ANDBOOK FOR MEDICAL STUDENTS ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF SECOND BULGARIAN EDITION FOREWORD
Dear readers,
Now you hold in your hands the first English edition of Neurology, a textbook in English for medical students and post-graduates. It is a translation of the second, revised edition of a Neurology textbook written by Bulgarian professors teaching in at the Neurology departments of the Medical universities in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna. The Bulgarian edition was published in 2010, in Sofia, Bulgaria. Pre-requisites for the creation of such special handbook of neurology are rooted in the sustainable traditions of the Bulgarian neurological school. It has been developed under the strong influence of the Russian, the French and partly of the German neurology.
The roots of the Bulgarian neuroscience date back to 1922, when the first Department of Neurology and Psychiatry was founded at the Medical Faculty in the University of Sofia. The first Director of the Neurology clinic and founder of neurol¬ogy in Bulgaria was the outstanding Russian neurologist prof. Alexei Erastovitch Yanishevski (1873-1936). He was alumnus of neurological school in Odessa, in southern Russia, prof. Yanishevski wrote the first Bulgarian handbooks of neurology, famous with his first description of the “grasping reflex” in the world's neurology literature, and also with his studies on the epidemics of lethargic encephalitis in Bulgaria (1924). In the following years the Neurology Department and associated Clinic was chaired by Assoc, prof. N. Krastnikov, prof. N. Boev, Assoc, prof. A. Penchev and Acad. G. Uzounov. In 1952 an independent Department of Neurology was established within the existing Higher Medical Institute in Sofia at that time. For a long period its Head was prof. Sasho Bojinov (1914-2003). In 1972 Medical Academy - Sofia was founded. The De¬partment of Neurology was joined by the existing at that time Neurology Clinics of “Neurology, Psychiatry and Neurosur¬gery Research Institute”, now known as “St. Naum” hospital, and the Institute for post-graduate qualification of physicians 1SUL), now “Queen Joanna - ISUL” hospital. Afterwards the Department of Neurology has been chaired by such prominent neurologists as prof. G. Nastev, prof. S. Bojinov, prov. Iv.Georgiev, prof. H. Haralanov, prof. D. Hadjiev, etc. Nowadays the Department of Neurology is within the Medical University - Sofia. After 1944 Departments of Neurology with in then exist- ng Higher Medical Institutes in Plovdiv, Varna, Pleven and Stara Zagora have been established.
The above overview demonstrates that Bulgarian neurology has a consistent tradition in the writing of neurology text¬books for medical students. The current new edition of Neurology in English is a continuation of all these traditions. It is accessary in view of the significantly increased number of foreign medical students in Bulgaria to meet this tendency and promote the teaching of medical curricula in English, a process which is gaining momentum across all medical departments in Bulgaria.
The main objectives of this second edition of Neurology are as follows:
1 To ,resent the most contemporary achievements in neurology science and practice, in an accessible form for medical students;
2 To provide generous visual illustrations of the material;
3 To apply a team approach in writing the relevant chapters of the textbook in collaboration with the most recognized specialists in the corresponding fields. The usual publishing practice with the previous neurology textbooks has been that a single author, usually the acting Head of the Neurology department, covered the entire book. The most remarkable among these independent textbooks was that of prof. S. Bojinov, which has four revised editions. It is still a classic model for the neurology discipline. The following editions were collaborative. With the foundation of Medical Academy in Sofia in 1972. a quite understandable need for integration of the collective experience and efforts of the leading Neurology clinics emerged. The enormous scientific, teaching and editorial potential of the academic staff in almost all fields of neurology science to be estimated, summarized and popularized.
4. To combine the traditional for the Bulgarian neurology school Latin and European medical nomenclature and terminology with the US terminology which gradually gains dominance worldwide.
What are the main characteristics of the Bulgarian neurology textbooks?
The traditional Bulgarian textbooks of neurology present the material principally divided into General neurology and syndromes, following by the chapters of Clinical neurology. General neurology used to focus on basics of anatomy and physiology of the nervous functions (reflex activity, sensation, etc.), clinical methods for their examination, basic symptoms and syndromes, as well as some instrumental examination techniologies - electroencephalography (EEC), electromyography (EMG), Doppler sonography, CSF tests, neuroimaging, etc. For didactic purposes large portion of the syndromes were preceded by a brief introductory remarks on anatomy and physiology. The nosological entities of the clinical part were presented in a traditional way.
Editing a medical textbook created by a large team of authors is a demanding task requiring a proper balance between the volume, actuality, didactic approach, illustration and harmonizing the styles of the individual authors. Enormous editorial efforts have been required to produce a modem and well structured Textbook of Neurology, and yet the reader has the final word on the achieved result.
In the recent 2-3 decades we witness a remarkable tendency for globalization, standardization and internationalization of the process of professional education. The change in the socio-economic relationships between the countries in the various regions of the world resulted in an intense migration of people, resources and ideas. The development of transport, communication and information exchange channels wiped away the geographic borders between the countries and tangibly speeded up the progress in each public life sector. Particularly substantial changes occurred in the healthcare sector. For many years already it is not uncommon that medical professionals, having graduated in one country or region have moved and became eligible to practice and offer their knowledge and skills in regions with different culture, traditions and standards. These global trends in healthcare give us the grounds to believe that our efforts in writing this Textbook of Neurology in English would help improve the Bulgarian healthcare system and to educate successful medical specialists for our country, and other countries as well.
Thus we incorporate our modest efforts in attaining the objectives of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on unified educational standards in countries of our global community.
This edition of Neurology in English is intended for Bulgarian and foreign medical students and post-graduates in neurology.
Sofia, october 2014 Prof. Dr. Penko Shotekov, M.D., Ph.D., Sc.D.