Issued in 1998 edited by Prof. Ewa Ratajczyk-Pakalska script Family Medicine (general part) for 5th and 6th year students of Faculty of Medicine at Lodz Medical Academy constitutes a valuable source of information for students familiarising themselves with family medicine. It includes, among others, information on family doctors’ role and competence, their work organisation, medical documentation and other issues characteristic for family medicine (case history in basic healthcare, alternative medicine).

A monograph by P. Kardas and E. Ratajczyk-Pakalska published in 2001entitled Hospitalisations of elderly inhabitants of Lodz. Frequency, cause, prevention possibilities. It constitutes a final recapitulation of research conducted by Department of Family Medicine in years 1999-2000 on medical and nonmedical causes for hospitalisation of elderly people in Lodz. Research results indicate that the most frequent reasons for hospitalisations of elderly people in internal wards are: ischaemic heart disease, pneumonia, cerebral stroke, hypertension, and circulatory failure, respectively. The majority of these diseases are chronic and can be subjected to effective ambulatory treatment, and only in case of their exacerbation hospitalisation is required. Financial shortages, disability, lack of other people’s help and patient non-compliance contribute to elderly people hospitalisation. Research results analysis enabled the authors to present in the monograph propositions of concrete actions aiming at decrease of the number of elderly people hospitalisations.