Oxford Handbook of Clinical Examination and Practical Skills

Description

This book is an excellent addition to the ever-popular Oxford Handbook series. It has all the usual stuff that you’d expect in a clinical examination book, but it also includes detailed coverage of many essential practical procedures (e.g. ABG) and has good sections on psychiatry and paeds. Medical ethics even make a brief appearance. In addition, there is a large data interpretation chapter which covers all the essentials such as interpretation of the ECG and chest X-ray. The style is crisp and to the point with a distinctive, sometimes quirky but erudite tone that I find enjoyable to read – and the text is peppered with interesting facts and historical curiosities. For instance, did you know that cat allergy is caused by one of the proteins in feline saliva (their fur is covered in it through licking) or that Abraham Lincoln may have had Marfan’s syndrome (his slightly blurred face in photographs is probably a reflection of head nodding due to aortic regurgitation – De Musset’s sign!). Best of all, despite being the only handbook in full colour, it only costs about twenty quid and it just about fits in your pocket. Five stars!

This is an absolutly fantastic text, and one I would recommend to all clinical medical students. The established process for examining each system is gone through in a step-by-step fashion in a succint yet thorough manner that is easy to read and digest. There is also a good level of detail on physical signs and their associated medical conditions for performing well in an OSCE and for when clerking patients for real. This concise, well organised approach makes it excellent for swatting up with whilst on the ward between seeing patients, and the small size makes in ammenable for carrying in your pocket. For each system there are also excellent recommendations on relevant good history taking.

The back section of the book contains more step-by-step details of how to perform more advanced practical procedures for junior doctors and simple ones like venepuncture and cannulation for medical students. There is also an excellent section on interpreting ECGs and CXRs.

This is one of the best medical textbooks I own (and I own quite a few!) and one of the finest in the oxford handbook range for medical students. I am sure it would also be a great aide memoire for junior doctors.

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