Medical Books on the Amazon Kindle

The Amazon Kindle family are first class e-book readers, with a growing library of over 350,000 titles. 

The newest members of the Kindle family (Kindle 2 and Kindle DX) can also load Adobe PDF files, which is the most common file format for medical journal articles.

Amazon estimates that a Kindle can hold 1,500 typical books, which probably translates to several hundred medical reference texts on a lightweight mobile reader.   This capability makes the Kindle very attractive to medical students, residents, and other medical professionals who would like to access traditional textbooks while on the go.

Kindle readers have built in wireless internet access which can be used to download e-books and browse select internet sites.  This service is free via Whispernet by Amazon.

Kindle readers have battery lives measured in days, and can charge by USB cable or a AC adaptor.