The requirement of any aspiring surgeon to have a comprehensive knowledge of the applied basic sciences remains at the heart of surgical training. All basic surgical trainees are required to have a thorough comprehension of the scientific principles behind surgical procedures and patient management. This book is divided into two sections:

• the basic principles of general pathology and microbiology
• the anatomy, physiology and special pathology of the specific systems which a basic surgical trainee would be expected to know.

For this Second Edition many of the chapters have been updated, especially the chapters on immunology, basic microbiology, the endocrine and locomotor systems and the breast. An attempt has been made throughout to indicate the clinical relevance of the facts and the reason for learning them. There are several new contributors to the author team, all of whom are experts in their field and many of them are, or have been, experienced examiners at the various UK Royal Colleges. Although this book has been written to encompass the basic anatomy, physiology and pathology required by the syllabus of the UK Royal Colleges and the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Project, it contains the necessary information required for equivalent international examinations and assessments.