There are two kinds of textbooks: those that aim to cover a field of knowledge and those that aim to define and conceptualize it. This book is of the second kind. Most textbooks in clinical disciplines are structured in accordance with the conventional system for classifying diseases. A family medicine text that adopts this structure faces two difficulties. Family physicians encounter clinical problems before they have been classified into disease categories. In principle, family physicians are available for any type of problem. There is thus no disease, however rare, that may not be encountered in family practice. If a text tries to cover the whole field, it risks becoming a watered-down textbook of internal medicine. More seriously, family medicine differs from most other disciplines in such fundamental ways that the conventional structure, though used in family medicine when appropriate, is at a variance with the organismic thinking that is natural to our discipline.
The third edition breaks new ground by having two authors. Professor Ian McWhinney, who was author of the first two editions of this textbook, graduated from Cambridge University in 1949 and entered practice in Stratford-on-Avon after internships in St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, and a year of internal medicine at Warwick Hospital. In 1968, he became the first professor of Family Medicine at The University of Western Ontario. Thomas Freeman, professor of the Department of Family Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, graduated from The University of Western Ontario in 1976 and completed training in family medicine at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. After practicing in Woodstock Ontario for 11 years, he became a full-time member of the Department of Family Medicine at Western in 1989.
The long time that McWhinney and Freeman have worked together and the closeness of their views on family medicine have played an important part in the new edition. For more than a year, they have met together every week to read every page of the 2nd edition. Parts that they agree were out of date were removed. New items were discussed and written between them and entered into the 3rd edition. Every chapter was scrutinized and altered accordingly. Considerable new material was added. The effects of new technologies were discussed together, and the affected chapters altered. For example, the advances in electronic communication have made superfl uous the long alphabetical list of procedures for special conditions, which covered many pages in Chapter 9 in the second edition.
The five clinical chapters (11–15) were in the second edition to illustrate the section on basic principles (Chapters 1–10). The book does not set out to cover the whole field of clinical family medicine. Three of them are devoted to symptoms (sore throat, headache, and fatigue), one to a conventional disease category (diabetes), and one to a physiological variable/risk factor (hypertension). The five chapters have become out of date in 10 years, so these were all examined and updated, as well as the chapter on alternative, or complementary, medicine. Major advances have been made in records, home care, shared care, and practice management: major changes have been made in these chapters.
In therapeutics, the recommendations are in accordance with authoritative opinion at the time of writing. As time passes, these inevitably become outdated, and more current recommendations will need to be consulted. It is doubtful nowadays whether any textbook can be considered an appropriate source for information on pharmacotherapy. Drug dosages are not given unless they are of special significance.
The third edition breaks new ground by having two authors. Professor Ian McWhinney, who was author of the first two editions of this textbook, graduated from Cambridge University in 1949 and entered practice in Stratford-on-Avon after internships in St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, and a year of internal medicine at Warwick Hospital. In 1968, he became the first professor of Family Medicine at The University of Western Ontario. Thomas Freeman, professor of the Department of Family Medicine at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, graduated from The University of Western Ontario in 1976 and completed training in family medicine at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. After practicing in Woodstock Ontario for 11 years, he became a full-time member of the Department of Family Medicine at Western in 1989.
The long time that McWhinney and Freeman have worked together and the closeness of their views on family medicine have played an important part in the new edition. For more than a year, they have met together every week to read every page of the 2nd edition. Parts that they agree were out of date were removed. New items were discussed and written between them and entered into the 3rd edition. Every chapter was scrutinized and altered accordingly. Considerable new material was added. The effects of new technologies were discussed together, and the affected chapters altered. For example, the advances in electronic communication have made superfl uous the long alphabetical list of procedures for special conditions, which covered many pages in Chapter 9 in the second edition.
The five clinical chapters (11–15) were in the second edition to illustrate the section on basic principles (Chapters 1–10). The book does not set out to cover the whole field of clinical family medicine. Three of them are devoted to symptoms (sore throat, headache, and fatigue), one to a conventional disease category (diabetes), and one to a physiological variable/risk factor (hypertension). The five chapters have become out of date in 10 years, so these were all examined and updated, as well as the chapter on alternative, or complementary, medicine. Major advances have been made in records, home care, shared care, and practice management: major changes have been made in these chapters.
In therapeutics, the recommendations are in accordance with authoritative opinion at the time of writing. As time passes, these inevitably become outdated, and more current recommendations will need to be consulted. It is doubtful nowadays whether any textbook can be considered an appropriate source for information on pharmacotherapy. Drug dosages are not given unless they are of special significance.
Part I Basic Principles
- 1. The Origins of Family Medicine
- 2. Principles of Family Medicine
- 3. Illness in the Community
- 4. A Profi le of Family Practice
- 5. Philosophical and Scientifi c Foundations of Family Medicine
- 6. Illness, Suffering, and Healing
- 7. Doctor–Patient Communication
- 8. Clinical Method
- 9. The Enhancement of Health and the Prevention of Disease
- 10. The Family in Health and Disease
- 11. Acute Sore Throat
- 12. Headache
- 13. Fatigue
- 14. Hypertension
- 15. Diabetes
- 16. Home Care
- 17. Records
- 18. Consultation and Referral
- 19. The Health Professions
- 20. The Community Service Network
- 21. Alternative or Complementary Medicine
- 22. Practice Management
- 23. Continuing Self-Education
- 24. Research in Family Practice
Product Details
Paperback: 472 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition (April 8, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN: 0195369858 / 978-0195369854
List Price: $49.50