Essentials of Clinical Psychiatry Based on The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Psychiatry, 3rd ed

From our regular book review column.

The editors of Essentials of Clinical Psychiatry conceptualized this textbook for medical students on clinical psychiatry rotations and junior psychiatry residents. It represents a synopsis of The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Psychiatry, which is now in its third edition. Rather than offering a general condensation of the longer text, the editors wisely chose the 25 (of 50) chapters most relevant to clinical psychiatry. The authors of these individual chapters were charged with the task of shortening their original comprehensive work by 50% with particular emphasis on material critical for medical students and psychiatry residents. The resulting Essentials is a bit over 1000 pages in length, modest in size and scope compared with the parent text.