Oxford Handbook of Key Clinical Evidence

by Harrison, James; Kulkarni, Kunal; Baguneid, Mohamed; Prendergast, Bernard

• ISBN13: 9780199234073
• ISBN10: 0199234078
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The Oxford Handbook of Key Clinical Evidence provides an alternative to the burgeoning repositories of trial data for students, trainees, and researchers looking for the key evidence affecting medical practice. Recognizing the growing importance of evidence-based medicine (EBM) to both the study and the practice of medicine and surgery, the editors have aimed to provide a quick-reference text that presents the key data, facts, and evidence informing medical and surgical practice on a daily basis. Introductory chapters give the "uninitiated" reader a firm footing in the history of EVM and its current importance within medical science. Readers are introduced to the current statistical methods and tools that are needed to analyze and critically assess trial data, providing a key for the terms and statistical methods encountered in the book and within medical research as a whole. Leading figures in the specialties have selected and summarized the most important modern trials, creating a two-page format for each study which distills the key information. Highlighted boxes identify the study type and evidence-level attained, while analysis of the key message and impacts of the trial firmly place the evidence into a practical setting for the reader. Key study features and results are examined, while the difficulties or problems associated with the trials are outlined. This is essential reading for all medics with an interest in the fundamental evidence underpinning modern practice.

Author Biography

Dr Prendergast qualified from The University of Nottingham Medical School in 1982 and trained in Cardiology in Cardiff, Paris and Edinburgh followed by an initial Consultant appointment at The North West Regional Cardiac Centre, Wythenshawe Hospital, Manchester. He has specialist interests in coronary heart disease, percutaneous cardiac intervention, valvular heart disease and infective endocarditis and is an experienced practitioner of evidence-based medicine. Mr Baguneid graduated from University of Manchester in 1993 and followed a career in vascular surgery. Following a position as an anatomy demonstrator in Cardiff, he completed general surgical training in the North West, and specialised in vascular surgery. During training he spent 3 years performing research into the development of tissue-engineered vascular grafts, which remains a key topic of interest to this day.
Dr Kunal Kulkarni is a junior doctor training with the Oxford Deanery. He qualified from the University of Oxford with a first-class degree in Physiological Sciences, also receiving a special prize in his final medical examinations. He has an interest in medical writing and education, having had a number of articles published in peer-reviewed journals. He also runs the increasingly popular 'revise4finals' website for medical students.
Dr James Harrison is a Specialist Trainee in Medicine in the London Deanery. He graduated at Green College, Oxford in 2005, with pre-clinical studies at Magdalene College, Cambridge. He has a particular interest in medical writing and has edited undergraduate publications and contributed articles to several peer-reviewed journals.