The NMJI

Mediquiz. Part 1 and Part 2. V. K. Kapoor and Lily Kapoor. Rupa, Delhi, 2002. 118 pp each, Rs 50 each. ISBN 81–291–0012–6 and 81–291–0013–4.

The foreword to these books states that they are meant to promote health awareness among the lay public. This joint venture by a doctor and a layperson contains hundreds of medical questions and their answers. The sections covered in the first book include: anatomy, diagnosis and treatment, diseases, genetics, history, infections and nutrition. The second book covers the various systems—circulatory, digestive, ear, nose, throat and eyes, endocrine, excretory, musculoskeletal, nervous, reproductive, respiratory and skin. Each section contains a set of questions with multiple choice answers. The correct answers are given at the end of each section. Some of them are explained briefly.

I start right off and get a kick out of the fact that I seem to be getting a good number of the answers right. Obviously it helps to scan medical journals as bedtime reading. That, and the overdose of health and fitness articles all of us get through newspapers and magazines.
This might also teach me some important stuff, I think to myself. I could never really figure out what the difference is between a vein and an artery, or what the various parts of the digestive system consist of.

However, the thrill soon wears off. The information provided is in the nature of trivia and does little to improve the reader’s knowledge of health issues. Do I need to know the distinction between proximal and distal? Or do I only want to make sure my doctor does? Does the name of a famous transplant surgeon, or the location of the Indian Council of Medical Research, matter? Such information does not enable the lay reader to be a more intelligent and proactive patient, which presumably is what ‘health awareness’ is all about.

Further, this layperson cannot comment on the accuracy of the material presented here. There are minor subediting problems. For example, it sounds odd to speak of the person who ‘discovered’ X-rays or the smallpox vaccination. The section on infectious diseases has a question referring to genetics. Also, some questions appear rephrased in many forms. For example, antitussives are described in at least two places and there are many more such instances. There are a few spelling errors as well. But these are minor irritants if at all; it is hoped that there are no technical errors in the book, to be perpetuated by us ordinary readers. Perhaps the book would have been both useful and fun if each section had included a short ‘perspective statement’ on each subject, either before or after the quiz.

Of course I don’t mean to be a gripe. A mediquiz can be fun reading up to a point.