Rubenstein

Shortly after the final MB examination, we were asked to review the list of recommended textbooks to our students.

Seriously, we do not update the list for nearly 10 years. As my colleague LY summarizes the problem succinctly:  If I were a student and see a recommended textbook published 10 years ago, I will immediately put it on my Facebook and laugh at it with all my friends.

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When I was reviewing the list, an item caught my eyes: Lecture Notes on Clinical Medicine by David Rubenstein and David Wayne, 2003 (6th Edition).

I looked it up from Amazon. Everything has changed - including the name of the book. The latest one is Lecture Notes: Clinical Medicine by John R. Bradley, Mark Gurnell, and Diana Wood, 2012 (7th Edition).

I managed to find one and thumb it through. It remains a handy paperback. Nonetheless, the zest of the original Rubenstein has vanished. The famous wide margin at one side of the page has given way to a dense concentrate of text, tables, figures, and bullet points - akin to the life of a modern physician, which gives up the spare time for digestion and reflection to committees and documents.

I decided to cross out this item from our recommended list.