This authoritative textbook provides a much-needed guide for postgraduate trainees preparing for the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) Fellowship examination. Published in association with EBCOG, it fully addresses the competencies defined by the EBCOG curriculum and builds the clinical practice related to these competencies upon the basic science foundations. Volume 2 covers the depth and breadth of gynaecology, and draws on the specialist knowledge of four highly experienced Editors and over 100 contributors from across Europe, reflecting the high-quality training needed to ensure the safety and quality of healthcare for women. It incorporates key international guidelines throughout, along with colour diagrams and photographs for easy understanding. This is an invaluable resource, not only for postgraduate trainees planning to sit the EFOG examination, but also for practising specialists looking to update their knowledge and skills to meet the ever-evolving complexity of clinical practice.

This authoritative textbook provides a much-needed guide for postgraduate trainees preparing for the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) Fellowship examination. Published in association with EBCOG, it fully addresses the competencies defined by the EBCOG curriculum and builds the clinical practice related to these competencies upon the basic science foundations. Volume 1 covers the depth and breadth of obstetrics, and draws on the specialist knowledge of four highly experienced Editors and over 100 contributors from across Europe, reflecting the high-quality training needed to ensure the safety and quality of healthcare for women and their babies. It incorporates key international guidelines throughout, along with colour diagrams and photographs for easy understanding. This is an invaluable resource, not only for postgraduate trainees planning to sit the EFOG examination, but also for practising specialists looking to update their knowledge and skills to meet the ever-evolving complexity of clinical practice.

This authoritative textbook provides a much-needed guide for postgraduate trainees preparing for the European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG) Fellowship examination. Published in association with EBCOG, it fully addresses the competencies defined by the EBCOG curriculum and builds the clinical practice related to these competencies upon the basic science foundations. Split into two volumes according to discipline - obstetrics and gynaecology - it draws on the specialist knowledge of four highly experienced editors and over 200 contributors from across Europe, reflecting the high-quality training needed to ensure the safety and quality of healthcare for women and their babies. It incorporates key international guidelines throughout, along with colour diagrams and photographs for easy understanding. This is an invaluable resource, not only for postgraduate trainees planning to sit the EFOG examination, but also for practising specialists looking to update their knowledge and skills to meet the ever-evolving complexity of clinical practice.

Medical services have been associated with the military since the days of Ancient Greece. This relationship was essential not only in ensuring the front-line treatment of injuries sustained by soldiers but also to treat the diseases that accompany the disruption in the social circumstances brought on by warfare. The expectation of a military conflict requires the commanders in the field to draw up a military operation plan. This war plan varied according to the defined objectives, often being differently viewed by the combatants on either side of the conflict. There was in addition the aspect of using biological agents as weapons of warfare. There are numerous records of the use of biological weapons in antiquity. It is therefore not surprising that medical personnel played a very important role in battle plans and were generally highly regarded by the commanders and troops these medics serviced.

This book is the final volume of a series of books by the same author covering the history of medicine in the Maltese Islands from the prehistoric age right through the modern period. This volume deals with the medical practice during the last two-hundred years, a period that saw the final phase of the emergence of the scientific basis of disease understanding and management. The Contemporary Period in the Maltese Islands saw its start with political upheaval resulting in the ousting of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John by the french, and the eventual ousting of the new rulers with the Islands falling within the dominion of the British Empire. The book looks at the efforts to re-establish and update public health legislation, review social welfare services, and medical education. It further reviews the history of various medical conditions and their management in the light of the new scientific advances.

The Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem was established in the aftermath of the First Crusade of 1098. It was subsequently organized into a military and hospitaller Order with several establishments in various European countries all subservient to a central house sited first in Jerusalem, then Acre, Boigny, Paris and Spain. The Order was led throughout the centuries by a series of masters or grand masters. It has also enjoyed a number of Royal and Spiritual Protectors.

The novel is based on the events occurring in the Outremer and in Christian Europe at the turn of the 13th century centering around the knight Thomas de Sainville who served as Master to the Brethren of the Order of Saint Lazarus.

The book is a dedicated account of the history of medicine practiced in Early Modern Malta when the Islands were managed by the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The changing patterns of disease throughout the 16th to 18th centuries and the response to managing these conditions are reviewed. The nook further looks at the legislative efforts introduced to control disease, the educational endeavors undertaken to improve the standards of care, and the social welfare systems adopted to better the lives of the population.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus has had proponents proposing a genetic causation, others preferring to consider this adult-onset disease as having its origins in foetal life. The Maltese island population in the Central Mediterranean is an excellent population, because of its rather closed structure, to study in regards to long-term and familiar associations. The present work looks at the inter-relationship of nature versus nurture in regards to the aetiology of Type 2 diabetes. A strong foetal and infant nutritional role in the aetiology is noted allowing for the proposal of targeted long-term lifestyle intervention programmes which aim to influence the development of the disease starting from intra-uterine life and maintained lifelong in individuals identified as high risk.

The Order of Saint Lazarus is a lesser known Crusader Order that saw its development in the wake of the First Crusade in the 12th century together with the more popularly known Crusader Orders -- the Order of Saint John [Hospitallers] and the Order of the Temple [Templars]. Its original brief in the Kingdom of Jerusalem was to succour the victims of leprosy but eventually assumed a military role. Supported by various European Royal houses, the Order expanded its range of influence to Europe. Following political machinations, it saw itself divided into two main branches: 1. A Savoyan branch -- the Order of Sts. Lazarus and Maurice; and 2. A French branch the Order of Saint Lazarus and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Both Orders are still active today. The book reviews in detail the history of the Order of Saint Lazarus from its conception to the modern period using whenever possible access to original documentation and contemporary texts. Unfortunately, much of what has been written about the Order in the past has been based on biased secondary sources which have had a specific agenda either to denigrate or to support the Order. By reviewing the history using primary sources, whenever possible, one would hope that the reader would be able to identify fact from fiction throughout the historical timeline. The Order's raison d'etre has changed over the centuries from a specific hospitaller Order caring for victims of leprosy adding on a military role in later years, to a Chivalric Order enjoying Papal and French Royal protection, to a philanthropic Order enjoying the fons honorum of the Melkite Patriarch and eventually becoming increasing secular in an organisation with a primary philanthropic role on an international scale. The book targets a varied audience ranging from individuals interested in Medieval, Crusader and Military history, and is suitable for the non-academic readers such as current members of the present Orders of Saint Lazarus to undergraduate and postgraduate academic researchers.