Book Review: History Taking in Medicine and Surgery

By Hannah Brown in Medical Students on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 @ 09:36

Book Revew: History Taking in Medicine and Surgery
By Jonathan Fishman and Laura Fishman

PasTest Ltd
£17.99
ISBN 9781905635689

History taking in Medicine and Surgery is a well written and thorough guide to history taking and would be an excellent resource to all medical students (especially those in lower years). It begins by introducing the structural basis to history taking with useful templates of what you can say to patients, for example introducing yourself ‘good morning. I am (name) a (number) year medical student and would like to ask you some questions about your illness if I may?’ It then goes on to list the components of a good history, with further question prompts for each component. The book then takes on a systems based approach with each chapter describing commonly encountered medical complaints; these included breast lump, headaches and swollen legs. Usefully, at the end of each chapter there is a section on differential diagnosis and also investigations for each complaint described. I think this book would be very useful for students to use at their Firm One placements as they could refer to it before and after taking patient histories. It provides a full and comprehensive guide to history taking and is also an enjoyable and easy read.