Preface

I have been deeply amazed and grateful to see how the Case Files books have been so well received, and have helped students to learn more effectively. In the 7 short years since Case Files: Obstetrics and Gynecology has first made it in print, the series has now multiplied to span the most of the clinical and the basic science disciplines, and been translated into over a dozen foreign languages. Numerous students have sent encouraging remarks, suggestions, and recommendations, many of which have been incorporated in this third edition. Questions have been improved to better reflect the USMLE format, and explanations have been expanded to help the student understand the mechanisms and the reason that the other choices are incorrect. Five completely new cases have been written. Updated or new sections include health maintenance, cervical cytology with human papilloma virus subtyping, contraception, polycystic ovarian syndrome, osteoporosis, neonatal complications, and human immunodeficiency virus. This third edition has been a collaborative work with my wonderful coauthors and contributors, and with the suggestions from three generations of students. Truly, the enthusiastic encouragement from students throughout not just the United States but worldwide provides me the inspiration and energy to continue to write. It is thus with humility that I offer my sincere thanks to students everywhere … for without students, how can a teacher teach?