Book review: Saunders' Pocket Essentials of Clinical Medicine

Anne Ballinger and Stephen Patchett
2nd ed, WB Saunders, 2000;
£11.99
ISBN 0 7020 2289 6
Rating: 4/4

Think of situations when a dinky medical textbook is useful: panic revision on the bus; outpatient clinics, when fathoming your consultant's inscrutable diagnoses; nocturnal on.calls with exhausted senior house officers; romantic dinners when the conversation runs dry.

The gastroenterology specialists Ballinger and Patchett offer salvation from such plights by way of an attractive rival to the Oxford Handbooks and companion to the Kumar and Clark texts. At £11.99 it represents good value, something worth considering by the time the clinical years come round. You've probably spent enough on textbooks to be cautious about delving into your loan for further purchases.

There's a need for this kind of book, especially one that's good value, but is it any good? It is, for what it does. Ballinger and Patchett have written a mini Kumar and Clark: a potentially valuable resource for the clinical years.

Gastroenterology is an obvious area of strength, considering the authors' specialties. Sections are necessarily concise, while containing essential information and often that bit extra to impress consultants. Though the pathophysiology sections are thorough, the clinical issues are addressed in an almost cursory manner, and social issues - increasingly important in clinical settings - are largely ignored.

Herein lies the strength - and the Weakness - of the book. It's a mini-textbook, not really a ward essential. The type of book you need on the wards is designed for quick and easy access. Signs, symptoms, and treatment regimens at a glance, in combination with deft thumb control, are all you need to impress those consultants, For this reason, I couldn't say that it's worth occupying pocket space in your white coat. What it is good for, though, is quick reference before or after placements to enlighten the mind, and for soothing the worried brow of the clinical student.

So, should there be a gap in your bookshelf for a small, handy medical reference book that will help you make sense of your placements, then this little number is worth investigating. However, it doesn't replace the classic ward handbooks you probably already use.

Stephen Ford, third year medical student, University of Liverpool
Email: md0u7141@liverpool.ac.uk


studentBMJ 2000;08:217-258 July ISSN 0966-6494