‘Medicina interna', by Farreras-Rozman: a book with a long history behind it
The new edition of the book Medicina interna, by Farreras-Rozman (Elsevier, 2012), has just been published, which is directed by UB professor emeritus Ciril Rozman and co-directed by Francesc Cardellach, dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the UB. This is the seventeenth edition of the book, which is a reference handbook in Spain and Latin America of internal medicine. Together with this new edition, a digital platform has been launched, which includes, among others, online self-assessment material aimed at readers and users.
The new edition of the book Medicina interna, by Farreras-Rozman (Elsevier, 2012), has just been published, which is directed by UB professor emeritus Ciril Rozman and co-directed by Francesc Cardellach, dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the UB. This is the seventeenth edition of the book, which is a reference handbook in Spain and Latin America of internal medicine. Together with this new edition, a digital platform has been launched, which includes, among others, online self-assessment material aimed at readers and users.
The names of Farreras and Rozman have become inseparable with this 83-year-old book. According to Ciril Rozman, “the key to success” has been the fact of keeping it to a two-volume format, despite the difficulty of condensing the information. This new edition has had the participation of 400 experts from various specialities and mainly from faculties and hospitals from Spain and Latin America. As explained in the prologue, this edition has seen a generational change among its collaborators.
The new online portal includes more than 2,500 self-assessment questions, aimed at students, teaching staff and professionals, together with extensive photos, reference tables, etc. The structure of the book, which represents a distinguished characteristic in comparison with other handbooks, maintains the balance between the practical approach and the comprehensive and rigorous content. The book summarizes key themes in medicine, such as etiology, clinical pattern, prognosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases. However, in order not to exceed the length of the book, they have reduced the content regarding semiology, anatomical pathology and pathophysiology so that they could also include new overarching concepts of internal medicine such as womenʼs diseases, palliative care, long term care or the internistʼs participation in surgical processes, together with cutting-edge diagnosis and therapies and new classifications of diseases, like epilepsy or Alzheimerʼs disease.
The origin of this handbook goes back to 1929, when the father of doctor Pere Farreras Valentí, who was a physician and a veterinary surgeon, translated the third edition of the compendium of medicine Grundriss der inneren Medizin (Berlin, 1923), by Alexander von Domarus (1881-1945), and included a series of notes and comments. This translation was re-edited in 1940 and, thereafter, Farreras Valentí continued the task in collaboration with Ciril Rozman, who assumed the leadership in 1968. Francesc Cardellach has been the deputy director since 2003.