Textbook of General Medicine and Primary Care

Abstract

Dr Noble aims to dispel two myths: that it is the specialist, not the internist or general practitioner, who is responsible for the care of the very sick, and that the obligation of such care ought to rest solely on major teaching hospitals. The book is organized into four main sections: "The Primary Care Patient," which contains chapters on the periodic health examination, prospective care of the healthy adult, and environmental and occupational health; "Emergencies"; "General Medicine and Primary Care," oriented according to organ system and making up the bulk of the text; and "Management of Special Patients," which deals with, among others, the medical management of the surgical patient, the geriatric patient, and the homosexual patient. The first section makes a concerted effort to clarify the psychology that underlies the physician-patient relationship and to understand the factors that cause a patient to seek (or not to seek) medical care.