Handbook for Surgical Cross-Cover

Since the introduction of the European Working Time Directive, the daily practice of the junior doctor on-call has changed. Junior doctors are now expected to cover surgical specialties of which they have had no experience . Ironically this is at the times of day when there is no immediate senior help at hand, which has left many doctors feeling exposed. This is a concise text that gives junior doctors the guidance that they need to cope with on-call emergency problems for both common and severe surgical disease seen in the emergency department, as well as specific ward-based problems that may occur. The Handbook for Surgical Cross-Cover is an indispensable guide to cross-covering surgical specialties out-of-hours and appeals to a wide readership, all junior surgical doctors (those below consultant grade), medical doctors covering surgical acute admissions, members of the hospital-at-night teams and medical students interested in learning more about the practical management of patients.

Isobel Fitzgerald O'Connor studied for her medical degree at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School. She has a BSc in Histopathology and Basic Medical Sciences. She qualified as a doctor in 2000 from Imperial College School of Medicine.
Isobel has had house jobs in London at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, then as an SHO on the surgical rotation at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospitals. Isobel started her career in ENT surgery in Oxford and Reading before gaining an ENT national training number in South East Thames. Michael Urdang studied at Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School. He has a BSc in Anatomy with research into orbital fractures. Michael qualified in 2000 from Imperial College School of Medicine. He has held house jobs in Norwich and Jersey, and began a rotation in Surgery at St Mary's in 2002. He gained MRCS in June 2004. Michael left the UK to train in emergency medicine in June 2005 at the University of Southern California, USA.