This book is the product of the work of five authors who are associated with the University of New York Upstate Medical Center and Veterans Administration Medical Center, Syracuse, NY.
The authors indicate that the book is not meant to be a comprehensive manual of procedures, therapeutic methods, and laboratory medicine, but is an attempt to "present answers to some common, practical problems." A broad range of selected topics in internal medicine is generously interspersed with lists, tables, aphorisms, mnemonics, shortcuts, word derivations, and diagnostic and therapeutic "pearls." Brief discussions of medicolegal considerations, human sexuality, cost containment, and other special aspects of patient management are included. There are supporting references for each section.
The subject matter of The Whole Internist Catalog is presented in an entertaining but rather unorthodox manner. Reader interest is supposedly enhanced with eye-catching subject titles, eg, "Z-Z-Z-Z-Z-Z" (for snoring); "It's a Gas" (for flatulence); "Cooked Goose"