Medical Guide I

Dear ColleagueWelcome to the exciting, fascinating world of general practice! Up to now in your studies, you have been learning the normal features of human beings (i.e. anatomy, physiology, etc). Now it is time to introduce you to the abnormalities that can occur in humans -i.e. to diseases. General practice is a vast and complicated field that is based on strong scientific and clinical fou- ndations. Moreover it is rapidly evolving and one needs periodic updating and catching up with the state of the art knowl-edge. Providing a comprehensive review of General practice is not only difficult but almost impossible, as the field is vast and extensive. Despite this limitation, i have tried to provide a basic framework for working knowledge of General Practice. Essential topics are included as much as possible and some chapters and topics are dealt extensively, such as Infectious diseases in general and HIV/ AIDS in particular, as these are known to be the commonest causes of morbidity and mortality in developing countries, like ours, also parasite infestations which is common in many African countries. This Book has been written primarily for medical students and all other health science students who deal with patients, who have medical illne-sses. In this book, you will find the practical skills in diagnosis; how to read an ECG, how to do LP, measuring BP, jugular ven-ous pulse, how to do thoracentesis, how to examine cranial nerves, etc. Also management of diseases, with emphasise on drug doses, side effects of drugs. The book is divided into 14 chapters on; Infectious Diseases, Hematologic Diseases, Disease of Respiratory System, Diseases of Cardiovascular System, Diseases of kidneys, Diseases of Gastrointestinal System, Disease of Metabolism and Endocrine System, Diseases of Nervous System, Connective Tissue and Joints Diseases, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Surgery, Obstetric and Gynaecology, Psychology and followed by Multiple- choice ques-tions and their answers, in a simple, illustrative way to make it easy to understand, also it contains illustrative diagrams, photos and tables. Most of the topics represent the major categories of diseases. Therefore, after reading this book, you are encouraged to read books on different medical fields, because the book conceived when the previous curriculum was being implemented. In writing this book, I have tried to make it as clear and as brief as possible. Since too much brevity may compromise under-standing, i have been a bit “liberal” in some areas in-cluding some details which are necessary for the general practitioner’s understanding. This is done to encourage understanding rather than memorization. It is intended to be a textbook of general practice for medical students and those preparing for post graduate studies, even those beyond can use this book or review. Dr. Osama Alagamawy M.B.B.CH, DCH, DTCH, DIS, DHM.