It is often said that a thorough assessment of patients with medical problems will lead to correct diagnosis. That has certainly been true in my practice. When I asked the right questions and then systematically sifted through all the information I had extracted, more often than not, I was on target with my patient care.

That said, the grim reality remains that the body of knowledge in the field of internal medicine is both extremely wide and extremely deep--far beyond the knowledge required to become paramedic.

However, Harrison's will take you to places you need to be if you want to be an outstanding paramedic. For the last 50 years, Harrison's has been a leading text in discipline of internal medicine, and, in my opinion, remains so today. For those often challenging and sometimes obscure moments in internal medicine that make your head throb, Harrison's will get you up to speed fast.