Tim Jackson, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

Davidsons’s principle and practice of medicine is a truly wonderful companion. The book covers all aspects of medicine in a comprehensive and detailed manner. It is refreshing to use a book that does not give the ‘bare essentials’ and actually provides in depth information to all aspects of medicine. I would recommend all first year medical students to invest in this book as they will find it useful throughout their entire time at medical school. I found part 1, principles of medicine, very interesting and wished I had this book in my first two years. It effectively describes the scientific basis of medicine in a detailed and yet accessible way. It is also a very useful for clinically medical students with academic interests to solidify the science behind medicine. Part 2 cover all areas of clinical medicine and is somewhat of a bible. I find it provides the detail that the Oxford Handbooks cannot. Its consistent approach to each chapter makes the book easy to navigate and follow. The chapters are well laid out with tables summarising all of the essential information. The book also benefits from the high amount of coloured schematic diagrams, allowing the chapters to be read very easily. Another impressive benefit of this book is that chapters also include many evidence-based medicine boxes which encapsulate the results of systematic reviews. With medical students being increasingly expected to have a solid grasp of evidence based medicine, this is a welcome addition to the book. If students want a comprehensive yet accessible book to have from the start of their medical training, I would recommend this one! One wonders why Kumar and Clark is still so popular………

Posted 18th Nov 2010

Tara Berger, University of Newcastle

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is comprehensive, well-written and brilliantly put-together. A great textbook for integrating medical science and clinical medicine: whenever I have studied a topic from Davidson's, I feel as though I have a firm grasp on the science as well as the practice. If only it weren't so heavy, I would carry it absolutely everywhere!

Posted 18th Nov 2010

George Collins, University College London

Davidson’s is a world famous text, and after using it I know why. I love this book because after reading a section, you haven’t just learned it, but you’ve understood it. It has two parts; the first part takes you through the overall basis of medicine, with chapters on the underlying principles behind prescribing, the basic sciences and disease in general. Moving forward from this “first principles” section, the second part contains chapters that systematically outline each sub-specialty individually. New to this edition are some more boxes and tables interweaved within each chapter, such as the “Evidence-based Medicine” boxes which provide conclusions from major clinical trials and also emphasize how up-to-date and modern this approach to understanding medicine is. Also, “Practise point” boxes come in handy in the clinic because they outline specific skills such as examinations and how to interpret certain tests. The illustrations and diagrams throughout are better than in any alternative text and, to be honest, I don’t know why I didn’t use this book before. I now know that this book is the core textbook for me and will continue to be for many years to come.

Posted 5th Jun 2010

G, University of Bristol

This book presents the essentials of medicine in a clear, comprehensive and easily accessible format; thereby making it ideal as a core text and as a revision tool. It is divided into two major sections, as suggested by the title; the first, Principles of Medicine, covers the mechanisms of health and disease, together with the ‘professional and ethical principles underlying medical practice’. The second section Practice of Medicine, deals with the major medical specialities. Within this part the book is then organized by system, and each chapter begins with an overview of the key elements in the clinical examination. Key features include the ‘Clinical Examination overview’, ‘Practice Point summaries which give information about the practical skills needed, ‘Emergency’ boxes to emphasise the core knowledge required to manage acutely ill patients. Chapters also include many evidence-based medicine boxes which encapsulate the results of systematic reviews and randomised controlled trials in key therapeutic areas. ’In Old Age’ boxes emphasise the key aspects of medical practice in the older population. And new in this edition are the ‘In Pregnancy’ boxes (within relevant chapters). This ensures that horizontal themes are embedded throughout the book. The illustrations and diagrams are an outstanding feature of this textbook, and incorporate up-to-date imaging techniques, colour photographs and highly informative line drawings. Being part of the Student Consult family ensures there is plenty of accompanying electronic material to enhance your learning experience. This includes access to full text on-line; a complete image library; self-assessment questions including self-testing questions whose answers are linked to the online text; a drugs database; and integration links allowing access to relevant information in other student consult titles. I could not find fault with this book and think it certainly gives Kumar and Clark a run for its money!

