A short introduction to Clinical Deep Dives — a Medlock Holmes learning project built around curiosity, conceptual understanding, and staying connected with medicine over time.This brief orientation explains what the Clinical Conceptual Companion approach is, why it exists, what is freely available (including the open-access Davidson companion), and how subscriber support helps keep the project sustainable and accessible.

Laboratory reference ranges define the boundaries of normality — yet rarely capture the full story. This chapter explores how ranges are constructed, interpreted, and misapplied in clinical practice.

In this audio deep dive, we examine biological variation, population sampling, and the limitations of thresholds. You’ll hear why values must be interpreted in context, over time, and in relation to the individual rather than the statistic.

This chapter reframes reference ranges as guides rather than verdicts — tools for reasoning, not replacements for judgement.

Ageing and disease examine how time reshapes physiology, resilience, and vulnerability. This chapter explores multimorbidity, frailty, and the shifting balance between intervention and quality of life.

In this deep dive, we consider how disease presents differently in later life, why polypharmacy complicates care, and how function often matters more than diagnosis. You’ll hear how comprehensive assessment guides decision-making beyond single-disease models.

This chapter reframes ageing as accumulation — of adaptation, experience, and risk — demanding medicine that is measured, individualised, and humane.

Adolescent and transition medicine focuses on a period of profound biological, psychological, and social change. This chapter explores how health needs evolve as young people move from paediatric to adult services.

In this audio deep dive, we examine developmental physiology, emerging autonomy, and the risks of disengagement during transition. You’ll hear how chronic illness, mental health, and neurodevelopmental conditions require continuity rather than abrupt handover.

This chapter reframes adolescence not as a problem to manage, but as a window of opportunity — where thoughtful support shapes lifelong engagement with healthcare.

Maternal medicine focuses on care during physiological change, where normal adaptation can tip into pathology. This chapter explores medical disorders in pregnancy and their implications for both parent and fetus.

In this audio deep dive, we examine cardiovascular, metabolic, renal, and autoimmune conditions modified by pregnancy. You’ll hear how risk assessment, multidisciplinary care, and timing guide decision-making.

This chapter reframes maternal medicine as anticipatory — balancing protection, progression, and partnership over time.

Medical psychiatry bridges mental and physical health, examining how psychological symptoms emerge alongside medical illness. This chapter explores cognition, mood, behaviour, and perception in the context of systemic disease.

In this deep dive, we consider delirium, depression, anxiety, and psychosis as medical phenomena, shaped by biology, environment, and experience. You’ll hear how collaboration between psychiatry and medicine improves care, and why stigma impedes recognition.

This chapter reframes psychiatric symptoms as signals — deserving the same rigour and compassion as any physical sign.

Medical ophthalmology explores vision as both sensory function and diagnostic window. This chapter examines ocular disease as an extension of systemic pathology, from vascular and inflammatory conditions to neurological involvement.

In this audio deep dive, we consider visual loss, eye movement disorders, and retinal signs of systemic disease. You’ll hear how subtle changes in vision can reveal serious underlying pathology, and why collaboration across specialties is essential.

This chapter reframes the eye as a sentinel organ — precise, vulnerable, and revealing.

Stroke medicine is defined by time, territory, and consequence. This chapter explores cerebrovascular disease as both emergency and long-term condition, shaped by prevention as much as intervention.

In this deep dive, we examine ischaemia, haemorrhage, reperfusion, and recovery. You’ll hear how rapid assessment alters outcome, why systems of care matter, and how rehabilitation begins at presentation.

This chapter reframes stroke as a continuum — from vascular risk to acute care to adaptation and recovery.

Neurology examines function through failure — revealing how disruption of neural networks manifests as weakness, movement disorder, sensory change, and altered consciousness. This chapter explores the nervous system as an integrated whole rather than isolated tracts.

In this audio deep dive, we consider localisation, pattern recognition, and temporal evolution. You’ll hear how careful history and examination remain central, even in an era of advanced imaging. The chapter moves through acute, progressive, and episodic neurological disease, emphasising reasoning before investigation.

Neurology is presented here as disciplined curiosity — a process of narrowing possibility through observation and logic.

Dermatology reads disease on the surface of the body, where internal pathology often declares itself first. This chapter explores inflammatory, infectious, neoplastic, and genetic skin disorders.

In this deep dive, we examine morphology, distribution, and pattern — learning how observation guides diagnosis. You’ll hear why dermatology depends on careful description, and how skin reflects systemic health, immunity, and environment.

This chapter reframes the skin as both barrier and mirror — protective, expressive, and diagnostically rich.