Book excerpt: Note to Readers: Publisher does not guarantee quality or access to any included digital components if book is purchased through a third-party seller. Specifically designed for future healthcare providers who will diagnose, manage, and prescribe This advanced physiology and pathophysiology text is designed to address the specific learning needs of future nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other advanced healthcare providers caring for patients across the lifespan. Focusing on practical applications of physiology, it facilitates in-depth understanding of important pathophysiological concepts as they relate to major disorders commonly seen in clinical practice and includes comprehensive pediatric and geriatric considerations. This knowledge is crucial to providing the foundation required to be an informed and confident clinical decision maker. The author team includes experienced clinicians and educators: nurses and nurse practitioners, physician assistants, doctors of pharmacy, physicians, and basic scientists. This collaboration has produced a text that carefully details and richly illustrates the cellular structure and function of each organ system and mechanisms of associated major clinical disorders. Uniquely interweaving aspects of organ function during healthy states with disease-associated changes, the text emphasizes and extends the basic science foundation to practical clinical applications. The text promotes a deep understanding of cellular function in health and disease that provides the bedrock knowledge required to master pharmacology for prescriptive practice. Equally important, the solid foundation of applied pathophysiological mechanisms offered in this text prepares the student clinician to care for patients with a broad variety of disorders. This resource not only provides a deep dive into pathophysiology, but it also examines why patients often present with particular symptoms, the rationale for ordering specific diagnostic tests and interpretation of results, and common management strategies that proceed from the underlying pathophysiology. Key Features: Designed explicitly to build a foundation for pharmacology and clinical courses that lead to successful clinical practice and prescribing Includes comprehensive lifespan considerations with key insights from specialists in pediatric and geriatric pathophysiology Provides a complete chapter on the basic principles of genetics and genomics with coverage of genetic variations, assessment, and genomics woven throughout the book Integrates thought questions and case studies to promote discussion and synthesis of information Offers a unique Bridge to Clinical Practice in each chapter to translate science to patient care Includes more than 500 images to illustrate complex scientific concepts Summarizes the contents succinctly with handy key points at the end of each chapter Provides access to the fully searchable ebook, including student ancillaries on Springer Publishing ConnectTM