Posted 20th Apr 2010

Sabreen Ali, The University of Sheffield

Davidson’s Principles and Practice of Medicine has somehow managed to get better with age – and the 21st edition carries on this tradition. While staying true to its foundations, it has brilliantly incorporated the latest in medical advances and treatment. The first chapter itself reminds us of the kind of textbook it aims to be – one encompassing all aspects of medicine, including “Good Medical Practice” as it is titled. The issues covered in this first chapter are important in both undergraduate and postgraduate education, and is oft-tested exam material. I especially liked the section on ethics, as the various definitions commonly tested are mentioned. Chapters 2 and 3 go on to develop further on this all-inclusive theme, covering basic pharmacology and genetics. These opening chapters provide good background to the rest of the book, and are of course, vital to the overall understanding of medicine. One of the most useful chapters was Chapter 5 – Environmental and Nutritional Factors in Disease, because it compiled some of the disease processes that do not fit neatly in other conventional categories; things such as hypothermia, radiation exposure and frostbite are covered. The remaining chapters largely cover the medicine in practice. Some chapters are devoted to entire diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Diabetes, stressing their increasing prevalence and importance. The book is superbly written – uncomplicated and very easy to follow without losing your place. The addition of an overview of the relevant clinical examination at the start of each chapter is great for a quick reminder of the basics, and ensures continuity between all the books in the Davidson’s family of textbooks. Functional anatomy and physiology is also briefly covered at the start of each chapter – just enough detail for clinical years. This edition is full of photographs, diagrams, tables and radiological images which break up the text wonderfully and are genuinely useful. The cardiovascular disease chapter has step-by-step ECG’s which are easy to understand at any stage of medical education. In fact, that is the selling point of this book – it is just as beneficial at any stage of medical training, and that is a rarity. In my opinion, it is an underestimated textbook in the UK. It is a must-have in my bookshelf though, and is an excellent core textbook to use throughout your medical career.

Posted 19th Apr 2010

Alan J. Watson, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry

Having been a user of K&C since the beginning of my medical degree I must admit I was somewhat sceptical of Davidson's! however, I needn't have been because this book was not only easy to read but the bold diagrams and summary tables made it ideal for revision purposes. While some medical text books do not provide sufficient detail for revision, Davidson's surpassed my requirements. Although I no longer do PBL in my year of medicine I would recommend this book for PBL purposes as well!

Posted 19th Apr 2010

Pauline Law, University of Dundee

Davidson’s has seen generation of medical students through their undergraduate curriculum. It is a comprehensive discussion of medicine specialities and general medicine which includes applied anatomy, physiology, investigations, pathology and management. Diagrams and photographs are in full colour with tables and illustrations that are easy to read and understand. This new edition is fully up to date with prognosis, investigations and management all current and relevant to the topic. The online access is great for use away from home. You are never without the information that you need. The one drawback is this is a heavy book to carry around! I've been using the liver chapters this month, and have had good feedback from consultants on the ward round that I'm fully informed about all the common, and less common presentations. It will see any medical student through from first to final year. If you can only buy one book....this one is the one to buy.

Posted 16th Apr 2010

Saad Fyyaz, The University of Nottingham

If you’re weighing up Kumar & Clarke versus Davidsons, I believe Davidsons is the better text in so that I found it to be a more concise / less verbose. It is well structured, and the information is very “accessible” with boxes and tables clearly demaracated, and as such very useful for revision! It just feels like a very well thought out text. Also, as a side note the introductory chapter is a very useful resource to refresh concepts we ought to be familiar with! Too many comparisons should not be drawn with K&C as they present information somewhat differently, it is a matter of preference and I would advise trying both texts to see wht suits you, I think many will be surprised with Davidsons rather than just blindly purchasing a copy of K&C as the market leading text!

Posted 15th Apr 2010

James Read, Peninsula Medical School

The new edition of Davidson's is better than ever before. It covers all the key clinical conditions that medical students from 1st years to final years will encounter on the wards giving a good background on the conditions with practical and up to date management tips. The new edition also has links to excellent online resources, links to research papers to help evidence medical practice and also comes with the online, searchable Student Consult access, for free! The lay-out of the book is very approachable with key points included in boxes for quick reference if you are in a hurry. The new diagrams included within the book are also excellent and help to illustrate points very well. The inclusion of medical imaging pictures also helps greatly to prepare students for life on the wards when interpreting scans will become a vital part of everyday life. I would definitely recommend this text book.

