Clinical Medicine

Rating:
Summary: Much better than Davidsons
Review: A Must have Book for all.Contains in depth knowledge and info regarding disease process,diagnoses and management.Easy to read and keep urself up-to-date.It correlates disease,investigations,diagnoses and management of relevant topics and diseases.

Rating:
Summary: Incomplete and impractical
Review: I don't think i'm alone when i state that there are very few good single volume books on clinical medicine. As a student i took the approach of buying Kumar, Souhami, and Harrison's. I did this as an optimistic means of covering all bases in case one book was weaker than another on a certain topic. Having finished med school and commenced work as a doctor, i'd have to say that Kumar (and the rest) are simply not very useful texts. By the time you need to buy a book on clinical medicine, your focus should be on patient management; you want a book that will help explain how you will manage certain presentations and conditions (including diagnosis, therapy, and monitoring). Try picking a handful of classic presentations/conditions and see how you go finding practical management in these books (a frustrating experience). The focus of Kumar and many others is to tie basic to clinical sciences (if this is what you want then it's fantastic!), even though a clear objective of these books is to assist you as a clinician. The two best books i've been fortunate to uncover are Kelley's Textbook of Internal Medicine, and Practical Guide to the Care of the Medical Patient by Ferri. The former is a large single volume text that satisfies the goal of providing practical patient management information. The latter is a pocket book that does an amazing job of doing the same in a short format. You'll find that you'll be using these books all the time, and that books like Kumar gather dust.

Rating:
Summary: A great place to start, and a good quick reference
Review: I find I end up returning to Kumar & Clarke time and time again. Why? Largely because everything is clear, and to the point.

Sure, it doesn't have the detail of Harrison's, and usually only skims through Pathology, etc. - it is a CLINICAL medical textbook, after all. But it does list the major diseases, a quick overview, and then heads into the usual symptoms and signs, diagnosis, and management.

What I found refreshing is that the latest edition makes very effective use of colour to highlight understanding, with lots of summary boxes, etc. And unlike books like Davidson's, Kumar and Clarke give you the clinical investigations, their likely results, and WHY you get those results. Whereas Davidsons says "This is the way it is", Kumar and Clarke attempt to answer why it is the way it is - and in doing so, presents a more rational approach to clinical medicine.

Obviously, it's not the only textbook you'll need. But for medical school, it's certainly one of the ones won't often stay sitting on your bookshelves for long!

Rating:
Summary: Best Medicine Book!
Review: I think P Kumar is the best medicine book available for undergraduate students.It is not only written more in depth as compared to Davidson but also much more interesting to read.In its 4th edition the colourful tables and diagrams are indeed very helpful when u dont have time to read it all,specially before the exam.No doubt it is defecient in some aspects but if used in combination with books like Emergency Medicine(Nms series)and Oxford Handbook Of clinical Medicine-----for a few topics....the combination will prove to be a success for any exam!.....so happy reading and best of luck!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Good in Pathophysiology but lacks pictures and tables
Review: I wish Kumar and Clark contained as many pictures and tables as Davidson's does. It makes a hell lot of a difference while studying for examinations and in the wards. Davidson's classification of information in superb Disease Management tables, Differential diagnosis tables ("Major Manifestations of Disease" part) is far superior in this regard. Further, Kumar and Clark lacks those Evidence-Based-Medicine panels in Davidson's which puts K&C backward in time. There isn't enough emphasis on EBM and Problem Based Learning and Symptomatology. The Infective Endocarditis section lacks mention of the Duke's Criteria. Also there isn't much on Geriatric Medicine. Davidson's has a seperate chapter on Geriatric Medicine. Moreover Davidson's provides clear-cut Disease Management guidelines with better clarity. The information boxes in Davidson's are simply adorable and K&C is nowhere as good as Davidson's as far as this is concerned. Also, each chapter in Davidson's begins with a flow-chart on Clinical Examination pertaining to the body system concerned, all with color photos! - a feature lacking in K&C. Though K&C's review of Clinical Examination is more detailed...still it could use a few more pictures. K&C could learn from Davidson's presentation style! The number of clinical photographs are also fewer than in Davidson's. Although it was K&C that brought in color in print, etc first, the 19th ed of Davidson's has overtaken the 5th ed of K&C even in this regard. Davidson's is probably the most visually captivating book in the undergraduate curriculum. It also boasts of an "International Panel of Advisors" that has helped shape the content of the book. All of these advantages that Davidson's has make it more accessible than K&C in the OP, ward, before exams....you name it!!

Well K&C is better than Davidson's in a few aspects. One thing that I particularly like is the way things are explained in much greater detail than Davidson's. K&C contains a lot more info than Davidson's as far as Pathophysiology is concerned. But then, when you are already familiar with pathophsiology as a practicing physician or a final yr. student,- Diagnosis(Symptomatology plays an important role), Disease Management and Investigations are more important. Davidson's has better clarity and accessibility in these areas. A few more diseases and syndromes (eg. Pearson's syndrome,etc) are covered in K&C that are lacking in Davidson's. The Psychiatry and Neurology sections are better. K&C helps in understanding disease mechanisms better and it's style is more explanatory. This is one major factor that made me purchase this book in-spite of all its drawbacks. Also I liked the "Ask the Author" feature in the online edition.

I hope the authors of K&C make the above improvements in the next edition. I really want K&C to be on par with Davidson's, which is what most of my colleagues use.

Undergrad Medical Student,
India

Rating:
Summary: BOOOOOO
Review: Kumar and Clarke is like the anti-bible!

Did you know its cover is made out of kittens whiskers that are pulled off live kittens right before they are eaten live by evil Chinese people?!?

Buy a real book, like Tortora

Rating:
Summary: A Good Ole English Medical Text...
Review: This book covers a multitude of illnesses in a clear, concise summarized manner. It contains many figures, diagrams, pictures. Histopathology slide pics are provided with the corresponding illnesses. The one problem for the American reader is that the treatments are British. I would love to see an American medicine version of this book.

Rating:
Summary: Very good indeed
Review: This is the rcommended text in my med school and not hard to see why, its clear and fairly comprehensive although you do have to look other things up and should be used along with Davidsons or Souhami.

Rating:
Summary: Poor
Review: ya this book is great to read,it presents all the information in a logical and colourfull manner,which is interesting to read not like other medicine books which resemble a city newspaper like presentation,also this book begins right from basic functioning and physilogy of each system,the diagnostic tests for each,the method and rationale baehind them and then goes on to the patology and management,so its a good overall re-enforcement of your medical knowledge,if at all any suppliment is needed just look into Harrisson's for that particular toipc,and you'll be good.