Pediatrics for Medical Students [With CDROM]

This is the 2nd Edition of this book, released in 2003, by Drs Bernstein and Shelov which tries to make a case to become your primary Pediatrics text for both core clerkships and subIs. Also makes a good reference text for the USMLE exams, or shelf tests. The book is a hefty one, with over 600 pages, divided into 25 chapters. The chapters are logically broken down into 2 large subgroups: General Pediatric Practice, and Pediatric Subspecialties. The General Practice section begins from birth, essentially the approach to the newborn infant, progresses thru health maintenance visits, adolescent medicine, then off to other general peds issues. Also, this book includes chapters on socioeconomics/culture, as well as ethical issues, and managed care issues. This is a welcome addition to any general medical text, in this era of more culturally sensitive medicine. I don't know how applicable these last few sections are to the USMLE or to the core clerkships, but they make for some interesting side reading. The managed care explanations of health care plans is particularly relevant in the managed care world of today?s practice. The subspecialty chapters are very well organized, and have a high level of detail. There is an abundance of information in various tables, diagrams and photos. For example in Cardiology they begin with Congenital Heart Disease and then explain pathophysiology, clinical history, physical exam findings, EKGs, murmurs, cardiac dysrythmias, etc. The other chapters include infectious diseases, neonatology, development, genetics, endocrine, GI, hematololgy, oncology, allergy/immunology,. Pulmonary, neurology, nephrology, rheumatology, dermatology, trauma, Peds ICU, pediatric surgery. Overall, the level of detail in the text is very good. That is the greatest strength of the book, but at the same time, makes it a dense textbook to read. It is much easier to read than the NMS Pediatrics text, but probably a bit thick compared to Blueprints. Sometimes the level of detail is beyond even a 4th year medical student?s need to know. Things like specific drug dosages probably could have been left out. These can always be looked up in a Pharmacopia or Harriet Lane. Most of the diagrams are well done, but it would have been nice to have more diagrams to break up the text. In addition some of the black and white photos appeared very grainy and difficult to interpret probably due to the resolution of the computer scanned images. There are some great pictures of pediatric ICU procedures, but it is unlikely that a medical student