Posted 14th Apr 2010

David Miller, University of Glasgow

From humble beginnings of lecture notes written by Stanley Davidson for his students at Edinburgh University, the text has become one of the unwavering bastions of medicine and this new 21st Edition certainly doesn’t disappoint. The first thing that struck me about the new edition of Davidson’s is the practical hands on approach to the patient pathway it takes. The stuffiness expected of some of the big medical reference textbooks has very much been replaced by clarity of content. An altogether more hands on; well organised, illustrated systems approach has been adopted to recognising and managing disease. Key points are signposted, pathophysiology brilliantly explained, clinical features classified, prescribing options simplified, indications for investigation and management underlined and latest evidence recognised. I will mention a selection of some of the areas I found most notable: Firstly, I cannot recommend the introductory chapters enough. Richly condensed full of gems of core information, the content is goldust for students or doctors at any stage in their career. The chapters include ethics, statistical analysis, professional development, communications skills, risk stratification right through to a summary of genetics, an explanation of the bodies innate disease responses and environmental and nutritional factors in disease. The Therapeutics and Good prescribing chapter is very helpful with parts on how to use evidence to inform drug choice to how to choose a drug to prescribe and through to the bits we need to know but find difficult to learn like drug interactions, prescribing in pregnancy and adverse drug events. Most chapters begin with a most handy 2 page clinical examination spread to ground you in the basics of examining the relevant system. These systematic little visual prompts guide you on how to examine the system with clever little annotation pictures of pathologies to aid recognition (We all say we look for various eponymous signs like Janeway lesions, Oslers nodes and Roth spots in IE but half the time we’ve never seen them and wouldn’t have the slightest clue of what they are if they jumped out of our cornflakes and bit us!). A helpful index of presenting complaints is to be found on the inside back cover, Particularly useful as a checklist tool for studying a system, it affords you a means to check you have covered all the relevant presentations within a system. Another area I found particularly indispensable was the Critical Illness chapter. Surprisingly comprehensive it mixes a background of the really key cardio-respiratory physiology with core tenants of ABC care and then goes onto discuss the management of all the main organ failures, sepsis and shock. The 21st edition is notably up-to-date with all the latest guidelines, algorithms and evidence for example in the Diabetes chapter there are helpful EBM boxes with target levels of glycaemic control Finally its worth mentioning that I use both Davidson’s and Kumar and Clark for my core medicine reference. I am aware that at my university its quite common for students to decide on either one or the other and forever more only use that one, therefore, id commend using them concurrently as they each take very different approaches and with different focuses. Its been my experience that by using them synergistically to study a subject they really complement each other and you benefit by gaining a really thorough understanding. Furthermore, if perhaps you aren’t quite grasping a topic in one then reading the other is often sufficient for you understanding to click and suddenly you’ll beign to understand all that you’ve previously read. Overall, a most impressive new edition, the fact that it replaces a dog-eared, dilapidated, much used 20th Edition on my bookshelf is testament enough. The latest edition really excels itself in adding to the texts established authority by a well presented and concise systems based layout interspersed with summary boxes, highlights and illustrations. Davidsons stands apart from the crowd with its down to earth sound focus on clinical examination, latest evidence, efficacious investigation, practical considerations and safe, effective management. No medics bookshelf is complete without one.

Posted 4th Apr 2010

Sarah Edwards, Peninsula Medical School

Well this new edition is fantastic! I love Davidson's anyway, but this new edition I feel has truly out done its self this time. The editors have changed since the last edition and this has been reflected by this new fresh look on the Davidson's text. It looks slicker and feels refreshed. The book content is exceptional, with new images replacing some aspects of the text. Each of the clinical chapters starts again with how to preform the clinical examination and key adjuncts to this. The chapters are laid out a lot more clearly than the previous edition. This definitely helps improve the readability. Some text has been removed as the book is shorter by 18 pages, however this doesn't jepordise the quality or content. There is nothing I can criticise about this book, as this book is an institution which has improved edition on edition.

Posted 13th Mar 2010