Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine

Citation

Strachan, M. W. J., Ralston, S. H., Dhaun, N., & Sutherland, R. (2026). Davidson's Principles and Practice of Medicine (25th ed.). Elsevier.

Chapter Summary

The 25th edition has 33 chapters in three parts and runs to about 1,400 pages. The publisher says the text, which began as Sir Stanley Davidson's lecture notes and has been published for 75 years, describes the pathophysiology and clinical features of the conditions most often met in the major specialties of adult medicine and explains how to recognise, investigate, diagnose and manage them. It carries more than 1,000 diagrams, clinical photographs, and radiology and pathology images.

Part 1, Fundamentals of Medicine: Chapters 1–2: Clinical decision-making; Clinical therapeutics and good prescribing

The book opens with how doctors reach decisions and how they prescribe, placing these ahead of any single organ system.

Part 1: Chapters 3–6: Clinical genetics; Clinical immunology; Nutritional factors in disease; Population health and epidemiology

Four chapters on the scientific and population foundations of clinical practice. The publisher notes that the immunology chapter has a new section on biologic agents, to ground these therapies in basic science.

Part 1: Chapters 7–9: Principles of infection; Oncology; Palliative and supportive care

The principles of infection and of cancer are treated before the specialty chapters, together with palliative and supportive care. The publisher's description of the part also mentions pain management, and describes new guidance on chronic pain.

Part 2, Emergency and Critical Care Medicine: Chapters 10–13: Acute medicine and critical illness; Poisoning; Envenomation; Medicine in austere environments

Covers common presentations in acute medicine and the recognition and management of the critically ill, followed by poisoning, envenomation and medicine in austere environments.

Part 3, Clinical Medicine: Chapters 14–19: Infectious disease; Sexually transmitted infections; Cardiology; Respiratory medicine; Nephrology and urology; Clinical biochemistry and metabolic medicine

The first group of specialty chapters. The publisher notes that HIV/AIDS has been integrated into the infectious disease chapter in this edition.

Part 3: Chapters 20–23: Endocrinology; Diabetes mellitus; Gastroenterology; Hepatology

Endocrine and gastrointestinal specialties, with diabetes mellitus as a chapter of its own.

Part 3: Chapters 24–28: Haematology and transfusion medicine; Rheumatology and bone disease; Dermatology; Neurology and stroke medicine; Medical ophthalmology

Further specialties. The publisher notes that stroke medicine has been integrated into the neurology chapter.

Part 3: Chapters 29–33: Medical psychiatry; Maternal medicine; Adolescence, transition and young adult medicine; Older adult medicine and frailty; Laboratory reference ranges

The final chapters cover psychiatry, medicine in pregnancy, the adolescent and young adult, and older people with frailty. The book closes with a chapter of laboratory reference ranges.

Key Concepts

Part 1: Fundamentals (Chapters 1–9)

• Clinical decision-making: the reasoning that leads from a presentation to a diagnosis and plan (Chapter 1).
• Good prescribing: the principles behind choosing and using drugs safely (Chapter 2).
• Population health and epidemiology: the population perspective on disease (Chapter 6).
• Palliative and supportive care: care for people with serious or advanced illness (Chapter 9).

Part 2: Emergency and critical care (Chapters 10–13)

• Acute medicine and critical illness: recognising and managing the acutely and critically ill (Chapter 10).
• Poisoning and envenomation: management of toxic exposures (Chapters 11–12).
• Medicine in austere environments: practice outside conventional health-care settings (Chapter 13).

Part 3: Clinical medicine (Chapters 14–33)

• Presenting problems: the publisher's term for sections that give a pathway for assessing the most common complaints in each specialty.
• Older adult medicine and frailty: the care of older people (Chapter 32).
• Adolescence, transition and young adult medicine: care across the move from paediatric to adult services (Chapter 31).

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A deliberate teaching structure in every specialty chapter. The publisher lists Clinical Examination overviews, Presenting Problems sections, Practice Point summaries and Emergency boxes, with boxes for In Old Age, In Pregnancy and In Adolescence that show how practice differs in these patient groups and where medical, obstetric and paediatric services meet.
• Science before specialties. Part 1 supplies genetics, immunology, infection, population health, oncology and palliative care before the organ systems, which gives the clinical chapters a common base.
• Emergency and extreme-setting medicine as a distinct part. Part 2 groups acute medicine, poisoning, envenomation and austere-environment medicine.
• Visual material. More than 1,000 diagrams, clinical photographs, and radiology and pathology images, with a dedicated imaging editor for this edition, support the descriptions.
• Self-assessment. The accompanying eBook includes more than 150 questions and answers testing the key points of chapters.

Limitations

• Size. At about 1,400 pages and 33 chapters, it is a very large book for a first clinical year; a course will normally ask for selected chapters, not a cover-to-cover read.
• Adult medicine only. The publisher describes the content as the major specialties of adult medicine. The contents list has no chapters on surgery or paediatrics; pregnancy and adolescence appear through the maternal medicine and adolescence chapters and the In Pregnancy and In Adolescence boxes.
• Examination is summarised, not taught in full. The Clinical Examination overviews summarise the main elements for each system; students who need fuller teaching of technique will need a dedicated book such as Macleod's Clinical Examination.
• Self-test questions are in the eBook. The 150 or so questions are described as part of the accompanying eBook rather than the printed pages.

Where It Fits in the Course

Within the clinical medicine course, this is the main one-volume textbook of internal medicine and the logical text for the clinical years. Clinical Medicine: Lecture Notes is a concise guide to history taking, examination and diagnosis by body system, written for students starting on the wards, and Macleod's Clinical Examination teaches the history and physical examination in detail; both are best read before or alongside Davidson. Oxford Handbook of Medical Sciences is a compact guide to the scientific foundations of medicine and supports the Part 1 chapters.

At the other end, Goldman-Cecil Medicine and Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine are two-volume reference works covering every specialty; they are for looking things up, not for a first read. Davidson sits between the lecture-notes level and those references.

How to Use This Book

The book is written for students entering clinical training, resident doctors and other health professionals. It assumes pre-clinical anatomy, physiology, pathology and pharmacology.

A practical plan:

• Start with Part 1: Chapters 1 and 2 are worth reading in full early, because they frame decision-making and prescribing for every later chapter.
• Follow your attachments: read the specialty chapters in Part 3 as placements come up, beginning each with the Clinical Examination overview and the Presenting Problems section before the disease sections.
• Use Part 2 for acute care: Chapter 10 and the Emergency boxes are the quickest route to the acutely unwell patient.
• Check laboratory values: Chapter 33 gives reference ranges.
• Test yourself: use the eBook's questions after each chapter, and read the Practice Point summaries for the skills the publisher says students and resident doctors must acquire.