Primary Care
Jantunen, Kauko I.
2005-12-28 00:00:00
Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment 2006 edited by Fred F. Ferri, includes CD-ROM, 12-month subscription to FIRSTConsult online, and free PDA downloads, 1435 pp, with illus, $69.95, ISBN 0-323-03448-9, Philadelphia, Pa, Elsevier Mosby, 2006. For a practicing primary care physician, a clear and concise reference is essential for fast consultation. When a patient is in the examining room, there is not much time to search standard textbooks, so information has to be quickly located and to the point. Ferri's Clinical Advisor promises just that, “with significant differences from existing texts.” Contributors include 120 eminent physicians, mostly from New England. The editor, Dr Ferri, clinical professor at Brown Medical School, has himself written a substantial part of the text. As in Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult, diseases are presented in alphabetical order, leaving little need to consult the index. There are two indexes, however, the more detailed one in the customary place at the end of the text and another inside the covers. For physicians with intermediate computer experience, the CD-ROM and handheld formats are ideal. For those with less interest in electronics, the textbook and pocket-sized companion are more appropriate. The book has five sections. Section 1 describes 675 medical disorders in detail. Besides etiology, differential diagnosis, signs, symptoms, treatment, and other standard subjects, there is an additional “Pearls and Considerations,” which well merits its name. Relevant International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes are listed and seem practical. Section 2 deals mainly with differential diagnosis and allows the user to start from physical symptoms and signs or from abnormal laboratory results. The practitioner who likes algorithms will find plenty in section 3. Section 4 includes normal laboratory values and interpretation of abnormal values. Section 5 deals with preventive medicine, including periodic health examinations, screening of major illnesses, counseling, immunizations, and similar subjects. An appendix mainly concerns alternative medicine. It gives a comprehensive yet concise view of different modalities and herbal remedies. Numerous illustrations are included, all black-and-white. The quality of x-ray images is typical and unimpressive. International units are missing for laboratory values, which will limit marketing of the book outside North America. (These values are included in Griffith’s.) Installation of the CD-ROM is slightly complicated, since it does not follow standard Microsoft procedure. For example, there is no InstallShield, and at times I wondered whether any installation was going on. The CD-ROM can be loaded onto the hard drive, obviating the need to keep it in the CD drive. Once installed, it seems to use a lot of RAM and runs a bit slowly, although mostly in satisfactory fashion, except for occasional frozen screens and jerking. The CD-ROM includes ample patient instructions in English and Spanish, which can be customized. Otherwise, the CD-ROM and PDA (personal digital assistant) program have most of the features found in the textbook, although illustrations, algorithms, and the like are omitted for logistical reasons. Downloading the PDA program was problematic. Instructions do not seem clear. The database has some incompatibility with one of the most popular medical programs, ePocrates. Spending two hours with technical support—which was prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable—ultimately resulted in good compatibility. Ferri's Clinical Advisor, providing the content in four different formats, is well worth the investment. When compared with Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult, differences are minor, but I slightly favor Ferri’s for the additional features, which are included at comparable overall cost.
http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.pngJAMAAmerican Medical Associationhttp://www.deepdyve.com/lp/american-medical-association/primary-care-N366bNBUgX
Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment 2006 edited by Fred F. Ferri, includes CD-ROM, 12-month subscription to FIRSTConsult online, and free PDA downloads, 1435 pp, with illus, $69.95, ISBN 0-323-03448-9, Philadelphia, Pa, Elsevier Mosby, 2006. For a practicing primary care physician, a clear and concise reference is essential for fast consultation. When a patient is in the examining room, there is not much time to search standard textbooks, so information has to be...
Ferri's Clinical Advisor: Instant Diagnosis and Treatment 2006 edited by Fred F. Ferri, includes CD-ROM, 12-month subscription to FIRSTConsult online, and free PDA downloads, 1435 pp, with illus, $69.95, ISBN 0-323-03448-9, Philadelphia, Pa, Elsevier Mosby, 2006. For a practicing primary care physician, a clear and concise reference is essential for fast consultation. When a patient is in the examining room, there is not much time to search standard textbooks, so information has to be quickly located and to the point. Ferri's Clinical Advisor promises just that, “with significant differences from existing texts.” Contributors include 120 eminent physicians, mostly from New England. The editor, Dr Ferri, clinical professor at Brown Medical School, has himself written a substantial part of the text. As in Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult, diseases are presented in alphabetical order, leaving little need to consult the index. There are two indexes, however, the more detailed one in the customary place at the end of the text and another inside the covers. For physicians with intermediate computer experience, the CD-ROM and handheld formats are ideal. For those with less interest in electronics, the textbook and pocket-sized companion are more appropriate. The book has five sections. Section 1 describes 675 medical disorders in detail. Besides etiology, differential diagnosis, signs, symptoms, treatment, and other standard subjects, there is an additional “Pearls and Considerations,” which well merits its name. Relevant International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes are listed and seem practical. Section 2 deals mainly with differential diagnosis and allows the user to start from physical symptoms and signs or from abnormal laboratory results. The practitioner who likes algorithms will find plenty in section 3. Section 4 includes normal laboratory values and interpretation of abnormal values. Section 5 deals with preventive medicine, including periodic health examinations, screening of major illnesses, counseling, immunizations, and similar subjects. An appendix mainly concerns alternative medicine. It gives a comprehensive yet concise view of different modalities and herbal remedies. Numerous illustrations are included, all black-and-white. The quality of x-ray images is typical and unimpressive. International units are missing for laboratory values, which will limit marketing of the book outside North America. (These values are included in Griffith’s.) Installation of the CD-ROM is slightly complicated, since it does not follow standard Microsoft procedure. For example, there is no InstallShield, and at times I wondered whether any installation was going on. The CD-ROM can be loaded onto the hard drive, obviating the need to keep it in the CD drive. Once installed, it seems to use a lot of RAM and runs a bit slowly, although mostly in satisfactory fashion, except for occasional frozen screens and jerking. The CD-ROM includes ample patient instructions in English and Spanish, which can be customized. Otherwise, the CD-ROM and PDA (personal digital assistant) program have most of the features found in the textbook, although illustrations, algorithms, and the like are omitted for logistical reasons. Downloading the PDA program was problematic. Instructions do not seem clear. The database has some incompatibility with one of the most popular medical programs, ePocrates. Spending two hours with technical support—which was prompt, courteous, and knowledgeable—ultimately resulted in good compatibility. Ferri's Clinical Advisor, providing the content in four different formats, is well worth the investment. When compared with Griffith's 5-Minute Clinical Consult, differences are minor, but I slightly favor Ferri’s for the additional features, which are included at comparable overall cost.
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