Due to the rapidly changing health care environment, where the bulk of the care is now in the outpatient setting in the doctor's office (as opposed to hospitals), medical assistants are being given increasing responsibilities to act as a liaison between the doctor and the patient. Physicians are now beginning to realize that the medical assistants are no longer simply their aids in the examination room but they can also work behind the scene independently to provide the needed groundwork to help the physician succeed. They not only educate the patients and seek their cooperation, but also provide a multitude of critical services ranging from office support and bill collections, to being the first responder in an emergency, specimen collections, referral to other consultants, and even making sure that the office is kept clean.

This book was written as a textbook for a three-year undergraduate degree program. The content of the book is well balanced. Throughout the book, education for better “job performance” is kept in focus, with a good theoretical knowledge exposure.

The book is divided into six sections with a total of fourteen chapters. It begins with a short history of medicine as it developed in the East and in the West. Then it moves into the operation and management of the medical office. Section 2 is dedicated to the fundamentals of medical science where the states of the body in health and disease are discussed. Section 3 is devoted to the preparation of the patient for the medical examination done by the physician. It includes the documentation of medical history and preparing the patient before the physical examination. Section 4 is the core of the profession detailing how the medical assistant can help the doctor in the examination room during physical examination, ambulatory care and in minor office surgery. Section 5 deals with the assistance needed from a medical assistant for effective therapy. It starts with patient education towards the understanding of the therapeutic measures that the doctor has recommended. It also deals with the procedures of administering the medicine and performing simple diagnostic tests as an aid to diagnosis. The knowledge of basic pharmacology and essentials of mathematical calculation are included for therapeutic management. Section 6 finally concludes the book with the discussion of unexpected 10office emergency procedures that may arise within the office or sought for advice. The entire book focuses on the needs of developing countries like India where resources are limited.

The authors of these chapters are all experts in their own fields. All of them also have a passion towards improving the care for the sick in developing countries like India through education. Hopefully that day is not too far away when we will find this book in doctor's office throughout India and we will be offering formal training to our medical assistants. More importantly, it will help to educate patients to take care of their own health when they are healthy and to make the recommended treatment more effective when there is a health problem.