Pediatric Board Certification Review: An Excellent Guide, An Essential Tool for Board Certification

Rating:
Summary: An excellent review.
Review: A must read for all peds residents.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the cost
Review: By the sixth edition, one would expect that most of the bugs had been worked out. Yet I found many things about this book troubling. The use of the English language was poor at best and sometimes non-sensical. There was little or no organization to each section, making it difficult to conceptually organize the concepts. A few random points are repeated, but it appears to be due to a lack of editing rather than for emphasis. There are multiple typographic errors (e.g. Hemophilia B written as a factor XI deficiency rather than factor IX (table, pg. 80)) and major contradictions [e.g. in the respiratory section, #61: "First restrictive then obstructive lung disease occurs in: (very very important) cystic fibrosis..." & #77: "...in cystic fibrosis (CF): (very important)...first, obstructive...then, restrictive...lung disease..."] Overall, while this book may contain a lot of useful information for the boards, extracting that information and deciding what facts are trustworthy or not makes this book not worth the high cost. If it is ever properly edited and re-organized I think it could make a good review book.

Rating:
Summary: Not worth the cost
Review: By the sixth edition, one would expect that most of the bugs had been worked out. Yet I found many things about this book troubling. The use of the English language was poor at best and sometimes non-sensical. There was little or no organization to each section, making it difficult to conceptually organize the concepts. A few random points are repeated, but it appears to be due to a lack of editing rather than for emphasis. There are multiple typographic errors (e.g. Hemophilia B written as a factor XI deficiency rather than factor IX (table, pg. 80)) and major contradictions [e.g. in the respiratory section, #61: "First restrictive then obstructive lung disease occurs in: (very very important) cystic fibrosis..." & #77: "...in cystic fibrosis (CF): (very important)...first, obstructive...then, restrictive...lung disease..."] Overall, while this book may contain a lot of useful information for the boards, extracting that information and deciding what facts are trustworthy or not makes this book not worth the high cost. If it is ever properly edited and re-organized I think it could make a good review book.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written pediatric review
Review: this is, unfortunately, the only book of its kind on the market. That fact alone is the sole reason that anyone should buy this book. The content is poorly organized. The author's command of the english language is evident in that I and my colleagues often found ourselves wondering what he was trying to say. The book is written in "question and answer" format, but it was difficult to use this format based on how the book was organized. For example, when the questions and answers are combined in one paragraph, it is very difficult to cover the answer while asking the question. The "diagrams" were useless and a completely inadequate preparation for the diagrams seen on the actual board exam. This book will be useful once the author hires a new editor. Incidentally, I DID pass the boards with flying colors, but that was due to my review of other sources (like Peds in Review) rather than this book.

Rating:
Summary: Poorly written pediatric review
Review: this is, unfortunately, the only book of its kind on the market. That fact alone is the sole reason that anyone should buy this book. The content is poorly organized. The author's command of the english language is evident in that I and my colleagues often found ourselves wondering what he was trying to say. The book is written in "question and answer" format, but it was difficult to use this format based on how the book was organized. For example, when the questions and answers are combined in one paragraph, it is very difficult to cover the answer while asking the question. The "diagrams" were useless and a completely inadequate preparation for the diagrams seen on the actual board exam. This book will be useful once the author hires a new editor. Incidentally, I DID pass the boards with flying colors, but that was due to my review of other sources (like Peds in Review) rather than this book.