Health, Behaviour and Society: Clinical Medicine in Context

Jennifer Cleland is head of Medical Education research at the University of Aberdeen, where she also leads the Clinical Communication curriculum and chairs the Community Group, which oversees the first three years of community medicine teaching. She has more than 60 peer-reviewed publications in medical education, covering a range of topics from assessment to patient safety, to teaching communication skills. She is the Elected Chair of the Association for the Study of Medical Education’s (ASME) Research Group, is a member of ASME Executive, and has previously held elected posts on the UK Council of Communication Skills Teaching in Undergraduate Medicine. Phillip Cotton is a General Practitioner with a special interest in supporting victims of torture. He is Deputy Head of the Medical School and Associate Dean for Student Welfare (Medicine) at Glasgow University. He has an active involvement in international medical education and his main research interest is medical education.

• IntroductionPART ONE: THE DOCTOR AS A SCHOLAR AND A SCIENTISTAn Introduction to Health and Illness in SocietyUsing Psychology to Help Your Medical PracticeThe Interaction of Psychological Factors with Illness, Disease and TreatmentThe Sociology of Health and IllnessPopulations, Health and DiseasePromoting and Improving Health at a Population LevelPART TWO: APPLYING KNOWLEDGE TO CLINICAL PRACTICEScientific Methods and Critical AppraisalActivity Limitation and DisabilityPulling It All Together

It is concise and well presented and covers a depth and breadth of topics. I like the boxes and diagrams. It highlights the importance of the patients being related to their population, society and family.