Essential Primary Care aims to provide undergraduate students with a comprehensive overview of the clinical problems encountered in primary care. It covers the structure of primary care in the UK, disease prevention and the management of common and important clinical presentations from infancy to old age. Case studies are used in every chapter to illustrate key learning points. The book provides practical advice on how to consult with patients, make sense of their symptoms, explain things to them, and manage their problems.;List of tables -- List of illustrations -- Contributors -- Foreword -- Preface -- 1. The key features of primary care: 1. The structure and organisation of primary care; 2. The GP consultation; 3. Making a diagnosis; 4. Prescribing; 5. The interface with secondary care; 6. The everyday ethics of primary care -- 2. Healthy living and disease prevention: 7. Behaviour change; 8. Alcohol and drug misuse; 9. Preventing cardiovascular disease; 10. Caring for people with learning disabilities -- 3. Common presenting problems: 11. Tiredness -- Childhood: 12. Child health in primary care; 13. Managing the feverish and ill child in primary care; 14. Managing common conditions in infancy; 15. Managing chronic conditions in childhood; 16. Teenage and young-adult health -- Early adulthood: 17. Respiratory tract infections; 18. Low back pain; 19. Heartburn and dyspepsia; 20. Diarrhoea and rectal bleeding; 21. Common skin conditions; 22. Headache; 23. Fits, faints and funny turns; 24. Depression, anxiety and self-harm; 25. Sexual health and dysuria; 26. Menstrual problems, contraception and termination of pregnancy; 27. Pregnancy; 28. Domestic violence and abuse