For almost 25 years, medical students have relied on Cases in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases to prepare for Part I of the National Board of Medical Examiners Exam. First published in 1992, the newly updated, fourth edition, now available from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Press, continues to challenge students to develop a working knowledge of the variety of microorganisms that cause infections in humans.
The textbook includes 74 cases, 42 of which are new, are presented as "unknowns" and represent actual case presentations of patients the authors have encountered. Each case is accompanied by several questions to test knowledge in four broad areas relevant both to students and those working in clinical microbiology.
This edition also includes a brand new section titled "Advanced Cases" that details the types of cases that are seen by infectious disease consult services and discussed in weekly infectious disease case management conferences. These include newly recognized disease agents as well as highly complex cases where the interaction of the immune system and human pathogens can be more closely examined.
David W. Craft, Medical Director of Microbiology at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, describes Cases as "A uniquely practical text that presents the diagnostic, pathogenic, prevention, therapeutic, and public health aspects of clinical microbiology in the context of case-based presentations." He further states that the fourth edition will be a welcome replacement for the many well-worn copies of the third edition found in most microbiology laboratories, pathology departments and infectious disease services, as it is "an essential resource for training the clinical microbiologist, pathology resident, and infectious disease fellow."
Peter H. Gilligan, Ph.D., has been Associate Director and is now Director of the Clinical Microbiology-Immunology Laboratories at the University of North Carolina Hospitals for the past 30 years. During that time he has been highly engaged in educating health care providers at all levels in clinical aspects of medical microbiology.
Daniel S. Shapiro, M.D., a board-certified infectious diseases specialist, spent 20 years as the director of clinical microbiology laboratories at hospitals in the Boston area (Lahey Clinic; Boston Medical Center and its predecessor institutions Boston City Hospital and Boston University Hospital) prior to becoming Chair of Internal Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine in Reno.
Melissa B. Miller, Ph.D., D(ABMM), is an Associate Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine. She is director of the Molecular Microbiology Laboratory and associate director of the Microbiology-Immunology Laboratory for UNC Health Care.
Cases in Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Fourth Edition has a list price of $80 and can be purchased through ASM Press online at http://www.asmcience.org.
ASM Press is the book publishing arm of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the oldest and largest single life science membership organization in the world. The ASM's mission is to promote research in the microbiological sciences and to assist communication between scientists, policy makers, and the public to improve health and foster economic well-being.