Diagnostic Hematology [Paperback]

The approach described in this book is different from that in most student texts, and has been very successful in practice, starting almost from scratch, but omitting many of the basics such as the details of hematopoiesis, laboratory technology, and so on, which are hardly relevant to the practising clinician and student in the wards, and are primarily of interest to the hematologist and sometimes to the clinical specialist. Considerable emphasis is given to the clinical history and examination, and the interpretation of the clinical patterns thus exposed. Hopefully it will overcome many of the traditional problems experienced in practical diagnostic haematology.

With complete coverage of all the practical essentials, this book contains vital clinical information needed in hematological diagnoses. It stresses the importance of effective, patient-centered care of hematological patients.

Hematology is difficult to teach at the medical school level. The curriculum is necessarily fragmented across different years of study, and often separated considerably in time. Understanding hematology requires insight into several distinct aspects: applied physiology (generally taught early), an understanding of the essential pathological processes involving the blood are taught somewhat later (if at all), and the (necessarily) strong laboratory aspect is generally taught more or less concurrently with other clinical pathology topics, such as clinical chemistry and immunology. By the time the student is faced with blood diseases in the wards, the laboratory/pathological bias is well entrenched. It is thus difficult for the student to get an integrated view of the subject. The unspoken assumption, often reinforced by clinical tutors trained in the traditional perspective, is that blood tests are all that are required for a diagnosis in blood diseases.

The result has been that clinical expertise in bllÓD