

• Extensive use of tables and charts

• Cross-reference links to related topics

• Diagnosis and treatment of domestic, exotic, and laboratory animals

• Universal Index Search – find topics across all indexes

• ‘Favorites’ for bookmarking important entries

• Optimized iPad interface

The app has a slightly more user friendly navigation and search options than the online version in my opinion, and the “Favorites” feature is nice to tag pages you want to look at later.  Overall, as a student reviewing for the NAVLE and navigating clinical rotations, I think this app is a handy one to have!