Clinical examination textbooks

[shussain83]

Hi,

I start internal medicine next year.The following books are recommended by my uni:

1. Bates’ Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking, by Lynn S. Bickley,
Peter G. Szilagyi, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Publishers; 8th edition, 2002;
2. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine by Dennis L. Kasper, Eugene Braunwald, Anthony Fauci, , Stephen Hauser, Dan Longo, J. Jameson; Mc Graw-Hill Professional;
16th edition. 2004;
3. Cecil Textbook of medicine by Lee Goldman, Denis Ausiello, Saunders Company;22th edition, 2003.

Which of these textbooks would you recommend?

many thanks

[Renal]

What do the last two have to do with clinical exams?

I recommend whichever textbooks you feel most comfortable using after trying them out using the library's copies.

[yazoo]

For clinical examination Bates is excellent - amongst the best when it comes to illustrations. Your library will probably not lend the DVD that accompanies the book (my med school library did not). If it's as good as the book, it will be worth it.

Talley and O'Connor is pretty much the best, IMO, although maybe more use for post-grad exams as it's very detailed (too much for many when starting out - you can't see the wood for the trees).

A new book that looks great for someone starting out is Clinical Skills by Cox and Roper. Very nicely written, and has lovely exam summaries for last minute OSCE revision. No DVD, not illustrated beatifully like Bates, but well worth looking at.

If I were starting out again, I'd buy all the above, but starting with the third. But everyone has different taste - you should try them out at the library as already suggested. Some people swear by Macleod's but I can't read it (so it's probably well-worth a look if you don't like any of the above.)

[Renal]

For a start, I wouldn't buy three clinical examination books.

[yazoo]

Originally Posted by Renal

For a start, I wouldn't buy three clinical examination books.

I am grateful for the thoughts of the anti-book purchase patrol!

Yer

[Renal]

Originally Posted by yazoo

I am grateful for the thoughts of the anti-book purchase patrol!

Yer

As a serious point, I don't want, nor can I afford dozens of books covering the same ground.

I have one medical textbook, one pharmacology, one clinical exam, one anatomy & physiology and a couple of oxford handbooks. Before buying any of them, I'd read then, used them, and knew that they were the books that I wanted. Why would I want three of each untried?

[yazoo]

Originally Posted by Renal

As a serious point, I don't want, nor can I afford dozens of books covering the same ground.

To reciprocate on a serious note:

I was trying to provide a helpful overview of 3 clinical exam books, which do not cover exactly the same ground, although there is overlap, and all have strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, my aim was to provide a starting point for visiting the library, as there are many clinical skills books - some, IMO, quite rubbish.

If I were starting out again, I would indeed purchase all the books I mentioned. I would buy Clinical Skills as a 3rd year - excellent starter book - as I mentioned in my post!

If I had the money, I would buy Bates right from year 1. Lovely images. Very helpful and quite different from the other books because of the illustrations. I got mine from Oxfam for a fiver in my 4th year.

Now that I am working of postgrad exams, I would choose Talley and O'Connor. I am working and therefore I can afford it. It is a more detailed text, and therefore not so good for 3rd year for many people. As I said above.

What's wrong with trying to be helpful? It's part of what the forum is for...

[Chulalongkorn]

I have to agree with Yazoo. I personally rate Talley & O'Connor as the best clinical examination book on the market and this is what I used in my final 2 years at med school and it will serve me well during my postgraduate years. However, IMO it is far too detailed for when you start out and will probably confuse the reader. We needed a clinical skills book from year 1 and for the absolute basics something simple like Crash Course History & Examination does the trick I think, but search around and get what suits you.

[Up Doc]

I have to say that I have found bates to be a very easy and useful read. I don't think that you can get bye with just one text for each are as complete texts are hard to find. I'm a big fan of buying a core comprehensive text like bates and then supplementing with a helper or more portable book such as "Essentials of Clinical Examination handbook". That way you can use the portable text in the hospital while your questions are still fresh in your mind and then when at home, etc. use the larger reference. In the end, the students that really skimp on the texts early always end up buying them anyways and lose the times they could have used them in the past. Thats just my two cents.

Cheers

[Will Watson]

I've always had a great deal of use from Cox and Roper in my pre-clinical years, although I'm conscious you'd probably want a bit more as you move further up the tree.