This work reviews clinical medicine and is designed to meet the specific needs of candidates preparing for examinations. It outlines an approach to revision, consisting both of strategies for dealing with clinical problems and of information relating to topical issues.

Getting the right diagnosis is a key aspect of health care - it provides an explanation of a patient's health problem and informs subsequent health care decisions. The diagnostic process is a complex, collaborative activity that involves clinical reasoning and information gathering to determine a patient's health problem. According to Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, diagnostic errors-inaccurate or delayed diagnoses-persist throughout all settings of care and continue to harm an unacceptable number of patients. It is likely that most people will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, sometimes with devastating consequences. Diagnostic errors may cause harm to patients by preventing or delaying appropriate treatment, providing unnecessary or harmful treatment, or resulting in psychological or financial repercussions. The committee concluded that improving the diagnostic process is not only possible, but also represents a moral, professional, and public health imperative. Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, a continuation of the landmark Institute of Medicine reports To Err Is Human (2000) and Crossing the Quality Chasm (2001), finds that diagnosis-and, in particular, the occurrence of diagnostic errorsâ€"has been largely unappreciated in efforts to improve the quality and safety of health care. Without a dedicated focus on improving diagnosis, diagnostic errors will likely worsen as the delivery of health care and the diagnostic process continue to increase in complexity. Just as the diagnostic process is a collaborative activity, improving diagnosis will require collaboration and a widespread commitment to change among health care professionals, health care organizations, patients and their families, researchers, and policy makers. The recommendations of Improving Diagnosis in Health Care contribute to the growing momentum for change in this crucial area of health care quality and safety.

The ultimate guide to the evidence-based clinical encounter "This book is an excellent source of supported evidence that provides useful and clinically relevant information for the busy practitioner, student, resident, or educator who wants to hone skills of physical diagnosis. It provides a tool to improve patient care by using the history and physical examination items that have the most reliability and efficiency."--Annals of Internal Medicine "The evidence-based examination techniques put forth by Rational Clinical Examination is the sort that can be brought to bear on a daily basis – to save time, increase confidence in medical decisions, and help decrease unnecessary testing for conditions that do not require absolute diagnostic certainty. In the end, the whole of this book is greater than its parts and can serve as a worthy companion to a traditional manual of physical examination."--Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC)Proceedings 5 STAR DOODY'S REVIEW! "Physical diagnosis has been taught to every medical student but this evidence-based approach now shows us why, presenting one of medicine's most basic tenets in a new and challenging light. The format is extraordinary, taking previously published material and updating the pertinent evidence since the initial publication, affirming or questioning or refining the conclusions drawn from the data. "This is a book for everyone who has studied medicine and found themselves doubting what they have been taught over the years, not that they have been deluded, but that medical traditions have been unquestionably believed because there was no evidence to believe otherwise. The authors have uncovered the truth. "This extraordinary, one-of-a-kind book is a valuable addition to every medical library."--Doody's Review Service Completely updated with new literature analyses, here is a uniquely practical, clinically relevant approach to the use of evidence in the content of physical examination. Going far beyond the scope of traditional physical examination texts, this invaluable resource compiles and presents the evidence-based meanings of signs, symptoms, and results from physical examination maneuvers and other diagnostic studies. Page after page, you'll find a focus on actual clinical questions and presentations, making it an incomparably practical resource that you'll turn to again and again. Importantly, the high-yield content of The Rational Clinical Examination is significantly expanded and updated from the original JAMA articles, much of it published here for the first time. It all adds up to a definitive, ready-to-use clinical exam sourcebook that no student or clinician should be without. FEATURES Packed with updated, new, and previously unpublished information from the original JAMA articles Standardized template for every issue covered, including: Case Presentation; Why the Issue Is Clinically Important; Research and Statistical Methods Used to Find the Evidence Presented; The Sensitivity and Specificity of Each Key Result; Resolution of the Case Presentation; and the Clinical Bottom Line Completely updated with all-new literature searches and appraisals supplementing each chapter Full-color format with dynamic clinical illustrations and images Real-world focus on a specific clinical question in each chapter, reflecting the way clinicians approach the practice of evidence-based medicine More than 50 complete chapters on common and challenging clinical questions and patient presentations Also available: JAMAevidence.com, a new interactive database for the best practice of evidence based medicine

Thousands of HIV-positive women give birth every year. Further, because many pregnant women are not tested for HIV and therefore do not receive treatment, the number of children born with HIV is still unacceptably high. What can we do to eliminate this tragic and costly inheritance? In response to a congressional request, this book evaluates the extent to which state efforts have been effective in reducing the perinatal transmission of HIV. The committee recommends that testing HIV be a routine part of prenatal care, and that health care providers notify women that HIV testing is part of the usual array of prenatal tests and that they have an opportunity to refuse the HIV test. This approach could help both reduce the number of pediatric AIDS cases and improve treatment for mothers with AIDS. Reducing the Odds will be of special interest to federal, state, and local health policymakers, prenatal care providers, maternal and child health specialists, public health practitioners, and advocates for HIV/AIDS patients. January

The perfect “bridge” book between physical exam textbooks and clinical reference books Covers the essentials of the diagnostic exam procedure and the preparation of the patient record Includes overviews of each organ/region/system, followed by the definition of key presenting signs and their possible causes Unrivaled in its comprehensive coverage of differential diagnosis, organized by systems, signs, and syndromes

creation no falsification falsification Tl rejected creation etc. Figure 1-1 delivers such a result that the theory must be seen as an extension of Popper's rational proce discarded. In this way we come at the same time dure for theory elimination. to the border between science and nonscience: a Popper's naive falsifiability knows only one theory is scientific if it is falsifiable. It is thus way, the elimination of what is weak. The so not scientific to bring additional evidence to phisticated falsifiability, in contrast, knows only bear in vindication of the theory; the theory elimination in combination with the acceptance would thereby take on the character of an un of an alternative. According to sophisticated fal challengeable certainty of belief ('religion'). sifiability, a scientific theory T r is only aban Following Popper, others such as Kuhn, with doned if its place is taken by another theory T2 his paradigm theory, have considerably extended which has the following three characteristics: 1 the range of thought over what is scientific and T 2 has more empirical content than TI; the new what is not.

This book describes statistical techniques for the design and evaluation of research studies on medical diagnostic tests, screening tests, biomarkers and new technologies for classification and prediction in medicine.

How often have you put off studying because you've had a long, tiring work shift, or you feel guilty at not spending enough time with your family? For many doctors, finding a study and testing program they can stick to is an almost impossible task. Most regimes ask too much, too often, and are invariably too hard. ACE YOUR MEDICAL EXAMS doesn't ask you to do the impossible. It introduces you to the psychological strategies and techniques designed to cultivate peak performance and personal growth. What good performers in any field have in common is an ability to quickly move past the negative emotion of a failure and learn from the experience. The book bridges the gap between research and practice by clearly illustrating essential concepts with case studies, anecdotes, and examples. Designed as an easy, do-it-yourself manual, the book includes action plans at the end of most chapters. There are questionnaires for you to fill in and reflect on. You'll discover how appropriate body language and voice tone can improve your self-confidence and communication, as well as the perceptions of others around you. You will learn how to use your brain at optimal times to foster quality study and nurture resilience, and most chapters have creative suggestions for testing yourself on specific oral or written exam components. All the information is here; the how and why of procrastination, the benefits or otherwise of study groups, motivation (or the lack of it!) and a myriad of study suggestions. Just choose and adapt the ideas to fit your lifestyle. ACE YOUR MEDICAL EXAMS helps you choose a personal study and testing program that, while no-one ever said it was easy, isn't intimidating