Abstract
Edited by Simon W Walker, Geoffrey J Beckett, Peter Rae and Peter Ashby
Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013
304 pp, Price £23.99
ISBN 978-1-118-27212-1
It was my enormous pleasure to have been asked to review the 9th edition of Lecture Notes in Clinical Biochemistry. This is a long-established textbook which for the first time is now also available in an electronic format for download to tablets and other e-readers. First and foremost, I would suggest that this text will largely serve as an especially useful acquisition for undergraduates, and indeed the authors set out that the text is designed with this readership in mind. The chapters are presented in the same order as previous versions, but the text has been revised and thoroughly updated. The material is presented in a concise yet nonetheless comprehensive fashion and unquestionably serves its intended role by covering the fundamental principles and essential knowledge required for an understanding and appreciation of clinical biochemistry. An on-line resource also collects together the key points for each chapter, and MCQs are gathered online with a detailed commentary provided on the reasons for the ‘true’ and ‘false’ answers to each question. This facility serves to enhance the potential learning experience.
As one would expect, each of the major subject areas pertaining to clinical biochemistry are covered with a very real clinical focus. This I suggest will prove to be one of the major appeals of the book with undergraduates in mind, especially those coming towards the end of their training and approaching the time when they will be required to interpret results and manage patients. What I particularly liked was that the succinct text is usefully backed up with regular case vignettes that serve to reinforce and demonstrate the real life clinical relevance of the material. The objective of providing readers with some of the necessary and fundamental knowledge and therefore skills necessary to manage patients on a day to day basis is in my view very clearly met. With undergraduates in mind, Lecture Notes in Clinical Biochemistry compares favourably with other textbooks where arguably some of the material is not as easy to digest and is not as clinically applicable.
The task of reviewing this book also proved timely for me personally having recently started higher training in clinical biochemistry and having moved from a very different branch of medicine. To that end, I also feel that the text serves as a useful starting point for both medics and scientists. The text is not exhaustive, nor is it intended to be, but I am confident that the major aspects of biochemistry are well covered and provide the foundation upon which trainees can develop their expertise further. Overall, the material is well written, relevant and well presented, and I would strongly recommend the text from that perspective alone.
Of course the major advance with this latest addition is the fact that it is available in electronic format. It is now mandatory in my view for texts such as this to be presented in this way, and this therefore represents a necessary and logical step forward. The fact that there is an electronic version only serves to enhance its appeal, especially to undergraduates. Whether one prefers a traditional paper text or the electronic format will remain a matter of personal taste. However, as with any electronic text, the ability to highlight and flag important passages of text and search easily for relevant material is advantageous. One can also share revision notes and important aspects of the text with colleagues/students if desired. Although this doesn’t appeal to me personally, I imagine that many people will find it a popular aspect. The text clearly works very well as an e-book and is very easy to navigate in this format.
So, in summary, this popular text has been enhanced both by the revision of the text itself and also by virtue of the fact it is available in a modern format. It will be a useful resource for undergraduates, new trainees in biochemistry and those involved in structuring and providing educational material for students. I would commend it to the reader.