Dermatology in Emergency Care

From The Critics

Reviewer: Steven H. Goldberg, MD(Kaiser Permanente)
Description: This book is divided into various sections and chapters on morphologic characteristics of cutaneous disorders and concludes with numerous instructional patient handouts for the physician to copy and distribute.
Purpose: It is intended to address the needs of emergency department or office physicians where patient visits are limited to one evaluation, as might be the case in managed care. Given the current climate of health care in which non-dermatologists (primary care physicians) are expected to manage numerous dermatologic conditions, these are worthy objectives. The author does provide an excellent approach to morphologic dermatologic diagnosis, management, and discussion, although this book does not truly address the needs of an emergency physician.
Audience: The intended audience includes emergency physicians and those practicing "office dermatology." The book, however, is more suitable as a handy reference for primary care physicians.
Features: The author includes numerous tables and high quality color photographs of various dermatologic conditions. The book is unique among dermatologic texts in its division among sections describing very basic morphology like blisters, colored lesions, and red nonscaling and scaling diseases. There are excellent handouts for reproduction and distribution to patients.
Assessment: The main criticism of this fine general dermatology textbook is its title. One would not consider acne, male pattern baldness, or seborrhea as typical dermatologic emergencies. Its main usefulness is as a handy reference for a generalist confronted with a "yellow lesion" or "red nonscaling disease," requiring a fast differential diagnosis and management plan.

Steven H. Goldberg

This book is divided into various sections and chapters on morphologic characteristics of cutaneous disorders and concludes with numerous instructional patient handouts for the physician to copy and distribute. It is intended to address the needs of emergency department or office physicians where patient visits are limited to one evaluation, as might be the case in managed care. Given the current climate of health care in which non-dermatologists (primary care physicians) are expected to manage numerous dermatologic conditions, these are worthy objectives. The author does provide an excellent approach to morphologic dermatologic diagnosis, management, and discussion, although this book does not truly address the needs of an emergency physician. The intended audience includes emergency physicians and those practicing ""office dermatology."" The book, however, is more suitable as a handy reference for primary care physicians. The author includes numerous tables and high quality color photographs of various dermatologic conditions. The book is unique among dermatologic texts in its division among sections describing very basic morphology like blisters, colored lesions, and red nonscaling and scaling diseases. There are excellent handouts for reproduction and distribution to patients. The main criticism of this fine general dermatology textbook is its title. One would not consider acne, male pattern baldness, or seborrhea as typical dermatologic emergencies. Its main usefulness is as a handy reference for a generalist confronted with a ""yellow lesion"" or ""red nonscaling disease,"" requiring a fast differential diagnosis and management plan.

3 Stars from Doody