Clinical Skills

A few years ago, I was teaching a group of medical students by the bedside. It was just a couple of months before their Final exams and we were examining the legs of a patient with multiple sclerosis. The findings seemed straightforward enough to me - perhaps because I knew the diagnosis already. But to the students under pressure, it was a real struggle. A realisation hit me: I had always thought I was the only medical student who had difficulty with clinical skills - but now I understood that everyone struggled at times, even the clever and assured ones.

I chatted to TA, who was also working as a registrar and teaching students. We found we shared the same experiences: a book was born.

Our aim is to teach clinical skills in the style of teaching by the bedside - warts and all. We have tried to put ourselves back in the position of a student grappling with unfamiliar techniques for the first time. We have focused on problems commonly encountered and how to solve them. We hope we have achieved this by making this book as clear and easy to understand as possible.

Niall Cox and T.A. Roper, December 2005

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