Fundamentals of Clinical Practice

"Fundamentals of Clinical Practice fills a most important niche in medical education. At a time when the quality of physician skills are in question, this text provides a solid foundation in all aspects of excellent clinical practice. If every medical student used this textbook, the quality of the physician-patient relationship would improve greatly. Every medical school should use this resource for early clinical education." (Joseph E. Scherger, MD, MPH, Dean, College of Medicine, Florida State University) "Fundamentals of Clinical Practice (second edition) aims to provide an introduction to patient care, and clinical thinking, for the novice clinician. Each chapter is structured around a consistent format that lays out educational objectives, basic principles, and specific examples of the application of those principles through patient stories. The format makes it easy for the browser to flip through chapters of interest; the stories draw the browser in for a closer look. The book is a nice balance of the theoretical and the applied. It achieves its goal for beginning clinicians, and offers a satisfying refresher for more experienced clinicians." (Richard G. Roberts, MD, JD, Professor of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin Medical School)

• The Patient.- Human Health and Disease.- The Individual and Family Life Cycle.- The Doctor.- Becoming a Physician.- Being a Physician.- The Physician in Literature.- The Doctor.- Interviewing as Clinical Conversation.- Taking a History.- Physical Examination.- Appropriate Use of Laboratory Tests.- Making a Diagnosis.- Instituting Treatment.- Recordkeeping and Presentation.- The Doctor.- The Difficult Clinical Conversation.- Managing Chronic Illness.- Counseling and Behavioral Change.- Functional Assessment.- Health Promotion and Disease Prevention.- Keeping Up to Date.- Society.- The Patient-Physician Relationship.- The Family System.- The Community.- The Workplace.- Public Health and the Environment.- The Cultural Role of the Patient.- The Healthcare System.- Society.- Medical Ethics.- Health Policy and Economics.- The Law and Medicine.- Spirituality and Medicine.- Society.- The Tobacco Pandemic.- Alcohol and Drug Abuse.- Violence.- Mental Illness.- Sexually Transmitted Diseases.- Maternal and Child Health.