Best all-around comprehensive peds text

[StringBean]

Hello all,

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on which comprehensive peds text is best to have/read throughout this crazy residency thing. I've heard from some Nelson's is best... but I've also heard that Oski's is best? What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?

Thanks 🙂

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[meconiumdelee]

Hello all,

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on which comprehensive peds text is best to have/read throughout this crazy residency thing. I've heard from some Nelson's is best... but I've also heard that Oski's is best? What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?

Thanks 🙂

Does anyone have any input? I am really curious about this too.

 

[Homunculus]

i would save your $$ and use whatever editions of whatever has been traditionally used and is available at your residency program. any of them will give you a good base of knowledge, and to keep up to date and polished i'd keep up with online resources that can change with the times (AAP site, uptodate, pubmed, etc)

--your friendly neighborhood 'net usin' caveman

 

[Bernardo_11]

The big three are Oske, Rudolph, and Nelsons. I've been told that most of the Peds boards is straight out of Nelsons. So if you want a definitive reference, Nelson's is the way to go.

Rudolph and Oske though are much easier reads. I was once told by a faculty attending if you read 15 pages a week of any of these texts, you'l go through the whole book once in your residency. So if you plan on trying to accomplish that, maybe Rudolph or Oske would be better for you. Honestly, I didn't didn't do this. And I got through residency and passed the boards without any problems.

Regards,
Nardo

 

[edmadison]

The big three are Oske, Rudolph, and Nelsons. I've been told that most of the Peds boards is straight out of Nelsons. So if you want a definitive reference, Nelson's is the way to go.

Rudolph and Oske though are much easier reads. I was once told by a faculty attending if you read 15 pages a week of any of these texts, you'l go through the whole book once in your residency. So if you plan on trying to accomplish that, maybe Rudolph or Oske would be better for you. Honestly, I didn't didn't do this. And I got through residency and passed the boards without any problems.

Regards,
Nardo

None of these books are designed for board prep/review. When I started my residency we had "Nelson's club" every two weeks. It was excruciating. There was no retention. Get one of those texts for reference only.

Ed

 

[MM9]

None of these books are designed for board prep/review. When I started my residency we had "Nelson's club" every two weeks. It was excruciating. There was no retention. Get one of those texts for reference only.

Ed

I agree with the issue of retention in these big books. They are best as a reference. However, between the library at your hospital/affiliated medical school and the internet, you probably can save the money.

Having a moderately substantial book to read is nice though. I'm a fan of Rudolph's Fundamentals (the "light" version). It is very readable and, more importantly, retainable. Take a look at it and also Nelson's Essentials. I liked the Rudolph's book better than the old version of Essentials. However the Rudolph's book last came out in 2002 (maybe a new one is coming soon) while there is a new version of Essentials that was just released in November '05.

 

[earmuffs]

...But put down one vote from me for Zitelli's Atlas of Pediatric Physical Diagnosis.

Damn good book.

 

[UVa2005]

Hello all,

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on which comprehensive peds text is best to have/read throughout this crazy residency thing. I've heard from some Nelson's is best... but I've also heard that Oski's is best? What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?

Thanks 🙂

Of the three main ones (Rudolph, Oski, Nelsons), Our program director recommended buying the one with the most recent edition(I was surprised since Oski's is written and edited here). That being said - right now Nelson's has the latest edition (2004 I think). Oski will have a new edition this summer. Hope that helps.

 

[KidDr]

Hello all,

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on which comprehensive peds text is best to have/read throughout this crazy residency thing. I've heard from some Nelson's is best... but I've also heard that Oski's is best? What do you guys think? Any other suggestions?

Thanks 🙂

Sorry--this doesn't directly answer your question about what text to use. But for me Uptodate has been an invaluable resource. I have free access at most of the hospitals I work at, but I ended up buying my own subscription so I can access it anywhere, and I use it all the time. The advantages are that it has a huge selection of peds-specific topics that are continually updated (unlike a textbook), it's very well-organized and clinically-oriented, it has great charts/graphs, it's usually very easy to find the information you're looking for quickly, and it's accessible anywhere you have a computer (i.e., there's nothing to carry around with you). The downsides are that it doesn't have topic reviews on everything you could probably find in, say, Nelson's.
Obviously no one resource fits all needs--you're still gonna need to use Medline to find the latest studies and a big textbook to find the obscure stuff--but I LOVE Uptodate and it's saved me a LOT of time in residency. Good stuff.