The Medical Interview: Mastering Skills for Clinical Practice, 5th Edition

ISBN: 9780803612464
ISBN-10: 080361246X
Copyright: 2006
Edition: 5th
Authors: Coulehan, John L., Block, Marian R.,
Doody's Expert Review    Score: 90
Reviewer: Sally Ling,  M.D.;FACP  (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine)
Description
This is the fifth edition of a book that strives to present all the important and practical information that is useful to anyone who conducts clinician-patient interviews. It was previously published in 1999.
Purpose
The purpose is to provide readers with the skills necessary to obtain meaningful information from the patient, so that the best medical care can be provided.
Audience
The book is written for medical students and other healthcare professionals who are just learning the process involved in medical interviews as well as for those experienced clinicians who are working on continual improvement in this critical skill. The authors are well respected for their contributions to the field of medical interviewing.
Features
Each traditional aspect of the history is discussed in part one. The second part of the book reviews special situations such as the geriatric patient, cultural competency, telling bad news, ethics, and malpractice concerns. The book is remarkable for its completely realistic examples and scenarios which are used well to illustrate the teaching points.
Assessment
This is a very useful and readable book for beginning students, or for those looking to hone their skills in certain situations. New chapters on ethics and the law and the sexual history are both timely and well written.
Review Questionnaire
Range Question Score
1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 8
1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 10
1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5
1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4
1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4
1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 5
1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 5
1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. N/A
1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 3
1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5
1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 5
1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 5
1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 4
1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book N/A
1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 10
1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? 8