The winner of this year's BMA Primary Care Book Award is the globally successful Practice Tips 4th edition, Professor John Murtagh.

The reference book, published by McGraw Hill (2004, £31.99), is designed to "empower primary care practitioners to manage common medical problems in their offices without subjecting patients to the inconvenience and cost of being referred to a hospital or to a specialist". The publication contains a wealth of practical tips on how practitioners can perform minor medical procedures on ailments from the suturing of wounds to the removal of lumps and foreign bodies. It's reviewer described Practice Tips 4th edition as a "book I wish someone had given me years ago".

The book's broad appeal has helped it enjoy world wide success, with tens of thousands of copies sold across the globe. It has proved particularly popular in remote regions, where it has proved a valuable tool for isolated practitioners.

The publications author, John Murtagh, is the Adjunct Professor of General Practice at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and a GP in Victoria, Western Australia.

Professor Murtagh said:

"The strategy behind the book was to help the general practitioner to undertake relatively simple and safe procedures in their practices mainly because they are not taught or encouraged by the surgical profession, as a rule, to develop these elementary skills. I hope this award will further encourage the confidence of general practitioners to develop their potential"

Three highly commended books were also awarded prizes in this category by the judges.

A Textbook of General Practice 2nd edition edited by Dr Anne Stephenson and published by Hodder Arnold (2005 £19.99), was praised by a reviewer as "a comprehensive book with useful illustrations, and information for undergraduates so that they can get the most out of a general practice placement." Dr Stephenson is senior lecturer and head of undergraduate teaching in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at Guy's, King's and St Thomas' School of Medicine, London.

Get Through MRCGP: Hot Topics (RSM Press 2005) by Dr Una Coales and published by RSM Press (2005, £19.95), was praised by its reviewer as "not only useful for those revising for the MRCGP exams, but beneficial for all medical students and junior doctors facing their finals." Author, Dr Una Coales, is a GP based in Stockwell, London.

Looking after Children in Primary Care: a Companion to the Children's National Service Framework (Radcliffe Publishing 2004) edited by Professor Ruth Chambers and Dr Kirsty Licence, and was published by Radcliffe (2004, £24.95). The book is a companion to the Children's National Service Framework (NSF) and is aimed at enabling NHS, social care and education professionals to put the NSF into practice within primary care settings. It's reviewer praised the publication as "an imaginative attempt to engage readership in a consideration of the Children's NSF". Professor Chambers is a part time GP, head of the Stoke-on-Trent Teaching Primary Care Trust programme and clinical dean at Staffordshire University. Dr Kirsty Licence is a specialist registrar in public health medicine at Tayside NHS Trust.

Professor Dame Barbara Clayton, Honorary Research Professor in Metabolism at the University of Southampton, presented the awards at a ceremony at BMA House in London on Wednesday 2 November 2005.

The BMA Medical Book competition has been held annually since 1994 by the BMA's Board of Science and administered by the BMA Library. It aims to encourage and reward excellence in medical publishing, patient information and medical journalism.

All entries are individually reviewed and appraised by doctors and educators who are interested in medical publishing.

This year the BMA Book Competition overall drew 619 entries - 20 per cent higher than last year. Altogether, 23 first prizes and 74 highly commended awards were distributed by the judges.

A full list of the winners can be obtained from:

bma/ap.nsf/Content/LIB2005WinnersBookCompetition

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