Preface

The two of us—practicing hospitalists and educators with a deep passion for evidence-based
medicine—designed this book for a broad range of readers and uses. It is applicable to clinicians at
all levels, including student and resident trainees, advanced practice clinicians, and attending
physicians. It is written for both clinicians and educators, for personal self-study, or for teaching. It
can be read cover to cover, or as needed when topics come up in practice or educational settings.
The case method and topics were purposely selected. A case-based approach mirrors the way
hospital-based clinicians think and work, increasing the book's clinical usefulness. Importantly, we
also believe the case method is the most intuitive and enjoyable way to learn and teach to content.
We selected chapters and points of emphasis based on their frequency or salience to hospital
medicine. Instead of spanning comprehensively from initial presentation through diagnosis and
ultimate treatment in every case, we chose to feature common conditions and situations that our
readers are likely to encounter in the practice of hospital medicine. For instance, chapters about
chronic conditions emphasize acute exacerbations of disease—the most likely scenario in which
hospital-based clinicians are likely to care for these patients.
Arriving at these scenarios and clinical decision points allowed us to move naturally to the evidence.
We emphasize the use of evidence to guide practice because we know that this skill is fundamental to
delivering excellent care. As such, the book attempts to feature key elements of existing literature,
highlighting its strengths, weaknesses, caveats, interpretations, and applications.
In addition to clinical practice, our hope is that this volume will serve as a useful teaching aid for
educators at all levels. By highlighting pertinent questions and succinctly describing key evidence to
answer them, the case-based method can facilitate discussion between educators and trainees. As
such, the book will be a useful resource on rounds or at the white board. Moreover, by familiarizing
readers with some of the evidence that can help guide decisions, this volume will allow the clinical
supervisor to model principles of evidence-based practice.
From the outset, we knew that our ability to achieve our goals in this volume would be predicated on
the team we assembled to write it. We were very fortunate in that regard and able to engage
individuals from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School and the University
of Washington School of Medicine—world-class institutions with a pool of exceptionally talented
colleagues. The scope, framing, and detail of our content were further strengthened by review from
experts at these outstanding clinical and educational centers.
This is why and how we created this book. We are proud of the hard work from so many that it
represents. We are also proud because we believe it has the potential to be of great use to hospital-‐
based clinicians and, ultimately, their patients.
Zahir Kanjee, MD, MPH
Joshua M. Liao, MD, MSc