Griffith's Instructions for Patients: Expert Consult - Online and Print

This is a nice book for patient education handouts. It's easiest if you tear out the papers and keep in a binder for quick copies. Although it doesn't have every topic I would like, it has a nice variety. We had an older version at work and I was glad to find a revised/updated book.

This is a valuable resource for any doctor's office. I use it every day. It is very clearly and logically written.

This series of books have been very helpful in my practice. I currently use the 6th edition. I was excited that the Spanish translation for handouts is included on the CD-ROM. However, there is one crucial difference: With the 6th edition the contents can be INSTALLED on your computer (and the CD then stored). Then topics can be searched and printed per PDF files/Acrobat reader. In the 6th edition, each topic print out is ONE page. HOWEVER, with the 7th edition, the CD-ROM MUST BE in the cd drive to work. This ties up that drive and is very inconvenient in a busy practice, if you have other uses for that drive. In the 7th edition, the printouts can be THREE pages long, consuming much more paper!

Intended to be a compendium of handouts for physicians to give to patients, Griffith's Instructions provides information on a wide variety of illnesses. From croup to tooth grinding, this book covers maladies both small, i.e. indigestion, and large, i.e. congestive heart failure, in a consistent, matter-of fact presentation. All of the perforated, pull out discussions include basic descriptions of the illness, including the frequent signs and symptoms, a brief synopsis of possible causes, risks, preventative measures, expected outcomes, and possible complications. Treatments are also discussed through both general measures and medications with notes on recommended activity and diet. The 6th edition revises and updates all of the problems that patients regularly bring to their doctors discussed in the 5th edition and adds more than twenty new ones.Extensive appendices provide diets, including the latest food pyramid guidelines, daily values, nutrition data and specific diet regimes. There are also a plethora of diagrams and instructions for wellness, such as how to perform breast and testicular self-exams. Unlabeled diagrams of the body, ranging from eye to the endocrine system (both male and female) are also provided.

I have used previous editions in my practice with great success. I was hoping to get the latest edition with this book. However, to my surprise, the alternative title of this book is "Instrucciones para los Pacientes." Although I received this Spanish Language edition by mistake, I will keep it and put it to good use in my practice.