Paediatrics and Child Health Mary Rudolf Malcom Levene 2nd Edition

This colourful and bright textbook is an essential learning tool for all medical students who want a concise, extremely well presented, focused and easy-to-read textbook with lots of additional benefits.

This textbook differs from many others in its unique presentation. Not only do the authors utilise colour, clinical pictures, x-rays and flow charts in an effective manner to make learning easy but they have developed ‘Mind Maps' and ‘At a Glance Summaries' as really useful aids. The Mind Maps are at the beginning of each chapter and provide a very clear introduction to each chapter. The ‘At a Glance Summaries' are also superb revision tools. Furthermore the ‘rashes and skin lesions' chapter is one of the best dermatology sections I have ever read in a general paediatric textbook. The majority of cases are demonstrated by clinical photographs, which are a fantastic visual learning aid.

This textbook is aimed at medical students. The textbook covers all the essential topics in a symptom focussed manner. Each topic is divided into subsections making it easy for the reader to digest, and the important points are always emphasised. Self assessment is the key to learning and the provision of many MCQs and two exam papers is a sufficient starting point however the reader by want to supplement this with additional question books.

This textbook is superior to other paediatric textbooks in many ways. In particular the preparation and support provided for the paediatric clinical final exams (OSCEs) is excellent. Each chapter provides essential points on taking focused histories and examinations. In addition to this, the clinical examination CD provided with the textbook is a modern, systematic and step-by-step guide to achieving excellent paediatric examination skills – A must for passing paediatric OSCEs.

I would recommend this textbook to students keen on developing their general paediatric knowledge and clinical skills.