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KU docs edit, contribute to medicine ... and history

Now in its 68th edition, "Conn's Current Therapy 2016" runs 1,340 pages, with 30 sections ranging from allergies and the cardiovascular system to rheumatology, the urinary tract and women's health. Every part of the book is reviewed and updated each year, and many new articles added.

After he returned home from World War II, a young Pennsylvania physician named Howard Conn wondered how he could catch up on medical developments he'd missed while serving his country.

Finding no simple way, Conn decided to produce a medical reference book that would be frequently updated with the latest, best information. And "Conn's Current Therapy" was born.

"It became one of the best-selling books in the country on current therapy," said Dr. Rick Kellerman, chair of KU School of Medicine-Wichita's Department of Family and Community Medicine. "Over the years -- two-thirds of a century -- it's still going strong."

Since 2009, it's continued with plenty of help from Kellerman, one of its two current editors. Kellerman and his co-editor, Dr. Edward Bope, of Ohio State University, are only the third and fourth editors in the book's history. And Kellerman has given its contents a decidedly Kansas flavor, recruiting physicians from Wichita and Kansas City to write sections of the book. They include Drs. Sheryl Beard on rhinitis, Justin Moore on adrenocortical insufficiency, Jennifer Wipperman on dizziness and vertigo and 28 more.

"We have over 30 chapters written by our Wichita faculty," Kellerman said. "It's been a good opportunity."

Now in its 68th edition, "Conn's Current Therapy 2016" runs 1,340 pages, with 30 sections ranging from allergies and the cardiovascular system to rheumatology, the urinary tract and women's health. Every part of the book is reviewed and updated each year, and many new articles added. The most recent edition added a section on Chikungunya, a virus spread by mosquitoes.

"It's a new disease in the western hemisphere and there's concern that it will become epidemic," Kellerman said. "There are new diseases that are popping up all the time."

Dr. Laura Mayans, head of KU-Wichita's family medicine clerkship rotation, penned a chapter on chicken pox at Kellerman's request. 

"Because of the vaccine that's out there, we don't see it nearly as often, but it still does happen," Mayans said. "It was kind of going back in time to remind this new generation what it looks like."

In addition to describing the symptoms, Mayans described how symptoms could vary and when they warrant treatment. "It won't be needed often, but when it is needed, I think people will be glad it's there," she said.

Published by Elsevier, a leader in the field of medical literature, "Conn's Current Therapy" is also available in an electronic version. Although geared toward primary physicians, specialists looking for a way to stay updated also purchase it.

Kellerman remembers first consulting the book himself as a young family doctor in Plainville, Kansas. "If I wanted to brush up on something, this was a quick, easy way."

He wrote his first article for it, on influenza, in 1996, while Dr. Robert Rakel of the Iowa College of Medicine was editor. Before Rakel stepped down, he brought Bope on board, who in turn recruited Kellerman, a former president of the American Academy of Family Physicians.

In addition to KU Wichita physicians, more than 300 doctors from across the country contributed to the current edition. "It's a lot of work, but I've made friends all over the country, some of whom I've never met in person," Kellerman said. "If they walked into my office, I wouldn't be able to recognize them but I'd know them by their chapters."

"Most of the authors are well known in their areas of expertise," he said. "They're pretty experienced."

Under Kellerman and Bope, Howard Conn's focus on family physicians supplied with the most current information continues. And in its seventh decade, an appreciation of the book's history is appropriate, Kellerman said.

"To go that long in the publishing business is pretty remarkable."


KU School of Medicine-Wichita