Massachusetts General Hospital Guide to Primary Care Psychiatry, Second Edition

Rating:
Summary: Better than before!
Review: This second edition clearly improves on an already enormously helpful first. As suggested then, this is an exceptional starting point for the busy clinician. Organized by topic (e.g., "the patient with hallucinations"), this guide outlines what you need to know to be of practical service in an astonishingly wide range of clinical situations--pain management, sleep disorders, the "VIP" patient. Almost every chief complaint or clinical context has been considered.

Stern (as usual) has assembled contributors who excel not only in clinical medicine, but in teaching well. By using this wise and helpful guide, one learns not only how to help, but how to think clearly about complex presentations.

All that prevented the first edition from receiving five stars was a challenging table of contents. The second edition not only improves this, but offers more of what matters--sane, succinct, practical help for helping others.

(I'm still waiting for the intrepid MGH crew to produce a companion volume, "Beyond Primary Care," for all the psychiatrists who will now have only extremely complex cases referred. In the meantime, though, their Massachusetts General Hospital Guide to General Hospital Psychiatry, fifth edition, is most welcome!)