The Cleveland Clinic Intensive Review of Pediatrics

Rating:
Summary: Concise Review Book is a Great first start!
Review: This is a new book, published in 2003, a companion of sorts to the Intensive Review of Internal Medicine built as a study guide for the Pediatrics Board Exams.

The book is broken down into 5 major categories, including General Pediatrics, GI, Nephrology, Endocrinology, Neonatology, Cardiology, Allergy, Neurology and Child Development, Genetic and Metabolic Diseases, Adolescent Medicine, Infectious dissease and Immunology, Hematology-Oncology, Pediatric Surgery and Board Simulation. In addition the book includes a small set of color thumbnails for photos of common pediatric diseases and skin conditions.

Overall, the readability of the book is excellent and many of the topics are explained very clearly, for example, the endocrine chapter explains the spectrum of adrenal diseases in under 5 pages, highlighting the important points of Adrenal Cortical Deficiency, Adrenal cortical failure, etc. Each major topic includes epidemiology, pathophysiology, history and physical, diagnosis and treatment sections that makes each section very readable.

The chapters are subdivided into major topics, that cover topics in short, succint, easily digestible paragraphs, and are supplemented by many graphs, tables and charts. I did find a few of the graphics in the cardiology chapter a bit dated, and it would have been nice to have seen a more consistent graphic style throughout the book. In addition, since most of the photos are in black and white, some of the finer details are difficult to see, especially chest x rays and skin findings.

Some chapters seem more geared toward patient care than board review (which doesn't mean they not well written) and spend more time in detail that is not likely to be emphasized on the boards. It would have been nice to have included "boards pearls" or "hot topics" or "frequently tested material" more heavily highlighted in a book that is written for board review. Most of us are looking for a "First Aid for the Boards" type of book for Pediatrics, and this doesn't quite fit that mold. (There is probably no easy "shortcut" type book on the market,yet)

At the end of many of the chapters and sections are a handful of review questions to grill you in the basic subject areas. While most of these test relevant material, the question style is not exactly in line with the style of the Pediatric Board Exam.

That being said, this book makes a terrific general study guide. There is currently no other book available that does so much in as little space. You're not going to be able to read or carry around a Nelson's when you study for the boards, so this book is good for the major topics of each subspecialty.

In addition, this book provides many easy to read a chapters that highlights many important subspecialty areas. More available on the Medfools website. This quality makes it a great "pre-read" before each subspecialty elective in pediatrics that you may complete during a Pediatrics residency.