Preface

Dear Reader,

Welcome to the first edition of Huppert’s Notes! The story of these Notes begins when I was a third-year medical student at Harvard Medical School. I wanted a resource that distilled key concepts in internal medicine, bridging the pathophysiology that we learn in the beginning of medical school with the clinical concepts and approaches we learn on the wards. I perused a plethora of resources but never found a single resource that met this need. Therefore, I started creating my own set of notes – the earliest version of Huppert’s Notes – compiling what I learned from articles, lectures, and clinical teaching. I printed and carried these Notes in my pocket, adding to them during each rotation. During internal medicine residency and chief residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), I further updated the Notes with diagnostic frameworks that I learned during morning reports and treatment approaches that I learned by caring for patients on the wards with my medicine team. Over time, the Notes became my comprehensive outline of internal medicine.

I originally wrote these Notes for myself, never intending to publish them. However, through a serendipitous series of events, an editor at McGraw Hill saw a copy of my Notes and introduced the prospect of publishing. I was excited to share this resource with a broader audience of trainees and eager to use this opportunity to make them even more high-yield. Therefore, I recruited an amazing team of residents and faculty members, including individuals known to be the most dedicated and talented medical educators, to update and improve each chapter. The incredible work of the contributing authors transformed these Notes into the resource that you hold in your hands today. The book is titled “Huppert’s Notes” in honor of its roots, but it now reflects the wisdom and expertise of all its contributing authors.

This book is designed to serve as a framework for your learning in internal medicine. In lectures or on the wards, use these Notes to frame your understanding and add your own notes in the designated space at the end of each chapter. Unless otherwise noted, every chapter is structured in the same way:

1. Anatomy and Physiology

2. Diagnostics

3. Approaches and Chief Complaints

4. Diseases and Pathophysiology

5. Key Medications and Interventions

6. Key Clinical Trials and Publications

7. Space for your personal notes

This book is primarily intended for medical trainees, from medical students to internal medicine interns and residents. Practicing physicians can also benefit from this reference – I still use these Notes in my own practice today! As an educational resource, this book is not intended to replace clinical or management guidelines; please use your clinical judgment and reference other resources as needed.

In closing, I hope that Huppert’s Notes serves as a foundation for approaching internal medicine and sparks an enthusiasm for learning that is central to our profession. Enjoy!