Roger Neighbour

Praise for the first edition:‘…a unique book, written by a unique GP. There is no one better placed to pull together decades of learning and experience on how to achieve the greatest success in the general practice consultation. The relaxed pace of writing, the accessible examples, the clear narrative and the engaging anecdotes make this a resource that is accessible and useful to all who seek to improve their clinical consulting skills.’Helen Stokes-Lampard, former Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners‘Excellent and easy to remember structure; this is the approach I’ll use daily.’GP ST3The second edition of this well-received book, fully revised to reflect changes to the RCGP Membership examination, helps GPs to establish ways of thinking, talking and behaving in the consultation that are most likely to lead to good outcomes. It describes a simple three-part approach to the consultation’s essential task, which is to convert a patient’s problem into a plan acceptable to both patient and doctor. It combines reader-friendly explanations, helpful illustrations and examples from everyday practice. Consulting in a Nutshell will help GPs at every career stage – from medical student to SCA candidate to experienced practitioner – to analyse, develop and grow their personal consulting style. At a time of ongoing and profound change in primary care, it aims to ensure that seeing patients and having good consultations becomes and remains a source of satisfaction and fulfilment.

Praise for the first edition:‘…a unique book, written by a unique GP. There is no one better placed to pull together decades of learning and experience on how to achieve the greatest success in the general practice consultation. The relaxed pace of writing, the accessible examples, the clear narrative and the engaging anecdotes make this a resource that is accessible and useful to all who seek to improve their clinical consulting skills.’Helen Stokes-Lampard, former Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners‘Excellent and easy to remember structure; this is the approach I’ll use daily.’GP ST3The second edition of this well-received book, fully revised to reflect changes to the RCGP Membership examination, helps GPs to establish ways of thinking, talking and behaving in the consultation that are most likely to lead to good outcomes. It describes a simple three-part approach to the consultation’s essential task, which is to convert a patient’s problem into a plan acceptable to both patient and doctor. It combines reader-friendly explanations, helpful illustrations and examples from everyday practice. Consulting in a Nutshell will help GPs at every career stage – from medical student to SCA candidate to experienced practitioner – to analyse, develop and grow their personal consulting style. At a time of ongoing and profound change in primary care, it aims to ensure that seeing patients and having good consultations becomes and remains a source of satisfaction and fulfilment.

‘…a unique book, written by a unique GP. There is no-one better placed to pull together decades of learning and experience on how to achieve the greatest success in the general practice consultation. The relaxed pace of writing, the accessible examples, the clear narrative and the engaging anecdotes make this a resource that it is accessible and useful to all who seek to improve their clinical consulting skills.’Helen Stokes-Lampard, former Chair of the Royal College of General PractitionersThis brand-new book aims to help GPs establish ways of thinking, talking and behaving in the consultation that are most likely to lead to good outcomes. It describes a simple three-part approach to the consultation’s essential task, which is to convert a patient’s problem into a plan acceptable to both patient and doctor. It combines reader-friendly explanations, helpful illustrations and examples from everyday practice. Key features: Written by a respected GP, teacher, and author of the highly-regarded trilogy The Inner Consultation, The Inner Apprentice and The Inner Physician Gives GPs a framework for consulting that is easy to remember, comprehensive, adaptable, robust, exam-friendly and quickly becomes second nature Identifies and addresses key areas of anxiety for GP trainees and MRCGP candidates, including ‘How do I complete in 10 minutes?’, ‘How do I deal with difficult patients?’ and ‘What do I do when it all goes pear-shaped and I don’t know what to do?’ Gives advice and practical suggestions for how to make the difficult transition from theory to practice, from reading about the consultation to actually doing it better in real lifeConsulting in a Nutshell will help GPs at every career stage – from medical student to CSA candidate to experienced practitioner – to analyse, develop and grow their personal consulting style. Coming at a time of profound change in primary care, it aims to ensure that seeing patients and having good consultations becomes and remains a source of satisfaction and fulfilment. The author:Roger Neighbour is a retired GP, former Convenor of the Panel of MRCGP Examiners, and past President, Royal College of General Practitioners, UK.

