Degowin's Diagnostic Examination

"No matter where you go, there you are." This quote is so real when it comes to medicine, especially when one is limited to just history and physical examination. This book was the first book we first year medical students were required to buy, and I still refer to it even twenty five years later. When I was doing house calls on my Amish neighbors, I did not have the convenience of labwork, xrays, MRI's, etc. It only proved how important bedside physical diagnosis is. And I've been in the middle of nowhere with extremely limited access to procedures and labs too many times to tell. This book is a classic because there are some things that never change -- the vast amount of information that the human body can tell you if you are trained to look for it. Get this book. You'll never regret it!

DeGowin's Diagnostic Examination is a great book to own - whether you're a medical professional, a medical student, or just simply want to learn the basics of the physical exam. As a first year medical student I have voluminous books which explain the physical exam in detail, yet DeGowin's has been more useful, because it's small enough to carry around in my pocket - yet it's detailed enough to provide all crucial aspects of the routine physical exam. The illustrations which show steps of various exams are simple to follow and better than those found in other clinical skills books I have come across. Furthermore, DeGowin's provides the reader not only with examination proceedures, but describes commonly encountered symptoms and signs of various diseases. And to top it all of there is even a section on "Laboratory values as clues." I highly recommend it for anyone in the medical profession, or to the reader who wants to know in detail what the physical exam should encompass!