Medical Biochemistry, 4th edition [Free PDF Download]

What this book is – and isn’t

In today’s medical education, acquired knowledge should be a framework for career-long study. Studying medicine piecemeal by narrow specialties is seen as less valuable than integrated learning, which places acquired knowledge in a wider context. This book attempts to do just that for biochemistry.

Keep in mind that Medical Biochemistry is not designed to be a review text or resource for preparation for multiple choice exams. These resources are provided separately on our website. This text is a strongly clinically oriented presentation of the science of biochemistry. It is a resource for your clinical career. It is shorter than many of the heavy tomes in our discipline, and it focuses on explanation of key concepts and relationships that we hope you will retain in your recall memory, and use in your future clinical practice.

As you study, remember that this is just one among the available textbooks for students and physicians.

Medical Biochemistry is also conveniently hyperlinked to other resources, such as clinical associations and key guidelines.

A textbook is a snapshot of rapidly changing knowledge
What only a few years ago was pure biochemical theory is now a part of the clinicians’ vocabulary at the ward rounds and case conferences. A doctor (or a future doctor) does not learn biochemistry to gain theoretical brilliance: he or she learns it to be prepared for future developments in clinical practice.

Medical Biochemistry was written because we are convinced that understanding biochemistry helps in the practice of medicine. The question we asked ourselves many times during the writing process was ‘how could this piece of information improve your clinical reasoning?’ The text constantly links basic science to situations which a busy physician encounters at the bedside, in the doctor’s office and when requesting tests from the clinical laboratories, which is what you will have to do when you start practicing medicine.

We hope that the concepts you learn here will help you then – and benefit your patients.

Further reading

Cooke, M, Irby, DM, Sullivan, W, et al. American medical education 100 years after the Flexner report. N Engl J Med. 2006; 355:1339–1344.
Dominiczak, MH. Teaching and training laboratory professionals for the 21st century. Clin Chem Lab Med. 1998; 36:133–136.
Jolly B, Rees L, eds. Medical education in the millennium. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1998; 1–268. Ludmerer, KM. Learner-centered medical education. N Engl J Med. 2004; 351:1163–1164.
Tube map. www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf.

Download Medical Biochemistry, 4th edition by John W. Baynes and Marek H. Dominiczak for free!

Page Count: 1918pgs