Medical training is constantly changing.

Surgical
training is becoming shorter and the decision
about which branch to follow is being asked at an
evermore junior level. It is only possible to make
an informed career choice by having a suffi cient
grasp of the relevant speciality and, wherever possible,
having some exposure to it.
Orthopaedics is a changing speciality. Sub -
specialization has become commonplace and the
‘ general ’ orthopaedic surgeon is now rare. This
book attempts to introduce most aspects of orthopaedics
at a level which will satisfy medical students,
students of professions allied to medicine
and general practitioners alike.
This fourth edition has been rewritten to make it
easier to study the basis of orthopaedics (Part 1)
and then to refer to each region in turn (Part 2).
With the advent of sub - specialization, this is how
the subject is often now encountered. The regional
section is further sub - divided into four areas:
examination, adult pathology, paediatric pathology
and trauma.
We hope we have achieved our goal in creating a
book which is broad enough in scope to cover most
pathologies whilst covering the more common
conditions in suffi cient depth to allow a comprehensive
understanding.