Oski's Pediatrics: Principles and Practice

Since its first edition I no longer bought the "competition".The reason was all of Frank's Books were readable and not dry like the others. The newest book has brought this book into the 21st century by encorporating the text with the newest information available online to the owner. I knew Frank Oski and he was a wonderful compassionate brilliant man. His presence is missed by all. I believe that Dr Oski would have approved of this textbook ,all of its updates, and technical permutations.

I liked this book. Not as much as Nelsons, but much better than Rudolph's. The best section in this book is the infectious disease section. Most of the authors in that section are the same authors from Feigin and Cherry's Pediatric Text of infetious disease (the bible for ID). Good book.

Having completed my residency and having just taken my board exam, I can say that this in excellent text -- both as a comprehensive pedatric reference and as a board review book. The first section of the book and the last section of the book are ideal for board studying. This book also addresses many aspects of routine practice that a general pediatrician would find useful. It is consistently well-written and easy to read. The first section, "Rapid Access Topics" has a concise but complete review of all the important, frequently tested and/or frequently encountered diseases in pediatrics. This section has its own index so it really lives up to its title. Plus, at the end of each topic, the reader is told in what chapter to look for a more in depth description -- integrating it into the rext of the text. This is the forte of the boook (it is good for board studying or for quick reference by a busy pediatrician in practice). The last section, "Pediatrician's Companion: Things You Forget to Remember" has a quick review of various syndromes plus clear pictures of associated dysmorphic features (and includes answers to board questions that don't appear in any review book), lists of differentials, normal lab values, common procedures. The book progresses naturally from an overview of pediatrics (including practical issues like pediatrician salaries, malpractice issues, and how to read a journal article) to newborn medicine, to general pediatrics, to diseases. Scattered throughout, there are plenty of pictures, radiographs, graphs, and charts to complement the text. However, there are few color or glossy photographs. I agree with the other reviewer about the CD -- it is not especially user friendly.

As a 2nd year pediatric resident in a foreign hospital I chose Oski's Pediatrics as my reference textbook based on the clarity of disease presentation, the friendly and consultatory approach to issues as begining your own practice etc. I found extremelly helpfull the sections with brief disease outlines, symptom related differential diagnosis and syndrome presentation. An excellent book (5 star)with the only drawback being the unacceptable CD (no star) which is hard to master and has limited flexibility regarding page layout (could a PDF version help?).