How to request a test : A clinicians guide to the interpretation and evaluation of medical tests (Original PDF from Publisher)

How to request a test : A clinicians guide to the interpretation and evaluation of medical tests (Original PDF from Publisher)

Written by Tom Boyles
Even though medical tests need a lot of resources , the team’s youngest members are frequently the ones to make the requests .

Junior physicians sometimes request a lot of tests to make sure “all bases are covered” by the time a more senior colleague sees to the patient because medical schools frequently undertrain them for these responsibilities . Starting with basic inquiries like what is a medical test ? and why do we perform tests ? the book also discusses test evaluation from a public health standpoint and assists readers in deciding whether to incorporate a test into clinical care . Students will learn how to minimise wasteful testing when results are unlikely to impact patient-relevant decisions , as well as the benefits and drawbacks of employing metrics like sensitivity , specificity and predictive values .

These lessons will cover the fundamentals of medical decision making based on probability thresholds . It is filled with real-world examples from various medical and surgical disciplines to illustrate each point and it ends with a creative checklist that physicians should use as a guide the next time they contemplate requesting a test . This book, written by a clinician for other clinicians, is perfect for interns and junior physicians . It gives them all the information they require to become proficient at making test requests . Patients’ outcomes will be improved as a consequence of their support in seeking the most relevant and effective tests and receiving information on how to interpret results.

See also : 100 Cases in Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine , 2nd Edition (Original PDF from Publisher)