Winner of the Medical Journalists' Association Specialist Book of the Year Award 2006 Cynical Acumen approaches medicine in the real world, dealing with issues ignored by other books. It is a unique, 'what you really need to know' textbook designed to help medical students and senior house officers look slick and pass their exams against all odds. The book entertainingly considers the world outside medicine with anecdotes on the important things in life such as sport, literature, Thai cooking and the dissolution of the monasteries. It has been aptly described by the author as 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to Medicine'. Medical students will find this underground resource invaluable, as will medical professionals including junior hospital doctors, particularly those sitting the MRCP examination.