jing-yee hung, King's College London

This text is a vast improvement from Kumar and Clark's clinical medicine pocket text. This text is very sharp and concise, enabling reader to gain better foundation knowledge of how and why the one gives such treatment. The book is aimed the final years of medical students and is well written. Downsides are that there is no space between topics to add your own notes, and text seems to be clumped together from topic to topic. But the bonus is that the text is slimmer than the K&C pocket clinical medicine guild and a much soft colour scheme in comparison to the OHCM. This book cannot be used as a stand alone text, as there are sections and topics not covered in great depth, such as genitourinary medicine (GUM) and psychiatry, which sadly tends to be a feature of all hospital patients, as are all taught to provide a 'patient centred approach' in clinical practice. The text is worth its price, but i'd hope that a electronic version would be made available, as we are now entering the paper-less era! For those who have not purchased the OHCM due to its information overdrive, this is the text for you! jing-yee hung MBBS 5 King's College London

Posted 22nd Mar 2012

Bernard Ho, St George's, University of London

Finally, the OHCM has a worthy competitor, and K+C has done a worthy title to be put up as a comparison to the 'classic ward companion'. The style of writing is comparable to the big K+C. I prefer this over OHCM purely because of the lengthier text. I found OHCM as a great 'quick guide' on the wards, but usually not enough to learn the disease fully. The number of pictures are similar between the two books. Compared to OHCM, where the chapters are categorized in medical disciplines, the chapters in K+C MMT are based on bodily systems, similarly to the big K+C table of contents. I would highly recommend this book if you've used 'Essentials of K+C's clinical medicine' as a learning tool on wards or the big K+C at home, and want something along the lines of OHCM. K+C MMT is very text-heavy, so those that prefer the short/point form in OHCM will find this book not very favorable.

Posted 11th Oct 2011

nabeela adam, University of Stellenbosch

So we have the 'big thick' Kumar and Clark, but why would you want this book. Its quite simple: Its your big Kumar and Clark in the pocket of your white coat. Its neat and compact, and easy to read while waiting for something to happen while you are in hospital. It is also helps that some of the things are easy to relate to as you know where it is in your own big Kumar and Clark. It gives the OHCM a definite run for its money. The only place where I think I would make it lose a point was the fact that it does not have any ribbons attached to the book that you would use as a bookmark. I have found this feature very useful in the OHCM. Its true that you only appreciate something once it is gone.

Posted 5th Oct 2011