Psychology for Medicine
- Susan Ayers - City, University of London, UK
- Richard de Visser - University of Sussex, UK
After an introduction, the text is split into four key sections that should suit all curricula:
- Psychology and Health covers core health psychology topics such as stress, symptom perception, health behavior and chronic illness.
- Basic Foundations of Psychology covers topics from biological, developmental, cognitive and social psychology that are relevant to medicine.
- Body Systems covers psychological research specific to body systems, including cardiovascular, respiratory, gastro-intestinal, immunology and reproduction.
- Healthcare Practice covers clinical skills and practice, including chapters on evidence-based medicine, communication skills and psychological intervention.
With a full color text design, each chapter follows the same accessible format which includes summaries, learning objectives, case studies, research examples, applications to clinical practice, further reading and short answer questions. They include the latest psychological theory and research evidence.
As the fundamental importance of psychological aspects of medical practice becomes ever more evident, and a correspondingly greater knowledge of psychology is required of medical graduates by bodies such as the UK General Medical Council, books like this one must become essential reading for all medical students.
A welcome text that fulfills a niche for books on behavioural and social sciences written for medical students. Other books provide an introductory overview but a more detailed textbook is needed which clearly demonstrates a contemporary evidence base for the role of psychology in medicine. The book achieves this. The systems based approach and the focus on psychological skills are also welcomed.
It's a great textbook, the application to Medicine is nicely outlined and the case studies illustrating the points further are brilliant. It's easy to read and follow and really highlights the importance of Psychology in Medicine. I will definitely be recommending this text to my students!
At last, a good comprehensive textbook on psychology for medical students. I'll be sure to recommend this to my students.
This is a very complete book, giving overview on psychology in medicine on a broad scope. The essence is brought and accompanied with practical examples. So, in short, to get an overview, its a perfect book.
And that's also it's limitation. I was studying this book for a opportunity to use it in a more public health oriented course. And in that perspective, the information is too small.
An excellent book for 101 courses on academic level.
This is a really good book for those either teaching psychology to clinicians or for clinicians who are studying psychology as relevant to their field. Each chapter is comprehensively laid out with a list of contents, learning objectives, activities and revision questions as well as case studies, clinical notes and examples of applied research. Different sections justify the relevance of psychology to health and consider basic aspects of psychology as well as illustrating the relevance of psychology to body systems and healthcare practice. These different perspectives allow one to broach this topic from a variety of directions with helpful cross-referencing to facilitate remedial learning if required.
Highly informative and relevant for many health students. Addressed a "gap" in the market.
Great introduction to psychological theory for medicine
Excellent book for an introduction to psychology for medical students who may well be unaware of psychological concepts.
This is a great book, and I'm glad it is presenting psychology for a healthcare audience (not just medicine I think) in an colourful and attractive way.
However, my students on this module have a background of two years in psychology prior to this module and it is not quite right for their needs. I would wholeheartedly recommend it if the audience were medical students or those of another healthcare discipline (e.g. nursing).