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DNB Broad Specialty · Book Guide

Books for DNB Respiratory Medicine.

The official NBE curriculum list, reproduced exactly, plus the editions residents actually read in 2026 — with recommended journals, a year-wise reading plan, and the references you'll need for your thesis and practical.

27Titles in the NBE list
10Current-edition picks
23Journals listed
3 yearsReading plan included
Official list

Books NBE lists in the DNB Respiratory Medicine curriculum

These 27 titles are reproduced as they appear in the National Board of Examinations curriculum document for Respiratory Medicine — spelling and abbreviations included. Treat this as the syllabus anchor.

  1. Fishmen's Pulmonary Diseases and Disorders
  2. Croftan's Pulmonary Diseases
  3. Fraser & Pare's Diagnosis of the Diseases of the Chest
  4. Murray and Nadel - Textbook of respiratory medicine
  5. Pleural Diseases by Light. 5th Edition Lippincott, 2007.
  6. Tuberculosis by Dr. S.K Sharma
  7. Manual of Tuberculosis by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first edition 2015, Jaypee brothers medical publishers.
  8. MDR and XDR Tuberculosis by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first edition 2015, Jaypee brothers medical publishers.
  9. Atlas of Fibreoptic Bronchoscopy by Dr. Rajendra Prasad
  10. Atlas of Fibreoptic Bronchoscopy by Dr. Uday B Prakash
  11. George and Light - Essentials of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine
  12. Gibson - Textbook of Respiratory Medicine
  13. Egan's Fundamentals of Respiratory Care. 4th edition, Lippincott, 2005.
  14. Principles of Chest X-ray Diagnosis - Simon. 4th edition JayPee Bros, 1999.
  15. Respiratory Physiology JB West - 8th edition, LANGE McGraw Hill, 2008.
  16. Paul Marino - The ICU book - 3rd Edition Lippincott, 2005.
  17. Sleep Medicine - Kryger. 4th Edition Elsevier, 2005.
  18. Thoracic imaging - Webb & Higgins Lippincott, 2005.
  19. Diagnostic thoracic imaging - Miller, McGraw Hill 2006.
  20. Macleods - Clinical Examination - 11th edition Churchill Livingstone, 2006.
  21. Davidson - Principles and Practice of Medicine. 21st Edition Churchill Livingston, 2010.
  22. Udwadia - Principles of critical care - 2nd Edition Oxford, 2007.
  23. Chang - Clinical Applications of Mechanical Ventilation. 3rd Edition Thomson, 2008.
  24. Clinical respiratory Medicine - Albert & Spiro - 3rd Edition Elsevier Mosby, 2003.
  25. Synopsis of Diseases of the Chest - Fraser & Spiro - 3rd Edition Elsevier, 2005.
  26. Tuberculosis - Case finding by Toman. 2nd Edition WHO Publication, 2004.
  27. Clinical Tuberculosis - Diagnosis and treatment by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, first edition 2015, Jaypee brothers medical publishers.
Read this before you buy. NBE curriculum documents are revised infrequently, so several entries name editions that are now years out of date, and a few titles are out of print. Use this list to know what NBE expects you to have read, then buy the current edition listed in the next section.

Source: NBE DNB Respiratory Medicine curriculum

What residents actually use

Current editions, and what each one is for

The books most residents actually buy. These are the editions in circulation now, with a note on whether each is something you read cover to cover, keep as a reference, or open only for the viva.

  1. Murray & Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory MedicineV. Courtney Broaddus et al. · 7th edition · core referenceThe default comprehensive text; most residents read it selectively by topic through training.
  2. Fishman's Pulmonary Diseases and DisordersMichael A. Grippi et al. · 6th edition · core referenceAlternative encyclopedic text, strong on physiology and vascular disease, used for seminars.
  3. Textbook of Pulmonary and Critical Care MedicineS.K. Jindal (ed.) · 3rd edition · Indian core referenceIndian text covering TB, occupational lung disease and local epidemiology the Western books omit.
  4. Light's Pleural DiseasesRichard W. Light · 7th edition · subspecialty coreDefinitive source on effusions, Light's criteria and pleural procedures - heavily used in Indian practice.
  5. TuberculosisS.K. Sharma, Alladi Mohan · 3rd edition · subspecialty coreRead with the current NTEP technical and PMDT guidelines, which govern day-to-day TB management.
  6. West's Respiratory Physiology / Pulmonary PathophysiologyJohn B. West, Andrew M. Luks · 11th edition · physiology baseShort texts that underpin PFT and ABG interpretation for both theory and viva.
  7. Flexible BronchoscopyWang, Mehta, Turner · 4th edition · procedural referenceUsed alongside hands-on training for FOB, TBLB, TBNA/EBUS and airway management.
  8. Marino's The ICU Book / Principles of Critical Care (Udwadia)Paul L. Marino / Farokh Erach Udwadia · 4th edition · critical care referenceBackbone for the ICU rotation, ventilation, shock and sepsis management.
  9. Principles and Practice of Sleep MedicineKryger, Roth, Goldstein · 7th edition · subspecialty referenceReference for OSA, polysomnography scoring (with the AASM manual) and NIV titration.
  10. GOLD, GINA, ATS/ERS and NTEP/WHO guideline documentsGOLD / GINA / ATS-ERS / NTEP / WHO · current year edition · guidelinesVersion-current guidelines are expected verbatim in management answers and change yearly.
Printed in our shop

Respiratory Medicine books we print most often

These are the respiratory medicine titles residents send us to print most often — the books that actually come through the shop, alongside the official list above.

