As final examinations approach, medical students often become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of knowledge required to pass all subjects in one go, including surgery, medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, pharmacology, and psychiatry. Students cannot know each of these subjects in as much detail as they did during their individual attachments and they need to concentrate on important topics rather than minutiae. Whereas existing textbooks cover many topics very well and in great detail, they are lengthy and difficult to read in a short space of time; some subjects are poorly covered and give no real understanding of practical management and logical thought processes - the exact requirements for passing finals. In this second edition, each chapter has been extensively rewritten and updated with the help of experts in their respective subjects.

As final examinations approach, medical students often become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of knowledge required to pass all subjects in one go, including surgery, medicine, obstetrics and gynaecology, pharmacology, and psychiatry. Students cannot know each of these subjects in as much detail as they did during their individual attachments and they need to concentrate on important topics rather than minutiae. Whereas existing textbooks cover many topics very well and in great detail, they are lengthy and difficult to read in a short space of time; some subjects are poorly covered and give no real understanding of practical management and logical thought processes - the exact requirements for passing finals. In this second edition, each chapter has been extensively rewritten and updated with the help of experts in their respective subjects.

2008-05-10 Perfect!

I used this book for finals.It's a fantastic introduction to surgery (as it assumes very little knowledge), and a great revision guide for finals (since it's orientated to exams right from the start) there's also a strong focus on what you need to know (including those rarities that are commonly asked about) and how to present information in a clinical exam. And yes there is sometimes a little waffle, since it takes a wordy "actually being talked through things by a friendly surgeon" approach, but this makes it more accessible in my opinion.

I used this in conjunction with Master Medicine: surgery 1 & 2 although this book does stand on it's own, I preferred to use a few books together to round off my understanding.

I'd also like to point out that even though it lacks as many pictures as other surgical books it makes up for it by far in text explanation.