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Instant Wisdom for GPs
Second edition
Edited by Keith Hopcroft
Price (Paperback) £29.99
If I had to describe this book in one word, I would say a “cracker”! I never saw the first edition but this second edition is superb. I am sure the vast majority of GPs would not only learn from it, but appreciate it’s cleverness and the interesting way it tries to educate GPs. The subtitle is “pearls from all the specialties” and it is exactly that.
As GP registrars and GPs of all grades and experience would find this book useful, it has a potentially wide readership for a UK audience and perhaps even a global audience.
It is not a large book at only 255 pages, including the index, so even the slowest of readers could read the whole book within a reasonable period of time. I would seriously consider that purchasers of this book don’t look at this book as a reference book but as a book that should be read in its entirety.
The book is written from the perspective of a GP on the front line and although the editor is an experienced GP, the majority of contributors are specialists.
Each chapter starts with Ten Pearls of Wisdom that are short and easy to read paragraphs. Then there is a section concerning pitfalls on diagnoses and key points on prescribing.
The book is full of great, practical advice highly relevant to everyday practice. I would like to think that once the book has been read in its entirety then the doctor may feel that are on more solid ground. In fact, you could argue that this book could be a possible saviour from a medical-legal disaster.
The chapter on General Practice on page 89 has 20 pearls of wisdom and one certainly chimed with me, beware of the rare attender and I agree with the author, this is a big red flag. A rare attender should always be treated with the greatest of respect and assume something is wrong unless proven otherwise.
If I had one criticism of this book, it is -I would want more content! I would hope in a future edition, the book’s scope would expand but follow the same excellent template. As I said at the beginning, this book is a cracker!
Dr Harry Brown is a retired GP, Leeds and Medical Editor of Pavilion Health Today