We print files you send us. We do not host, sell or supply book PDFs — send us a file you are entitled to print and we print and bind it.

Journals

Journals NBE lists for Respiratory Medicine

Journal club and the “recent advances” parts of the theory paper come from here. You do not need to read all of them — pick the two Indian journals and one international one and follow them properly.

Indian J TuberculosisChestChest ClinicsLung IndiaIndian Journal of Chest diseases and allied sciencesThoraxInternational Journal of TB and Lung DiseasesAmerican Journal of Respiratory and Critical care medicineEuropean Respiratory journalEuropean Respiratory reviewThe Lancet RespiratoryBritish Medical journalJournals of Indian medical associationNew England Journal of MedicineJournal of association of physicians of IndiaClinics in chest medicineAmerican journal of roentgenologyCancerCancer researchJournal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgeryRespirationCurrent opinion in pulmonary medicineBreathe
Reading plan

What to read, and when

Three years is less time than it sounds. The order below is what works for most DNB Respiratory Medicine residents — broad and readable first, reference-level later, revision and drilling last.

Year 1

Build the base

Ground yourself in West's physiology, chest X-ray/HRCT pattern reading and NTEP TB guidelines while doing daily wards and OPD; start PFT and ABG interpretation and register the thesis.

Year 2

Go deep, collect thesis data

Read Murray & Nadel or Fishman topic by topic with Light for pleural disease and Jindal for Indian context, learn bronchoscopy and pleural procedures hands-on, cover the ICU rotation with Marino, and present journal club.

Year 3

Revise, drill, submit

Revise with guidelines (GOLD, GINA, ATS/ERS, NTEP) plus targeted textbook re-reading, do timed case presentations and radiograph/PFT/ABG drills, complete the thesis, and rehearse instrument, drug and procedure viva.

Thesis

References for your thesis

Protocol, methodology and reporting standards examiners expect you to have followed.

  • ICMR National Ethical Guidelines (2017); ethics committee approval and CTRI registration for trials
  • ATS/ERS Technical Standards for spirometry, DLCO, lung volumes and GLI-2012 reference equations
  • NTEP technical and PMDT guidelines (India) and WHO consolidated guidelines on TB
  • Questionnaires: mMRC, CAT, SGRQ, ACT, Epworth Sleepiness Scale, BODE index
  • AASM Manual for the Scoring of Sleep and Associated Events
  • STROBE / CONSORT / STARD checklists; sample-size calculation and survival analysis in SPSS or R
Practical & viva

What the practical actually tests

Books and material specifically useful for the clinical, spotter and viva stations.

  • Long and short cases: pleural effusion, COPD, ILD, bronchiectasis, post-TB sequelae
  • PFT and ABG interpretation, six-minute walk test, bronchodilator reversibility and DLCO
  • Chest radiograph and HRCT reading - pattern recognition for ILD, TB, malignancy, occupational disease
  • Bronchoscopy: indications, technique, BAL, TBLB, TBNA/EBUS, complications and consent
  • Pleural procedures: thoracentesis, ICD insertion, pleurodesis, medical thoracoscopy basics
  • Mechanical ventilation and NIV - mode selection, waveform interpretation, weaning; oxygen delivery devices
  • Instruments and drugs: TB regimens under NTEP, inhaler devices and technique demonstration, spirometer, nebuliser, ICD, bronchoscope
Frequently asked

DNB Respiratory Medicine books — questions

Which books should I read for DNB Respiratory Medicine?

The titles on this page are the ones residents and departments actually use, each with the edition in circulation now. Start with the first one listed and add the references as your reading deepens.

Which single book should I start with in first year of DNB Respiratory Medicine?

Murray & Nadel's Textbook of Respiratory Medicine by V. Courtney Broaddus et al. is the usual anchor. The default comprehensive text; most residents read it selectively by topic through training.

Are the editions listed here current?

Yes — we list the edition in circulation now for each title. Editions move quickly, so confirm the current one before you buy or print.

Do I need to buy every book on the list?

No. Most residents own three or four and use the department or library copy for the rest. That is exactly why printing selected chapters from a PDF works out cheaper than buying volumes you will open twice.

Can you print these books for me?

We print from the PDF you send us. Send the file on WhatsApp with your page count and whether you want colour, black and white or mixed, and we print, bind and deliver anywhere in India. We do not supply copyrighted book files.

How much does it cost to print a set of notes?

Black and white is 50 paise per page, colour is Rs 1 per page, and binding is Rs 40 per copy. A 400-page mixed set with binding usually works out around Rs 300 plus delivery.

Printing your DNB Respiratory Medicine reading?

Send the PDF on WhatsApp — colour Rs 1/page, B&W 50p/page, binding Rs 40. Printed, bound and delivered anywhere in India.

Other specialties

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