Description
The pace of drug development is increasing currently and in many fields of medicine yearly advances are made in available therapeutic options. Similarly the science of understanding drug disposition and action continue to advance. Yet clinical pharmacology forms a core component of the knowledge and skills of the Anaesthetic practitioner. To proceed in the speciality trainees must master these areas and established practitioners must somehow keep up to date. Both these tasks are potentially daunting. Both have become a little less so with the publication of this book.
With this first edition the editors have assembled a comprehensive text that remains at a reassuringly manageable size. The text is packed with information and, as far this person can determine is right up to date. Using a combination of anaesthetists and other practitioners the editors have succeeded in presenting recent developments in therapeutic options for almost all areas of medicine. For a multi-author book there is considerable consistency of style. Each chapter being written in a very concise but comprehensive way.
For trainees preparing for the primary fellowship exam I suspect that the first section of the book (Basic principles) will be particularly useful. Cellular mechanisms of drug action, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are communicated in a relevant and understandable way that is appropriately tailored for anaesthetic practitioners. Given that general principles like these are likely to make up a substantial proportion of any exam in clinical pharmacology then the primary candidate would do well to learn the information in this section. However this book will aid the candidate to go one better and understand the principles involved.
Another excellent attribute of this book is the use of tables, bullet lists and figures. The book is liberally enhanced with many explanatory diagrams and figures which go a long way towards further enhancing the readers understanding of the concepts involved.
In short I like this book a lot.