In this final volume of his best-selling 'Inner' trilogy, Roger Neighbour explores the relationship between a doctor's professional and private selves. He suggests that the mind of every doctor retains an untrained 'ordinary human being' part - their Inner Physician - which makes an important, though often neglected, contribution to medical practice. This 'Inner Physician', which he also describes as the 'amateur within' or the 'expert minus the expertise', plays a major role in diagnosis and treatment, and is the chief source of insight, empathy and clinical acumen. Roger shows that skilled use of the Inner Physician is one thing that distinguishes the generalist from the specialist.

The Inner Physician deals with the relationship between different parts of the individual doctor's own mind. In the final volume of his 'Inner' trilogy, Roger Neighbour, author of The Inner Consultation, explores the relationship between a doctor's professional and private selves. He suggests that the mind of every doctor retains an untrained 'ordinary human being' part - their Inner Physician - which makes an important, though often neglected, contribution to medical practice. The Inner Physician, which he calls 'the amateur within' or 'the expert minus the expertise', plays a major role in diagnosis and treatment, and is the chief source of insight, empathy and clinical acumen. Drawing on ideas ranging from Greek philosophy to catastrophe theory and quantum mechanics, but written in an engaging easy-to-read style, The Inner Physician makes a powerful case for humanity, thoughtfulness and self-awareness as hallmarks of the effective clinician. It will be challenging but inspiring to GPs at every career stage, and also to specialists keen to understand how their own work fits into medicine's 'big picture'. Coming at a time when doctors are under pressure to function more as biomedical technicians than as caring professionals, The Inner Physician aims to help GPs rediscover their pride in the human aspects of their work with patients. Readers should be comforted and inspired to have confirmed what they always knew - that they themselves are an important factor in their clinical effectiveness.

The Inner Consultation, Second Edition sets out the author’s thoughts on how consulting skills, and methods of teaching them, have evolved in the 17 years since the book’s first publication. It also develops the theme of ‘curiosity’ as the key requirement for patient-centred consulting and provides a practical consultation model with five checkpoints to work to, advice for developing skills, and suggestions for doctors to ensure they know the cues in the consultation that require their full attention. All general practitioners, GP registrars, and medical professionals will find this book essential and thought-provoking reading.

The Inner Consultation, Second Edition sets out the author’s thoughts on how consulting skills, and methods of teaching them, have evolved in the 17 years since the book’s first publication. It also develops the theme of ‘curiosity’ as the key requirement for patient-centred consulting and provides a practical consultation model with five checkpoints to work to, advice for developing skills, and suggestions for doctors to ensure they know the cues in the consultation that require their full attention. All general practitioners, GP registrars, and medical professionals will find this book essential and thought-provoking reading.

Highly Commended in the 2005 BMA Medical Book Competition The first edition of The Inner Apprentice proved to be a landmark publication. Now in its second edition, it includes an additional chapter in which questions the assumptions about the relevance of awareness-based teaching in the overcrowded curriculum of contemporary vocational training – and suggests that the curiosity they engender is more important than ever. This book offers many new ideas, techniques and educational tools, and will be of interest to general practice trainers and trainees, and anyone involved in an individual teaching relationship.

David Widgery was a socialist GP who worked in the East End of London. For him medicine was as much about the social causes of illness as it was biological. He believed that if wealth were more evenly distributed, society and its members would be healthier. Working in and fighting for the NHS symbolised his wider view of the world. This book tackles the difficult issues surrounding doctors’ roles, including whether they should ignore or embrace the social causes of illness. It uses the unique perspective of David Widgery’s life to explore these issues, and also considers why medicine at times can be disheartening. General practitioners, other doctors, and those who shape and make health policy will all find this book stimulating and enlightening reading.

Tomorrow's general practitioners will inhabit a world of ever greater sophistication and complexity. New skills will be demanded to manage the changing expectations of patients and governments. In an age of information overload, new patterns of creative, intelligent working will need to develop. This book provides a framework, illustrated by practical examples, for such a career path to develop and be supported. It examines a number of innovative schemes which highlight varied ways forward, both for training and personal enrichment. It addresses not only the need of today's young doctors, but also the question of how to equip all general practitioners for the challenges of the future.