The article on page 1131 represents the first in a series of “Office Procedures” articles adapted from The Academy Collection: Quick References for Family Physicians, a series of reference guides for family physicians originally published by a joint arrangement between the AAFP and Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The article “Endometrial Biopsy” that appears in this issue of AFP and eight other chapters that will appear in future issues have been adapted from the books Office Procedures and Office Procedures Forms, written by Thomas J. Zuber, M.D., program director in family medicine, Saginaw Cooperative Hospital, Saginaw, Mich.

In the Office Procedures book, Dr. Zuber provides instructions for 22 common office procedures, including information on procedure setup, necessary equipment, pitfalls, complications, follow-up care, and billing and coding. AFP has extracted pertinent information from nine chapters and added convenient abstracts and beautiful new color drawings to illustrate the step-by-step procedures, turning these chapters into an enjoyable CME experience. Patient information handouts and forms that will make it easy to incorporate these procedures into your practice, such as consent forms and postprocedure instructions, have been drawn from the Office Procedures Forms book to accompany the articles. Topics in upcoming issues include flexible sigmoidoscopy, punch biopsy, epidermoid cyst, hemorrhoidectomy, ingrown toenail, dermal electrosurgical shave excision, fusiform excision and knee joint aspiration.

The Office Procedures and Office Forms books were edited by Richard Sadovsky, M.D., M.S., who is an associate professor of family medicine at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Brooklyn, as well as one of AFP's associate medical editors. All of the authors of other titles in The Academy Collection are practicing family physicians and members of the AAFP, and Dr. Sadovsky served as editor for the entire book series.

The Academy Collection will include a total of 10 books. At this time, topics include skin disorders, children's health, women's health, gastrointestinal problems, conditions of aging, challenging diagnoses and frequently performed office procedures. Future titles will include office emergencies and occupational medicine. (For information on ordering any of the books in The Academy Collection, please visitwww.aafp.org/publications/academy.)

We hope that you find the series of articles adapted from the Office Procedures books to be helpful in your practice. Although AFP has previously offered occasional selections under the “Office Procedures” banner, the series of articles adapted from Dr. Zuber's Office Procedures books represents a significant expansion of the concept. Moreover, this series is just the beginning of plans for the expansion of AFP's “Office Procedures” series. Dr. Zuber and other coordinators are currently developing mini-series of bite-size articles covering other common office procedures in specific topic areas.