3 Review(s)

Preface : --- Gastroenterology and Hepatology encompass a vast anatomical assortment of organs that have diverse structure and function and potentially are afflicted by a multiplicity of disease processes. We have designed the Mayo Clinic Gastroenterology and Hepatology Board Review course and the revised fifth edition of this book to assist both physicians-in-training who are preparing for the gastroenterology board examination and the increasing number of gastroenterologists awaiting recertification. Mayo Clinic Gastroenterology and Hepatology Board Review is not intended to replace the many more encyclopedic textbooks of gastroenterology, hepatology, pathology, endoscopy, nutrition, and radiology now available. Nor is this book intended to serve as an "update" to physicians looking for the newest advances in the science and art of gastroenterology and hepatology. Instead, this book provides a core of essential knowledge in gastroenterology, hepatology, and integral related areas of pathology, endoscopy, nutrition, and radiology. Clinical knowledge related to diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to patient management is emphasized. Case-based presentations and short board examination-type, single-best-answer multiple-choice questions with annotated answers are featured. The text is also intended to be used by medical students and residents during their clerkships in internal medicine and gastroenterology and by gastroenterology fellows in training. Physicians in practice should find this book to be a practical review for consolidating their knowledge in gastroenterology.The book is organized by subspecialty topics, including esophageal disorders, gastroduodenal disorders, small-bowel disease and nutrition, colonic disorders, pancreaticobiliary disease, liver disease, and miscellaneous disorders. Numerous color and black-and-white figures support the text. Each subspecialty section concludes with a set of board examination-type, single-best-answer multiple-choice questions with annotated answers. (The content of the questions and answers is not included in the index.) The faculty responsible for the book (at the time it was produced) all are Mayo Clinic gastroenterologists and hepa-tologists who spend the majority of their time caring for patients but have a commitment to teaching medical students, house officers, fellows, nurses, and physicians. Most of the faculty have particular interests in subspecialty areas of clinical gastroenterology and hepatology, which provides broad expertise.We want to thank the staffs of Scientific Publications and Media Support Services at Mayo Clinic and the Mayo School of Continuous Professional Development for their contributions. The support of Mayo Clinic Scientific Press and our publisher, Oxford University Press, are also greatly appreciated. We want to give special thanks to our secretaries and to Vijay H. Shah, MD, for his ongoing enthusiasm and support for our faculty and teaching mission. ---- Stephen C. Hauser, MD Editor-in-Chief