The 10-Minute Diagnosis Manual is intended to be a quick-reference source for the primary care clinician faced with a diagnostic problem such as headache, fatigue, anemia, or jaundice. The book is structured in the same way in which we arrive at a diagnosis, starting not with a disease label, but with a chief complaint or, perhaps, an unexpected clinical finding. Chapter topics were selected because they occur commonly in the primary care setting or because they are likely to be first encountered by the primary care clinician. These topics include symptoms (e.g., dizziness), physical abnormalities (e.g., splenomegaly), and laboratory determinations (e.g., proteinuria). The chapters in the book are about diagnosis, and therapy is mentioned only if it might be relevant to diagnosis, such as the response of an inflamed joint to colchicine.
The “10-minute� premise of the book is based on studies showing that 10-minute office visits are the norm in primary care today.1 Even with longer duration visits, the time devoted to diagnosis—and not to therapy, procedures, patient education, and so forth—is likely to be about ten minutes. Also, to the degree possible in a quick-reference guide, authors have presented information using an evidence-based approach.2 For more on the book's premise and approach, see Chapter One.
Chapters are of a uniform length that is convenient for rapid reading during a patient care session, and each chapter is organized according to six major headings: Approach, History, Physical Examination, Testing, Diagnostic Assessment, and References.
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