The new edition of this core text retains the same aim as its predecessors: to help students gain the maximum benefit from their period of exposure to general practice as part of their basic medical training. 'Clinical Method' provides medical undergraduates with a guide to the underlying principles of clinical method and explains how to integrate these skills into clinical practice for the benefit of patients.

Since publication of the second edition, there have been some major developments in Primary Care which have affected both clinical practice and education. The increasing influence of evidence-based medicine is being felt, as are the recommendations for change in undergraduate medical education - which decreed that the acquisition of basic clinical method should be a priority. Although previous editions of this book did address these issues, this new edition has been structured and extended to reflect them even more.