The History and Physical Examination Casebook

This casebook is a resource for medical students and physicians who wish to hone the crucial skill of diagnosis through the patient history and physical examination. Using real-life case studies, it walks the reader through the reasoning used in interpreting a patient's history and physical findings and arriving at a working diagnosis. The ten chapters cover disorders of all organ systems, as well as patient assessment in special situations. Each chapter presents about 12 vignettes drawn from actual clinical cases, followed by a list of points to be learned and a discussion of the case - how the history and physical examination are used to distinguish among diagnoses, what findings are characteristic of particular disorders and what findings to expect as the illness progresses. Much of this material is presented in tables and algorithms to increase its clarity and clinical utility.