Diagnostic Principles and Applications: Avoiding Medical Errors, Passing Board Exams, and Providing Informed Patient Care

by Robert B. Taylor

This book fills the need for a resource presenting important diagnostic facts that clinicians should have learned during their classroom lectures and subsequent clinical training, but often didn’t. The content will be literature-based information that can help the clinician avoid diagnostic errors. Most other diagnosis books on the market are either “physical diagnosis” texts targeting student readers or “differential diagnosis” books intended for use by practicing physicians, though both types of books aim to be comprehensive. What sets this book apart from other diagnosis books is that it is a curated collection of facts, tailored specifically to address common gaps in clinical knowledge and describe less-traveled pathways to important diagnostic destinations. This book focuses on high-impact techniques. Essential Diagnostic Facts Every Clinician Should Know -Classical diagnostic pearls clinicians should have learned in physical diagnosis courses. For example, a patient with acute pericarditis may find that leaning forward relieves the pain. -Red flag symptoms of serious disease. For example, an infant that tastes salty when kissed might be the first clue to a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. -Pathognomonic signs allowing an occasional early For example, Koplik spots in a febrile child are found only with measles. -Plastic pearls For example, contrary to clinical lore, back pain at night has not been found to be a useful indicator for serious spinal pathology. -Counterintuitive clinical For example, the patient with gout may have a normal or even low serum uric acid level during an acute attack. -Clinical manifestations that may point to uncommon For example, nocturnal bone pain, sometimes dramatically relieved by aspirin, characterizes osteoid osteoma.

436 pages, Paperback

First published March 2, 2013

About the author

Robert B. Taylor, M.D. is Professor Emeritus of Family Medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine in Portland, Oregon and Professor of Family and Community Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School. A board-certified family physician, Dr. Taylor is a 1961 graduate of the Temple University School of Medicine. He trained in the United States Public Health Service Hospital at Norfolk, Virginia, and was in private family practice in New Paltz, New York for fourteen years. In 1978 he joined the faculty of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. In 1984, Dr. Taylor moved to Oregon, where he served as Chairman of the Family Medicine Department of the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine until 1998. He is the author and editor of more than 30 medical books including Family Medicine: Principles And Practice (6 Editions), White Coat Tales: Medicine’s Heroes, Heritage And Misadventures, Medical Wisdom And Doctoring: The Art Of 21st Century Medicine, Diagnostic Principles and Applications and On The Shoulders of Medicine’s Giants. Dr. Taylor is married, and he and his wife, Anita, have two daughters and four grandchildren. Now living in Virginia Beach, VA, he is currently retired from active practice but continues to write medical books for health professionals.