The Oxford Companion to Medicine

by John Walton (editor), Jeremiah A. Barondess, Stephen Lock

Edited by three eminent physicians who are also noted medical writers, this encyclopedic collection contains over 10,000 entries ranging from major essays to short definitions, all written in language that is readily accessible to health care professionals and lay readers. Written by over 150 medical experts from the United States and the United Kingdom, the entries consider the historical developments and state-of-the-art of the major medical disciplines; discuss the academic, educational, and administrative structure of the profession and its relations to government and the law; and include numerous contributions to medicine, and definitions of common medical terms. Designed not only as a serious reference but also as a source of interesting and curious facts, the Companion contains detailed reviews of topics such as biochemistry, genetics, medical ethics, and surgery, interspersed with more leisurely entries on Music and Medicine, Cults and Quackery, and Bernadette of Lourdes. Encyclopedic in scope, this two-volume work will provide anyone interested in medicine with a fascinating and informative survey of the field.
Selected entries: Addiction . Anatomy . Art & Medicine . Clinical Chemistry . Computers in Clinical Medicine . Death, Dying, and the Hospice Movement . Doctors as Patients . Ethical Issues . Foundations, Charities and Grant-Making Bodies . Genetics . Geriatrics . Government & Medicine . Hematology . Insurance . Intensive Care . Law & Medicine . Medical Books and Libraries . Medical Education . Medical Journals . Microbiology . Music & Medicine . Neurology and the Neurological Sciences . Nuclear Medicine . Nursing . Pain . Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics . Psychology in Relation to Medicine . Sports and Medicine . Tropical Medicine . Ultasonics . Women in Medicine"

Genres: Reference

1524 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 1986

About the author

John Walton is an award-winning journalist who specializes in transport, aviation, airlines, and the passenger experience. John grew up on three continents and likes to joke that he was raised by cabin crew! His lifelong interest in aviation was sparked during a life of shuttling around the world on Boeing 747-100 and -200 aircraft, and he remembers with fondness the days when bored pilots and cabin crew didn’t mind an inquisitive teenager hanging around in cockpits and galleys asking questions.