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Essentials of Internal Medicine
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Second edition. William N. Kelley; ed. 826 pages. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott; 1994. $32.95.
This is one of many major textbooks of medicine on the market today. To be useful to medical students and to younger physicians in their residency training, such texts must now fill several needs. They must be authoritative and well written in a style that is acceptable to the U.S. medical culture. They must be encyclopedic and must contain individual articles concise enough to be readable in a fairly short period of time. They must contain not only comprehensive descriptions of the major disease entities but also guidelines to help physicians apply the knowledge contained in the articles to the problems of patients. They must describe a logical system of medicine, and, finally, they must be well referenced.
This text has been edited by a distinguished and recognized U.S. internist and medical educator. He has been assisted by 20 equally distinguished colleagues who have organized the text logically and have recruited outstanding and authoritative experts for each of their individual sections. These experts—physicians and medical scientists—have written excellent, concise, readable articles describing the major disease entities commonly seen in today's medical practice. The text is thus encyclopedic in its content. For each grouping of disease entities discussed, chapters help the reader apply the information to the problems presented by patients. These chapters contain excellent, well-designed, clear algorithms to assist the reader in this application.
The use of illustrations varies from section to section. Most illustrations are radiographs. The sections also differ in their use of references; some sections have none. This is a disappointment, but the references that are included are timely. A minor deficiency is the lack of references to older, classic articles.
The grade of the paper used is heavier than that usually found in a paperback text. Yet, even with more than 800 pages, the book is not too heavy and can be held comfortably in the lap. It is 8 by 12 inches, and each page has two columns, which makes for easy reading. The print is large enough to avoid tiring the eyes, and the book opens well on a flat surface so that it is easily readable.
This text fulfills all the requirements for a modern textbook for medical students and young physicians. It is highly recommended.
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