Abstract
Clinical Biochemistry is part of the Fundamentals of Biomedical Science series published by Oxford University Press. Edited by Nessar Ahmed, this paperback book is 714 pages long. It is aimed at those studying clinical biochemistry to BSc and MSc level, those entering the discipline as trainee biomedical and clinical scientists, and those who are preparing for the professional examinations that lead to Fellowship of the Institute of Biomedical Science. The book assumes minimal prior knowledge. The chapters flow in a logical fashion, starting out with the basics of biochemical investigations and quality control and then covering the diseases and disorders encountered within clinical biochemistry, including sections on nutrition, toxicology and paediatric biochemistry as well as those involving major organs and the endocrine system.
The book is presented well, with lots of colour that engages the reader, and text that is interspersed with both colour photographs and easy-to-understand illustrations and diagrams. It has a range of features to aid learning, including additional information boxes that augment the main text, describing particular areas in greater detail, and case study boxes. Each of these items is depicted in a coloured box, which helps to place the surrounding text in the context of clinical practice. The key concepts in each chapter are highlighted in the text, again in coloured boxes. At the end, there is a bullet-pointed summary section, followed by references for further reading around the chapter; where textbooks are recommended, a brief summary is included about the book and what in particular to look out for. Finally, at the end of the further reading section are review questions, which cover the whole chapter. These add to self-check questions that are placed between the paragraphs of the text to check understanding as the reader goes along.
A particular feature that I found really helpful was the use of cross reference ‘tags’ at the side of the text which link to other relevant chapters in the book, and to other books in the series. I found these particularly useful as they helped me to find the correct chapter easily, without having to go through the index. They also made it easy to understand how concepts apply to more than one area.
The book is supported by an online resource centre. Here, the answers to the questions can be found, as well as video podcasts showing interviews with biomedical scientists and ‘in the lab’ footage. There is a digital microscope to allow online exploration of tissue samples, although at present, only a demonstration of what is to come is available. Registered users of the book may download its figures for presentations.
If I had any criticism of this book, it would be that the answers to the questions are not in the book itself, so you have to go online to check your answers. However, it could be argued that this means that the questions are a true test of knowledge and understanding as you cannot look at the answer while reading through the questions and falsely assure yourself that you would have written the answer correctly. This therefore could also be a positive feature depending on your preferred method of learning and revision. That said, it is helpful that the answers are given as a .pdf file, and where necessary, the explanations as to what is expected in the answer are good.
Overall, this is an excellent book, and I enjoyed reading it. It is colourful and easy to read and understand. It can easily be read a chapter at a time, but I have also used it as a reference, quickly to check facts. The key points of the chapters are well displayed and it contains a lot of good information for a book of its size. It is well placed to meet the needs of its intended readership – I showed it to those studying biomedical science and everyone came back with only good things to say. It places theory effectively within the practical, clinical environment and ties the two together very well, explaining key facts and concepts clearly. I feel it will become the textbook-of-choice for biomedical scientists. Despite this being its target readership, I think it would also provide a sound base to work from for those preparing for FRCPath examinations.