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Prognostication of acute neurologic disease is a major task for neuro-hospitalists and neuro-intensivists. The family conference raises the delicate matter of how to decide that outcome is indefinitely poor and how to define disability. This online resource guides practitioners on how to communicate prognosis in acute neurologic conditions. It includes useful data on prognosis in all major neurologic conditions and provides practical advice on how to effectively lead such a conference and how to resolve potential conflicts. It also provides straightforward common sense on-the-spot advice and touches on all aspects of support of devastated families.Less

The professional interview is a charged psychological encounter and hurdle, necessary for all of us to traverse in order to move on in our lives and careers. The interviewer is the gatekeeper who holds the keys to our brighter future. This book is a detailed examination of the interview experience and our role as the interviewee within it. This book does not consider the content required for any given interview; instead, it looks in detail at the interview processes and performance from a psychological perspective in order to be the best we can be. Deconstructing the Interview teaches a way of mindfully connecting with the interview space, operating externally in the room, and guiding our answers and performance with situational awareness and an enhanced understanding of the psychological factors at play. As well as communication skills, both verbal and non-verbal, this book considers in detail our interface with the external world around us; to improve and refine our interview skills, and to operate in the room as our true authentic selves. Here we accept and embrace anxiety as an essential part of this process, and we choose to be ‘mindfully anxious’. This book breaks down the interview stage and its players from a psychological perspective, and helps the reader build interview skills from the ground up. This is a new and novel approach in helping the reader prepare for the interview process, and builds on the author’s previous book in this series (Deconstructing the OSCE, 2014, OUP).Less

Echocardiography has become the most requested imaging modalities. It is the first line imaging in the diagnostic work-up and monitoring of most cardiac diseases. Echocardiography is harmless and combines low-cost high technology with easy accessibility. The advent of the new modalities such as harmonic imaging, tissue Doppler imaging, speckle tracking, real time 3-dimensional imaging, ad contrast cavity enhancement have also contributed to expand the role of echocardiography. It provides rapid quantitative information about cardiac structure and function, valvular motion, vascular system and haemodynamics at bedside. This imaging technique is considered an extension of the physical examination. Proper technical skills and knowledge are required for the optimal application of echocardiography. Disease-focused and succinct, the present handbook covers the information needed to perform and interpret echocardiogramsaccurately, including how to set up the echomachine to optimize an examination and how to perform echocardiographic disease assessment, and the clinical indicators, procedures, and contraindications. Sections include assessment of the left ventricular systolic dysfunction and diastolic function, discussion on ischaemic heart disease, heart valve disease, cardiomyopathies, pericardial disease, congenital heart disease, and many other aspects of echocardiology. Many talented people have contributed to the present handbook, which represents the pocket echocardiography book flagship of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging. This book is intended principally as a clinical guide to the broad field of echocardiography at a glance.Less

This valuable tool, written by experts, offers practical guidance in the principles of consent, alongside procedure-specific information on risks and benefits

Rheumatic disease is a major cause of morbidity and disability in the Western world. There have been major developments in our understanding of the causes of rheumatic disease and in their treatment during the last half-century, and there are relatively few papers which can be regarded as truly 'landmark' in their construction and subsequent findings. Part of the Landmark Papers in series, this title provides a detailed review of the seminal papers that have paved the way for breakthroughs in the clinical management of the entire spectrum of rheumatic diseases.Less

This resource offers theoretical and practical guidance for those planning, delivering, and receiving education and training in ever-changing healthcare environments. Themes covered include assessment, professionalism and medical regulation, educational standards, patients' expectations, Continuing Professional Development, leadership and management, the European Working Time Directive, Fitness to Practice, interprofessional learning, the development of the NHS workforce, equality and diversity, and ethical and legal issues.Less

Investigation of patients with suspected disease has become highly complex, with an ever-expanding plethora of investigative techniques available to clinicians. This handbook details the techniques used in modern clinical medicine, across all the major specialties. Each chapter outlines the range of investigations available, along with preparation of the patient, complications, and interpretation of results. The handbook also includes a symptom-focused approach initially, which helps clinicians determine which system may be involved before, then reviews the specialty-specific sections of the book.Less

