Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access (Principles & Practice of Medicine (Davidson's)) [Paperback]

From humble beginnings of lecture notes written by Stanley Davidson for his students at Edinburgh University, the text has become one of the unwavering bastions of medicine and this new 21st Edition certainly doesn't disappoint.

The first thing that struck me about the new edition of Davidson's is the practical hands on approach to the patient pathway it takes. The stuffiness expected of some of the big medical reference textbooks has very much been replaced by clarity of content. An altogether more hands on; well organised, illustrated systems approach has been adopted to recognising and managing disease. Key points are signposted, pathophysiology brilliantly explained, clinical features classified, prescribing options simplified, indications for investigation and management underlined and latest evidence recognised.

I will mention a selection of some of the areas I found most notable:

Firstly, I cannot recommend the introductory chapters enough. Richly condensed full of gems of core information, the content is goldust for students or doctors at any stage in their career. The chapters include ethics, statistical analysis, professional development, communications skills, risk stratification right through to a summary of genetics, an explanation of the bodies innate disease responses and environmental and nutritional factors in disease.

The Therapeutics and Good prescribing chapter is very helpful with parts on how to use evidence to inform drug choice to how to choose a drug to prescribe and through to the bits we need to know but find difficult to learn like drug interactions, prescribing in pregnancy and adverse drug events.

Most chapters begin with a most handy 2 page clinical examination spread to ground you in the basics of examining the relevant system. These systematic little visual prompts guide you on how to examine the system with clever little annotation pictures of pathologies to aid recognition (We all say we look for various eponymous signs like Janeway lesions, Oslers nodes and Roth spots in IE but half the time we've never seen them and wouldn't have the slightest clue of what they are if they jumped out of our cornflakes and bit us!).

A helpful index of presenting complaints is to be found on the inside back cover, Particularly useful as a checklist tool for studying a system, it affords you a means to check you have covered all the relevant presentations within a system.

Another area I found particularly indispensable was the Critical Illness chapter. Surprisingly comprehensive it mixes a background of the really key cardio-respiratory physiology with core tenants of ABC care and then goes onto discuss the management of all the main organ failures, sepsis and shock.

The 21st edition is notably up-to-date with all the latest guidelines, algorithms and evidence for example in the Diabetes chapter there are helpful EBM boxes with target levels of glycaemic control

Finally its worth mentioning that I use both Davidson's and Kumar and Clark for my core medicine reference. I am aware that at my university its quite common for students to decide on either one or the other and forever more only use that one, therefore, id commend using them concurrently as they each take very different approaches and with different focuses. Its been my experience that by using them synergistically to study a subject they really complement each other and you benefit by gaining a really thorough understanding. Furthermore, if perhaps you aren't quite grasping a topic in one then reading the other is often sufficient for you understanding to click and suddenly you'll beign to understand all that you've previously read.

Overall, a most impressive new edition, the fact that it replaces a dog-eared, dilapidated, much used 20th Edition on my bookshelf is testament enough. The latest edition really excels itself in adding to the texts established authority by a well presented and concise systems based layout interspersed with summary boxes, highlights and illustrations. Davidsons stands apart from the crowd with its down to earth sound focus on clinical examination, latest evidence, efficacious investigation, practical considerations and safe, effective management.

Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine has somehow managed to get better with age - and the 21st edition carries on this tradition. While staying true to its foundations, it has brilliantly incorporated the latest in medical advances and treatment. The first chapter itself reminds us of the kind of textbook it aims to be - one encompassing all aspects of medicine, including "Good Medical Practice" as it is titled. The issues covered in this first chapter are important in both undergraduate and postgraduate education, and is oft-tested exam material. I especially liked the section on ethics, as the various definitions commonly tested are mentioned. Chapters 2 and 3 go on to develop further on this all-inclusive theme, covering basic pharmacology and genetics. These opening chapters provide good background to the rest of the book, and are of course, vital to the overall understanding of medicine.

One of the most useful chapters was Chapter 5 - Environmental and Nutritional Factors in Disease, because it compiled some of the disease processes that do not fit neatly in other conventional categories; things such as hypothermia, radiation exposure and frostbite are covered. The remaining chapters largely cover the medicine in practice. Some chapters are devoted to entire diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Diabetes, stressing their increasing prevalence and importance. The book is superbly written - uncomplicated and very easy to follow without losing your place. The addition of an overview of the relevant clinical examination at the start of each chapter is great for a quick reminder of the basics, and ensures continuity between all the books in the Davidson's family of textbooks. Functional anatomy and physiology is also briefly covered at the start of each chapter - just enough detail for clinical years.

This edition is full of photographs, diagrams, tables and radiological images which break up the text wonderfully and are genuinely useful. The cardiovascular disease chapter has step-by-step ECG's which are easy to understand at any stage of medical education.

In fact, that is the selling point of this book - it is just as beneficial at any stage of medical training, and that is a rarity. In my opinion, it is an underestimated textbook in the UK. It is a must-have in my bookshelf though, and is an excellent core textbook to use throughout your medical career.

At the outset, let me say that I own both 'Kumar and Clarke' and Davidson's (20th and the latest, 21st editions). However, in my opinion, there really is no comparison. By far, Davidson's is the easiest book to learn from and importantly, understand topics that are otherwise difficult. Davidson's is one of the best purchases that I have ever made as part of my medical studies.

I am so delighted that I have finally found a book (Davidson's) that is comprehensive enough to quench my thirst for knowledge, but at the same time, clear and relevant, with easy-to-understand language. In my opinion, it beats other books currently available on the market.

Davidson's actually makes learning medicine an enjoyable task and is crammed with gems of information. I cannot recommend it enough.

Happy reading!