Edited by three eminent physicians who are also noted medical writers, this encyclopedic collection contains over 10,000 entries ranging from major essays to short definitions, all written in language that is readily accessible to health care professionals and lay readers. Written by over 150 medical experts from the United States and the United Kingdom, the entries consider the historical developments and state-of-the-art of the major medical disciplines; discuss the academic, educational, and administrative structure of the profession and its relations to government and the law; and include numerous contributions to medicine, and definitions of common medical terms. Designed not only as a serious reference but also as a source of interesting and curious facts, the Companion contains detailed reviews of topics such as biochemistry, genetics, medical ethics, and surgery, interspersed with more leisurely entries on Music and Medicine, Cults and Quackery, and Bernadette of Lourdes. Encyclopedic in scope, this two-volume work will provide anyone interested in medicine with a fascinating and informative survey of the field.Selected entries: Addiction ·^ Anatomy ·^ Art & Medicine ·^ Clinical Chemistry ·^ Computers in Clinical Medicine ·^ Death, Dying, and the Hospice Movement ·^ Doctors as Patients ·^ Ethical Issues ·^ Foundations, Charities and Grant-Making Bodies ·^ Genetics ·eriatrics ·^ Government & Medicine ·^ Hematology ·^ Insurance ·ntensive Care ·^ Law & Medicine ·^ Medical Books and Libraries ·edical Education ·^ Medical Journals ·^ Microbiology ·^ Music & Medicine ·^ Neurology and the Neurological Sciences ·^ Nuclear Medicine ·^ Nursing ·^ Pain ·^ Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics ·^ Psychology in Relation to Medicine ·^ Sports and Medicine ·^ Tropical Medicine ·^ Ultasonics ·^ Women in Medicine