How often do you hear the term "information overload"? We live in a world dominated by information, and misinformation, and nowhere is information more critical than in regard to your health. If your doctor recently told you of a problem, and if you're like most people, you immediately searched the Internet. Any idea how many "sites" one gets from searching for common diagnoses in internal medicine like "hypertension" or "diabetes" or "obesity"? Sorting out the useful information from the garbage is next to impossible. Now imagine that you are a health care provider, trying to assimilate information given all that is available. It could seem hopeless.

Today, as never before, health care providers and laypersons alike face the challenge of learning more about medical diagnoses in a concise, time-efficient manner. After speaking with Bill Evans about this topic recently, I decided to write a synopsis for a potential solution - one with which I've been involved. In June, 2003, a new textbook entitled "Netter's Internal Medicine" will be available. I believe that this text will be useful to physicians and other health care providers in the broad discipline of internal medicine, and to laypersons who wish to learn more about specific disease processes.

Internal medicine encompasses everything from primary care to procedural medicine. Whether an internist is a "generalist" or a "subspecialist" practicing cardiology or oncology or any of a number of subspecialties, the need exists for baseline knowledge of issues as disparate as renal dialysis versus hospital-acquired infections versus screening for colon cancer.