Dr. Michael G. Stewart and Dr. Samuel H. Selesnick have co-edited a new otolaryngology textbook that has the potential to become a standard resource for clinicians, fellows and medical students.
The text, "Differential Diagnosis in Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery," was initially released in September, though its first large-scale printing is just now under way.
Dr. Stewart is the professor and chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and senior associate dean for clinical affairs at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Dr. Selesnick is the professor and vice chairman of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology and professor of otolaryngology in neurological surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Dr. Samuel H. Selesnick
"We think this book will be very helpful for all clinicians but particularly for two groups: first, those in training or starting out, when they do not have a lot of clinical experience; and second, practitioners with subspecialty expertise and focus who occasionally see patients with other problems," Dr. Stewart said. "If an otology specialist sees a patient with a throat problem or neck mass, this book can be a quick refresher on a topic they have not thought about recently."
Drs. Stewart and Selesnick organized the book by symptom, rather than disease or diagnosis.
"The book uses an enhanced decision-tree model," Dr. Selesnick said. "There are textbooks with good information, but the design makes the information in the text relatively inaccessible. So we worked hard to improve the cross-referencing and the decision-tree matrix. For example you can start with "nasal obstruction" or a "sore throat" and can then follow the decision tree to the best diagnosis, which is briefly explained to the reader."
Drs. Stewart and Selesnick presented the text for the first time at the annual meeting of the American Society of Otolaryngology — Head and Neck Surgery, held this past September in Boston.