Good text for neuro exam (doing a neuro exam)?

If you can find an old copy, Bickerstaff's book is quite good. Also, there's a The Neuro exam made easy title http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_g...+made+easy&x=0&y=0&sprefix=neurological+examI used an older copy and it was quite good. The best way to learn the neuro exam, IMHO, is to keep watching attendings/senior residents do it and then doing it yourself, especially eliciting the key findings others noted.

The very best way to learn is by watching someone who really knows how to do the exam. However, this is rapidly becoming a lost art. The best book is The Technique of the Neurological Examination by William E. DeMeyer. The author died recently, but the last edition is available on Amazon (and probably other places).

http://www.amazon.com/Technique-Neu...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1296889056&sr=1-1

DeJong is the classic.

Agree with the above DeJong's "The Neurologic Examination" is the classic book to get.

For the more efficient-minded among you, try out DeMyer's "Technique of the Neurologic Examination." It's a nifty softcover that actually has alot of interactive workbook-type tasks to force you to move through the paces of a good exam. It's shorter (and reads alot faster) than DeJong and though it lacks the depth of detail, it does a VERY good job of covering everything you need.

I would also echo the above statement that the best way of learning any physical activity (including examining patients) is to do it many, many times over. You can shadow attendings and start copying what they do with a patient.

Like those pesky fundoscopic exams. You can read and look at pictures all day, but you'll only get good at it if you look at as many fundi as you can.

Neurological Examination by Robert J. Schwartzman is a very good book. It has pretty amount of ddx for each exam finding combined with a lot of pictures.