image: Photo shows Mahendr Kochar, consulting editor of the book. view more
Credit: UC Riverside School of Medicine.
RIVERSIDE, Calif.-- Looking forward into the future of medicine and navigating the rapidly changing landscape of patient care and the healthcare system are among the myriad of topics emphasized in the latest edition of Kochar's Clinical Medicine for Students (iUniverse, 2016), released earlier this year.
Authored predominantly by medical faculty from institutes in the Inland Empire such as the School of Medicine at the University of California, Riverside and Loma Linda University, this latest edition of Kochar's emphasizes the growing impact of these institutes' demand for excellence in shaping the next generation of well-rounded medical professionals.
Beginning with their first month of medical school, students at the UCR School of Medicine are incorporated into the community in practice groups, community clinics, and hospitals to begin building a hands-on, comprehensive understanding of patient care, public health, and the healthcare system.
"Kochar's Clinical Medicine for Students serves as a student companion and builds a bridge between the latest clinical knowledge and students' application of the knowledge through active clinical experiences in the surrounding community," said Dr. Mahendr Kochar, former associate dean for Graduate Medical Education in the UCR School of Medicine, who launched the first edition of the book.
Kochar's was first written 35 years ago to provide students with a moderately sized, portable clinical textbook. Available today in an affordable electronic version, the sixth edition gives medical students the freedom to reinforce and retain important clinical information as they carry out their community shadow work. "It's much easier to remember facts if you read them when you're seeing a patient," Dr. Kochar said.
Since the first edition, the text has been updated every four to seven years to keep medical students and medical professionals abreast of the latest advances in medicine.
"The rate at which we're developing new drugs and treatments and modalities to diagnose patients is simply astronomical," said Dr. Michael Nduati, associate dean of clinical affairs and associate clinical professor of family medicine at the UCR School of Medicine, and one of the book's editors. "As such, the 6th edition of Kochar's features updates on diagnosing diseases and treating diseases to ease patient comfort."
Dr. Nduati noted that the new edition offers a unique and forward-thinking approach to preparing medical students by going beyond the basic science underlying traditional medical education to engage students in discussions on well-rounded approaches to patient care.
"You really need to understand the healthcare system to provide the best clinical care to your patients," he said. "In addition to exploring current federal regulations surrounding the healthcare system, a subsection of the text goes on to address the technological aspects of patient care and privacy not featured in previous editions of this text. This topic is growing increasingly relevant as more of healthcare goes digital."
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