HIGHLY COMMENDED IN THE BMA MEDICAL BOOK AWARDS 2013! From reviews: "With a philosophy that there is more to learning clinical skills than following checklists, this book offers students a clear, concise manual from which they can learn clinical skills and procedures in a systematic manner; whilst developing an understanding of not only what they need to do and why they need to do it, but also learn to apply key elements of theory to patient presentation and examination findings to generate differential diagnoses... This book will be extremely useful for students in the early stages of their training. By integrating clinical skills information with core basic scientific knowledge, it allows students to apply theory to practice as they develop essential clinical skills and basic problem solving skills." International Journal of Clinical Skills, 2013 Clinical Skills Explained guides readers through all the clinical skills covered in the first three years of medical school. The book is written in a clear logical style and covers: * history taking * clinical examinations * standard procedures. Each chapter starts by providing a short step-by-step guide to what you need to do (the ideal aide-memoire) then describes the background knowledge and relevant pathophysiology before moving on to a systematic approach on how to tackle the skill at hand. At all stages the text is supported by clear full colour diagrams to reinforce understanding. The authors also provide quick reminder boxes covering: * top tips * medical guidelines * differential diagnoses * diagnostic indicators To test your understanding, each chapter ends with a series of clinical scenarios that are typical of the cases you will come up against. These encourage you to assess the key features, consider the likely diagnosis, and decide what questions you might ask, or further investigations you might request, to confirm your diagnosis.
Preface About the authors Acknowledgement HISTORY TAKING Chest pain History of palpitations Shortness of breath Cough Abdominal pain Nausea and vomiting Dysphagia Jaundice Haematuria Headache Loss of consciousness Loss of vision Red eye Hearing loss Depression Suicide risk assessment Alcohol Psychosis EXAMINATION SKILLS Cardiovascular examination Respiratory examination Abdomen examination Inguinal scrotal examination Rectal examination Cranial nerves examination Upper limb motor system examination Lower limb motor system examination Upper limb sensory system examination Lower limb sensory system examination Gait and coordination Eye examination Ear examination PVE: Arterial PVE: venous Examination of a lump Thyroid examination Lymph nodes examination PROCEDURES Hand washing Surgical scrubbing Wound swabbing Taking a blood pressure Body mass index Recording an ECG Measuring blood glucose Urine dip testing Venepuncture Blood cultures Cannulation and IV infusion Blood transfusion Peak flow meter explanation Inhaler explanation Spacer device explanation Setting up a nebulizer Arterial blood gas sampling Nasogastric intubation Male catheterization Answers to common clinical scenarios
