56^th Edition

Edited by Maxine Papadakis and Stephen McPhee

Published by McGraw Hill Education

ISBN 978-1-259-58511-1

Price £51.99

http://www.mheducation.co.uk/current-medical-diagnosis-treatment-2017

It is a while since I have seen a previous edition of this book and it has certainly improved in terms of size, it has got thicker and I presume more coverage (it’s a while since I have seen a predecessor) than I remember. It comes out every year (which explains why this is the 56^th edition) and so I guess it is constantly updated and refreshed and it certainly is a modern and seemingly up to date textbook of medicine. It covers both inpatient and outpatient care and so will appeal to a wide audience. It is an American textbook but seems highly relevant to high quality practice of medicine throughout the modern world. That includes a British perspective.

It is a substantial size and runs to just over 1900 pages including the index and though it is not a hardback book, it does seem well built. I am sure it can withstand regular usage and it deserves to be used regularly. It covers an impressive array of subject matter to a very good depth and although it is a big book in terms of size, it does do justice to its subject matter. The text is very readable and flows nicely and is broken up into logical chunks. This is just as well as it is very much a text driven book but has a good representation of tables, figures and images. In essence this is a good and scholarly reference book that is updated annually.

Common and no so common conditions are covered and great credit to the book, it is readable, interesting and clinically relevant. You would think that such an in depth and detailed general medical textbook would come at a high price but be prepared to be surprised; it comes in at a very keen price. Don’t assume that because it is available at a competitive price that the book is missing something. If it is, I can’t see it; this is a high quality general medical textbook which covers a lot of territory for an affordable amount of cash.

I don’t think you need to get this book every year but it is a great all round general medical textbook which can appeal to a wide audience including the UK, for a decent price. It is well written and packed full of information and data which will make it a good choice for an excellent all round general medical reference source.

Dr Harry Brown

November 2016