This book is aimed at the medical student who has just survived two years of the basic pre-clinical sciences, with little in the way of patient contact or medical relevance in the course content. By then, the typical medical student will have absorbed a great deal of biochemistry, physiology and pathology but would not know how to approach a sick patient, how to take a history, or how to perform an examination. This book is a companion text which aims to ease the stressful transition from preclinical to clinical medicine and to help students survive their first months on the ward.