One of the most complete and concise textbooks of medicine is the Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. The Merck Manual is celebrating its centenary with the publication of the 17th Edition. The Merck Manual is used by more medical professionals worldwide than any other general medical textbook and has been continuously published longer than any other English language general medical textbook. The 17^th and latest edition of this encyclopaedic volume is available online, free of charge, at http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/. This is a superb reference source, and should be bookmarked by every doctor ! The Merck Manual of Geriatrics is also online at http://www.merck.com/pubs/mm_geriatrics/.

An excellent reference sources is the University of Iowa Family Practice Handbook at http://www.vh.org/Providers/ClinRef/FPHandbook/FPContents.html, which provides basic information on most common clinical problems seen in practise.

While printed textbooks are not likely to become obsolete for many years, www.emedicine.com is a very ambitious project, which aims to publish a complete set of free online medical textbooks, by bringing medical professionals together for providing better medical information. Each book is written by a large group of experts from all over the world , and most of the authors are professors at medical schools, with excellent teaching credentials. The text is then compiled and edited so that it is accurate, readable and uptodate.

The vision is excellent - these are authoritative medical textbooks that can be used free-of-charge by medical practitioners from all over the world ! These textbooks can be improved or updated 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and allow readers unlimited downloading of thousands of x-rays, color illustrations, and pictures. E-texts also allow the reader to instantly send comments, questions, and potential new pictorial additions to the topic author, so that it is truly interactive !

Many titles are nearing completion, and these include: Dermatology , Medicine and Surgery , Neurology , Ophthalmology , Otolaryngology and Facial Plastics , Pediatrics , and Plastic Surgery .

So far, only one book has been completed. This is on Emergency Medicine and is titled Emedicine’s Emergency Medicine. Each chapter is complete and comprehensive, and includes: Treatment, Workup, Differential diagnosis as well as a Bibliography, a link to a continually updated Medline search of the topic as well as Test Questions, so that you can confirm you have understood the key messages. These books also include online live videos ( for example, of an echocardiogram ) - something no print book can provide ! This site represents the future of medical publishing . Using the collective experience of many doctors from all over the world, the many different exciting multimedia formats ( audio, video, virtual reality , 3-D) which computer technology allows , as well as the instant interactivity the internet offers , this may soon become the definitive medical textbook of the future !