Recently, McGraw-Hill published a new book in the Harrison’s series. Due to sanctions and everything happening in Iran, it’s a bit difficult to get access to very new books. However, the other day I was able to get hold of the book and check it out.
I thoroughly read the chapter on edema. The content structure of the chapters is great, particularly the section on “what not to miss” for each manifestation.
I know the content of the chapter isn’t meant to be comprehensive, and with this in mind, I found the chapter on edema well-written, enjoyable, and very easy to read for a clerkship student or intern.
The main value of the book, I think, is that it fills — at least partially — the gap between textbooks and the clinic. Reading the main book (HPIM) — especially the cardinal manifestations section — can leave one feeling perplexed.
A student reads the chapter on edema in the main textbook and expects to be able to order the right tests for a patient with this manifestation, but usually gets stuck at that point. There isn’t a similar problem with resources like UpToDate. For HPIM, the issue is compactness and the limited space for elaboration.
So a complementary resource was needed to reduce this gap. This little book helps with that.