Bates’ Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking 13th Edition (Hardcover)

Bates’ Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking, 13th Edition is the hardcover health assessment textbook from Wolters Kluwer used by medical, nursing, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant students.

Bates’ has been the reference for the bedside exam for fifty years. Its two-column layout puts examination technique on the left and the abnormal findings with differential diagnoses, printed in red, on the right, so you learn what to do and what it means on the same page. The thirteenth edition expands Unit 1 on the patient encounter, restructures the regional exam chapters, and broadens coverage of LGBTQ patients, persons with disabilities, and populations across the life cycle.

What's included

• Bates’ Guide to Physical Examination and History Taking, 13th Edition, hardcover, book only
• Author: Lynn S. Bickley, with contributors
• Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
• ISBN-13: 9781496398178
• Illustrated step-by-step techniques, numbered text boxes, clinical pearls in blue, and end-of-chapter tables of abnormal conditions

Who it's for

First- and second-year medical students in clinical skills courses, BSN and accelerated nursing students in health assessment, and FNP, AGNP, and PA students learning the advanced physical exam. Practicing clinicians keep it for the regional exam chapters and the tables of abnormalities, and preceptors use it to standardize what they teach at the bedside.

Why this edition

The thirteenth edition is the one most programs adopted between 2020 and 2023, and many still list it. The restructured regional chapters each follow the same sequence of overview, technique, and health promotion, which makes studying for OSCEs and skills check-offs more predictable. Key terms now link to an online glossary, and the photographs and references were refreshed against current evidence. A fourteenth edition has since been published; if your syllabus specifies 13th, this is the matching book.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the book-only version of Bates’ 13th edition?

Yes. This is the hardcover text alone, without the videos or online access bundle.

Is Bates’ Guide for nurses or doctors?

Both. It is written for any clinician learning the comprehensive physical exam and is assigned in medical, nursing, NP, and PA programs alike.

What is the difference between the 13th and 14th editions?

The fourteenth edition updates content and images further. The exam techniques and chapter organization in the thirteenth remain current, which is why many courses still use it.

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