Audience: first and second year medical students; nursing practitioner students; physician assistant students; residents in internal medicine, anesthesiology, pediatrics, pulmonary medicine; and respiratory therapists Emphasizes comprehension of fundamental concepts over memorization All major concepts illustrated with figures Clinical study questions and answers and problem-based examples in each chapter New to this edition: correlations to clinical medicine at the end of each chapter, updated text throughout, additional tables added to highlight key concepts, and updated references