Preface

Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Family Medicine is the fourth edition of this single-source reference for house staff and practicing family physicians who provide comprehensive and continuous care of individuals of both sexes throughout the lifespan. The text is organized according to the developmental lifespan, beginning with childhood and adolescence, encompassing a focus on the reproductive years, and progressing through adulthood and the mature, senior years.

• Evidence-based recommendations

• Culturally related aspects of each condition

• Conservative and pharmacologic therapies

• Complementary and alternative therapies when relevant

• Suggestions for collaborations with other healthcare providers

• Attention to the mental and behavioral health of patients as solitary as well as comorbid conditions

• Recognition of impact of illness on the family

• Patient education information

• End-of-life issues

Primary care trainees and practicing physicians will find this text a useful resource for common conditions seen in ambulatory practice. Detailed information in tabular and text format provides a ready reference for selecting diagnostic procedures and recommending treatments. Advanced practice nurses and physician’s assistants will also find the approach provided here a practical and complete first resource for both diagnosed and undifferentiated conditions, and an aid in continuing management.

Unlike smaller medical manuals that focus on urgent, one-time approaches to a particular presenting complaint or condition, this text was envisioned as a resource for clinicians who practice continuity of care and have established a longitudinal, therapeutic relationship with their patients. Consequently, recommendations are made for immediate as well as subsequent clinical encounters.

We wish to thank our many contributing authors for their diligence in creating complete, practical, and readable discussions of the many conditions seen on a daily basis in the average family medicine and primary care practice. Furthermore, the vision and support of our editors at McGraw-Hill for creating this resource for primary care have been outstanding and critical to its completion.