Mosby's Family Practice Sourcebook: An Evidence-Based Approach to Care

An evidence-based approach to family practice care, Mosby's Family Practice Sourcebook: An Evidence-Based Approach to Care, Fourth Edition is a quick reference tool for residents and general practitioners. It covers the latest evidence-based approaches and controversies in the prevention and treatment of a wide variety of clinical problems encountered in office practice. The book is organized by conditions seen or treated by the typical family practitioner. Coordinated by the University of Toronto's Department of Family and Community Medicine, each topic area is developed by a variety of experts (over 170 in total) to provide the latest evidence-based practice. "The perfect mix of the evidence with the practical!" Each topic covers the latest evidence, discussing the pros and cons of each issue. The coverage is presented as briefly as possible, providing evidence-based citations from trials, journals and web sites. Now divided by medical subspecialty, with additional sections entitled Family Practice and Approaches To (covering commonly encountered problems in family practice like dizziness, fatigue, pain). Each topic has been updated, with new topics added where necessary.

The fourth edition of this popular resource for family practice is the effort of widely recognized authors and panels of more than 170 reviewers, all orchestrated under the editing guidance of Drs Michael Evans and James Meuser of the University of Toronto's Centre for Effective Practice. This edition continues to maintain the objective of Dr Ken Marshall's first 3 editions: providing practitioners with concise, up-to-date, evidence-based or reference-based information about most problems encountered in an outpatient general practice.

This is not a textbook covering all aspects of medical conditions; rather, it is a sourcebook covering the relevant and most current practical aspects of medical problems and informing clinical judgment. The index found at the back of the book, as well as the indexes found on the front and back covers, allow practitioners to find information quickly. Tables are used judiciously. The generic names of medications are used with the trade names appearing in parentheses.

As a part-time family practitioner, I have used this reference at the end of a clinical session to review data needed to address patients' concerns that I encountered on that particular day. It has helped me revalidate my own knowledge and offered possible further exploration when I next see patients with such conditions. The authors have met their objectives and have been true to the original intent of the books. I would recommend it to all busy clinicians, as well as family medicine residents.

―Francine Lemire, MD, CCFP, FCFP

Canadian Family Physician, September 2006