This book, now it its third edition, is the sequel to the Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine; together, these volumes cover the entire range of clinical medicine. The Oxford Textbook of Clinical Specialties is an invaluable, quick reference for those taking up their first responsibilities in the major specialties of clinical medicine, whether as a medical student, an intern, or a resident in family practice. Doctors in training require such a comprehensive but concise guide to prompt them to ask the right questions, to advise them on which preliminary diagnosis to make, which investigations to request, and how to institute the correct treatment before experienced help arrives. This book is not merely a compendium of causes and recipes for treatments. It provides sufficient background information for useful understanding of a subject to the student who has never encountered a given problem before. In this edition a new chapter on anesthesia has been added, and the section on gynecology has been completely rewritten for this edition. There are several new topics including: prenatal diagnosis, advice to parents after stillbirth, delay in talking, talking to parents about mortal illness, useful points for relatives of demented patients, managing obesity, adult height and weight charts, squint diagnosis, management of corneal ulcers, and obtaining and preparing eyedrops.