The idea for the In A Page series came to me while studying for boards and clerkship examinations during medical school. I was extremely frustrated with the resources I was using. Half the books were just daunting—it felt like I was reading a giant encyclopedia of medicine—pages and pages and pages about every nuance of every part of every disorder. I barely remembered anything I read. All the minute details obstructed the gist of the clinical scenario. The other half was the exact opposite—they simply gave either a bullet point or two for each disease or a typical exam-type question—there wasn’t enough discussion to sink my teeth around the topic, to gain any real understanding. The former led me away from the “big picture”; the latter never helped me figure it out.
I wrote the first book of the series hoping to find a sensible middle ground. I wanted to create a resource that would streamline the abundance of medical knowledge into a manageable nucleus, or as a resident once described it to me, “a book that tells me exactly what I need to know so my attending won’t think I’m an idiot!” And that’s what we did…
The In a Page series is designed to cover the most important clinical and board examination topics by presenting the “big picture” in a single page or 2-page layout. The books are pocket-sized so they can be toted around the hospital or clinic. They can be pulled out for reference after interviewing a patient, before attending rounds, or while studying.
Most of the books are disease-based; each template presents the etiology, epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, and treatment – the “who, what, where, when, and why” – of a single disease. There are also two “Signs & Symptoms” books, in which each template presents the description, workup, and differential diagnosis for a single symptom or sign.
Ultimately, I worked with hundreds of medical students, residents, attendings, and specialists to identify what was most central for the boards and the wards, and to present it in a high-yield, understandable fashion to help readers to concentrate on the “big picture” without being distracted by a mountain of surrounding detail. We now have twelve books in the series. Reviews from medical students, residents, fellows, and other health professionals have been excellent. I hope you’ll find it as useful as I do. Please don’t hesitate to email me if you have questions, comments, or suggestions.