This new edition of this online resource is set out systematically with symptoms and signs through each specialty, and includes a detailed description of the basis of logical evidence-based differential diagnosis. It has been updated with more straightforward diagrams as well as brand new images to help aid understanding. Including rarer diagnoses alongside common conditions, and vital information about longer-term management alongside the initial treatments, it will ensure excellence and confidence no matter what signs and symptoms a patient presents with, and it will provide practical help when dealing with problems outside an area of expertise or in unforeseen situations.Less

Fully updated and revised for this second edition, the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Examination and Practical Skills is a guide to all aspects of history taking, physical examination, practical procedures, data interpretation, and communication skills. Packed with expert knowledge and practical guidance it gives realistic advice on coping with common situations. The structure allows rapid reference of key information, and aids understanding with concise and practical clinical guidance. With over 140 detailed photographs and diagrams of all common examination skills, it shows exactly what to do along with the related theory, practice, and complications. Each system chapter covers applied anatomy, history, examination, and the presentation of common and important disorders. Data interpretation covers the basics of x-rays, ECGs and other key areas. A new chapter on the eyes is included, along with the sections on body language and non-verbal communication, and the section on practical procedures has been expanded.Less

The Oxford Handbook of Practical Drug Therapy mirrors the leading national guides to prescribing. The safe and effective use of medicine requires a sound knowledge of pharmacology. As readers use this practical resource, they will increase their knowledge.Less

Patient-Centered Medicine: A Human Experience emphasizes the health professional’s role in caring for patients as unique individuals by focusing on patients’ psychological and social realities as well as their biological needs. The text concerns itself with caring for the whole patient, and outlines the basic principles (acceptance, empathy, conceptualization, and competence) involved in developing a biopsychosocial approach to medical practice. This is a volume of guidelines to help you to develop and master the following: basic attitudes (awareness, disorganization, and reorganization) and interviewing skills; the realization that the experience of illness depends on the person, challenges of illness, coping, problem patients, the nature of the healing process, touching, healing and the biopsychosocial model, medicine’s existential quest, and desiderata. According to Andrew Weil, MD, “Patient-Centered Medicine: A Human Experience is a timely and welcome publication …. Integrative medicine also emphasizes the importance of the practitioner–patient relationship in the healing process…. Medical students and doctors in training will find it especially useful” (Foreword, this edition) According to Norman Cousins, “[this is] a book filled with compassion and insight … attach the highest value to your science… it is our respect for the human soul that determines the worth of our science” (Foreword, 1st edition).Less

Following recent high profile cases of surgical error in the UK and USA, patient safety has become a key issue in healthcare, now placed at heart of junior doctor's training. Errors made by doctors are very similar to those made in other high risk organisations, such as aviation, nuclear and petrochemical industries. Practical Patient Safety aims to demonstrate how core principles of safety from these industries can be applied in surgical and medical practice, in particular through training for health care professionals and healthcare managers.Less

The Textbook of Palliative Care Communication is the authoritative text on communication in palliative care, providing a compilation of international and interdisciplinary perspectives. The volume was uniquely developed by an interdisciplinary editorial team to address an array of providers, including physicians, nurses, social workers, and chaplains, and unites clinicians and academic researchers interested in the study of communication. By featuring practical conversation and curriculum tools stemming from research, this text integrates scholarship and inquiry into translatable content that others can use to improve their practice, teach skills to others, and engage in patient-centered communication. The volume begins by defining communication, explicating debatable issues in research, and highlighting specific approaches to studying communication in a palliative care context. Chapters focus on health literacy and cultural communication; patient and family communication; barriers and approaches to discussing palliative care with specific patient populations; and discussing pain, life support, advance care planning, and quality of life topics such as sexuality, spirituality, hope, and grief. Team communication in various care settings is outlined, and current research and education for healthcare professionals are summarized. Unique to this volume are chapters on conducting communication research, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to promote further research in palliative care.Less

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a technique that delivers mild electrical currents across the intact surface of the skin to reduce pain. TENS is used by practitioners throughout the world to manage painful conditions and equipment can be purchased by the general public so that they can self-administer treatment. There are thousands of experimental and clinical research studies published on TENS and related techniques yet there is uncertainty about the best way to administer TENS in clinical practice, because currents used during TENS can be administered in a variety of ways and the findings of research studies have been inconclusive. This resource provides guidance on how best to use TENS based on an evaluation of current research evidence. It covers what TENS is, how it works, and safe and appropriate clinical techniques for many conditions including chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis and cancer pain. It also offers solutions to the problems faced by researchers when trying to design clinical trials on TENS.Less