Tim Jackson, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

For any integrated course this book is invaluable from the first to the final year. Clinical Examination is a great companion for your OSCEs in the first two years with a systematic and concise description of each examination. The book also has many excellent, detailed, full colour diagrams which help with perfecting you examination technique. The book also has a useful first chapter teaches you the basics of history taking and making detailed yet concise notes; a skill that needs to be learnt quickly in your first clinical year. The book is also invaluable for medical students on the clinical attachments and is the perfect size to put in your back pocket. Not only does it describe all the examinations in full but it also suggests differential diagnosis, high lights red flag symptoms and provides core clinical disease and disorders. The clear and concise layout makes to book very accessible and easy to read whilst remaining detailed and comprehensive. This is probably one of the only books that would be useful from your first day at medical school until the last.

Posted 11th Nov 2010

Bernard Ho, St George's, University of London

With boxes of differential diagnosis for each symptom, this book is an amazing partner when you're trying to look up DDs for any specific symptoms that comes up in PBL. This book also depicts clearly what questions one can ask their patient to clarify specific details in regards to any symptom. Although small, this book is very powerful with the amount of images and details that this book provide. If you are looking for a small book to bring to PBL, this is a very useful one.

Posted 26th Oct 2010

G, University of Bristol

This pocket guide is an extremely good learning and revision guide for medical students. It has been adapted from the ‘parent’ textbook Clinical Examination and takes a systems-based approach to medicine. For a pocket guide it is fairly comprehensive, and covers clinical examination and practical skills in a colourful and well-structured format. The book begins with a system of history taking and general examination, with each of the remaining chapters covering examination of the major systems. It is well written and provides clear and helpful guidance. The chapters are colour coded and ‘icon boxes’ are used throughout the text making it very easy to pinpoint information quickly. These review boxes provide helpful information about differential diagnoses, ‘questions to ask’, ‘red flag' situations, symptoms and signs, and emergency situations. Once you have become proficient in the basic skills of history-taking and examination, I think this book would still prove useful for revision purposes.

Posted 10th Mar 2010