Jason Reynolds, Peninsula Medical School

This is the second copy I have now and I find it an excellent book to carry on the wards. Full of useful information, guidelines and pictures. This book can be a real saver when facing a subject long forgotten. Great for revision and small enough not to leave at home but holds as much as those larger texts you just don’t want to carry.

Posted 20th Aug 2008

Cathryn Anne Walker, University of East Anglia

This is a good text - from the Kumar & Clark stable of clinical titles - covering the elements of surgery you will hopefully meet in your training. As such it provides an excellent basis. There are 3 clear sections - the first looking at the issues surrounding surgery, such as anaesthesia and legal and ethical elements; the second looks at regional surgery and the third section looks at surgical specialities. Clear content listings at the beginning of each chapter and a Further Reading box included no specific reference lists. Good clear diagrams with imaging support the material included. There are no self-test sections or chapter summaries. Case studies are not included either. On line access to student consult is included which means with your password you can access the content without the hard copy to hand which is great when on placement - it unlocks further chapters in other texts as well, so a good buy!

Posted 1st Jul 2008

Samira Muktar Gaya, University of Maiduguri, College of Medical Sciences

That a standard textbook of surgery will be written in as few as 800 pages without great compromise to a field as broad as surgery would be hard to believe, but this book has done just that.
The book not only covers the general aspects of surgery but goes further to add to the readers delight general issues on surgery in section 1 where matters normally ignored are brought to light, this includes; what a surgeon does, legal and ethical issues and accident and emergency care.
The book presented in a pinpoint fashion eliminates the usually voluminous pages students and doctors have to cover in limited time. The coloureds dialogue boxes, tables and picture illustrations give the reader not only a clearer understanding, but highlights the core points on each topic.
Section 3 covers surgical specialties which is a plus considering the limited books available in these fields in our environment. Finally a special chapter is dedicated to surgery in the tropics which covers the most common tropical cases. This is a must have book for students as well as doctors and can be seen by the gaining popularity of the books amongst lecturers and students.

Posted 1st Jul 2008