Physical Diagnosis Secrets: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access by Salvatore Mangione

Product Details

Synopsis

This popular reference presents essential knowledge on physical diagnosis and health assessment in a practical and engaging question-and-answer format. A wealth of high-quality illustrations guide you through the first and most important of challenges involved in diagnosing any patient: performing the history and physical exam. Assessment techniques are highlighted and weighted based on their clinical importance. This detailed, highly focused and practical guide will equip you with the skills you need to confidently evaluate your patients!

• The proven question-and-answer format of the highly acclaimed Secrets Series™ makes it easy to master all of the most important "need-to-know" information on physical diagnosis.
  
• Chapters are arranged by body system for practical, easy retrieval of key information.
  
• Author pearls, tips, memory aids, and "secrets" provide concise answers to the common questions encountered in everyday practice.
  

• The "Top 100" Secrets of History Taking and Physical Examination are conveniently listed in one place for quick review.
  
• A new chapter on interpreting presenting symptoms and physical findings to facilitate diagnosis.
  
• Key Points boxes in each chapter place essential information at your fingertips.
  100 new line drawings clarify key concepts.
  
• The Secrets Heart and Lung Sounds Workshop—both in CD-ROM and online format—is available for purchase with the book, and through Student Consult online access, and features audio clips from actual patients, along with Dr. Mangione's commentary and a 32-page downloadable manual, to help you obtain the maximum diagnosticbenefit from listening to heart and lung sounds.
  
• STUDENT CONSULT access allows you to view the complete contents of the book online, anywhere you go...perform quick searches...and add your own notes and bookmarks.

Annotation

A wealth of high-quality illustrations guide you through the first and most important of challenges facing medical students: performing the history and physical exam. Diagnostic skills are highlighted and weighted based on their clinical importance. Detailed, highly focused, and practical.

Doody Review Services

Reviewer:Vincent F Carr, DO, MSA, FACC, FACP (Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences)
Description:Physical diagnosis is a vast field, complicated by eponyms and changing concepts of what physical signs mean, and this book brings a different perspective than the usual dictionary-type texts. As the author states, it is presented in the Socratic, namely question and answer, format that makes a reader think while reading. The first edition was published in 2000.
Purpose:Although the second edition is a refinement and rewrite, the purpose is still the same as the first edition, to teach physical diagnosis and to put the information in somewhat of a historical perspective. The objectives are very thoughtful, to help readers understand how concepts developed, and how the current evidence-based approach does not readily lend itself to what we know about symptoms and physical signs. The author does a remarkably good job with this distinction.
Audience:This is appropriate for medical students, residents, and attending physicians. However, with the added perspective of the historical information, I suspect it will be more appreciated by students of physical diagnosis and medical history than by those interested in mere facts. The author is well versed in his subject and clearly enjoys his specialty.
Features:The book is divided in the traditional sense, by organ systems. The question and answer format does gives the reader a unique experience. The author offers an electronic version included in the purchase price with the illustrations and text. It was my hope that the electronic version would have color pictureswhere appropriate, but it did not and the illustrations are the only deficiency. The addition of the historical perspective ("Who was...?") is a tremendous feature, and makes the book well worth the price. The numerous tables are extremely helpful.
Assessment:This is a great book, making one think and entertaining at the same time, which is hard for a relatively dry subject such as physical diagnosis. It is one of the more "fun" books to read. This is a worthy addition to one's reference library as it includes aspects not found in most other books on the subject. It includes the references that are appropriate and reasonably current, in a field where there is not much written. And, because it includes nuances that are usually not included in other standard books, it will help make a good clinician a great diagnostician/clinician.

Biography

Mangione, Salvatore, MD