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Medical microbiology for the new curriculum
Journal of Hospital Infection 77 (2011) 372
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Journal of Hospital Infection journal homepage: www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/jhin
Book Review Medical microbiology for the new curriculum R.B. Carey, M.G. Schuster, K.L. McGowan. Wiley, 2008, 289 pp. ISBN: 978-0-471-47933-8, soft cover £53.50 This book has been written for medical students and comprises 24 infectious diseases case presentations. The ‘new curricula’ referred to in the title are organ system-based courses with integrated basic science and clinical aspects, already well established in many UK medical schools. Each case has a list of differential diagnoses, of which one is studied in detail. One particularly useful section of each case is a discussion of what samples to take and how to take them, which should help the reader understand how to make the best use of the microbiology laboratory. The case range is good, covering a variety of patient ages, and a mixture of common and rarer but important infectious diagnoses. Bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections are included. The book is well presented with a standard structure for each case discussion, interspersed with photographs of relevant clinical signs and microbiological tests, diagrams and tables which add interest to the text. The case-based format means that it is easy to dip into the book and just read a section at a time.
doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2010.11.001
The authors acknowledge that this is not a comprehensive microbiology text book and so the student should not rely on the information here alone without up-to-date teaching. It is also worth considering that this is an American text book and thus there are some discrepancies between the practices and epidemiology discussed in the book compared with those in the UK. There is a fair amount of detail about the laboratory methods for diagnosis of infections, which may be rather more than ample for the average UK medical student, but this aspect may also make the book a helpful aide to FRCPath Part 1 revision for medical microbiology trainees. The book may be beyond the price range for many medical students, nevertheless it provides an effective way to learn about diagnosing and treating infectious diseases. Overall, it has the potential to stimulate the medical student’s interest in medical microbiology and provides a good link between patient presentations and the microbiological pathogenesis. E. Macnaughton United Bristol Healthcare Trust, Bristol, UK E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 30 December 2010
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Journal of Hospital Infection journal homepage: www.elsevierhealth.com/journals/jhin
Book Review Medical microbiology for the new curriculum R.B. Carey, M.G. Schuster, K.L. McGowan. Wiley, 2008, 289 pp. ISBN: 978-0-471-47933-8, soft cover £53.50 This book has been written for medical students and comprises 24 infectious diseases case presentations. The ‘new curricula’ referred to in the title are organ system-based courses with integrated basic science and clinical aspects, already well established in many UK medical schools. Each case has a list of differential diagnoses, of which one is studied in detail. One particularly useful section of each case is a discussion of what samples to take and how to take them, which should help the reader understand how to make the best use of the microbiology laboratory. The case range is good, covering a variety of patient ages, and a mixture of common and rarer but important infectious diagnoses. Bacterial, viral, fungal and parasitic infections are included. The book is well presented with a standard structure for each case discussion, interspersed with photographs of relevant clinical signs and microbiological tests, diagrams and tables which add interest to the text. The case-based format means that it is easy to dip into the book and just read a section at a time.
doi:10.1016/j.jhin.2010.11.001
The authors acknowledge that this is not a comprehensive microbiology text book and so the student should not rely on the information here alone without up-to-date teaching. It is also worth considering that this is an American text book and thus there are some discrepancies between the practices and epidemiology discussed in the book compared with those in the UK. There is a fair amount of detail about the laboratory methods for diagnosis of infections, which may be rather more than ample for the average UK medical student, but this aspect may also make the book a helpful aide to FRCPath Part 1 revision for medical microbiology trainees. The book may be beyond the price range for many medical students, nevertheless it provides an effective way to learn about diagnosing and treating infectious diseases. Overall, it has the potential to stimulate the medical student’s interest in medical microbiology and provides a good link between patient presentations and the microbiological pathogenesis. E. Macnaughton United Bristol Healthcare Trust, Bristol, UK E-mail address: [email protected] Available online 30 December 2010