First Aid for the Internal Medicine Boards

From The Critics

Reviewer: Vincent F Carr, DO, MSA, FACC, FACP(Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences)
Description: This book is touted as resident-to-resident summaries of high yield topics for last-minute review and this is, indeed, a great last-minute preparation aide. This second edition reflects a refinement of the first with updated must-know topics.
Purpose: Clearly, the authors intend to summarize what one must understand when preparing to test for the American Board of Internal Medicine certification. There is minimal extraneous prose and the test-taking strategies and approaches to the examination cases are highlights. Recognizing that medicine is progressively adding information, it is quite possible to lose the forest for the trees and this objective is highly commendable.
Audience: This book helps internal medicine residents, who traditionally search the journals for the latest studies, become grounded in the basics which tend to be less comprehensively discussed during everyday rounds. The authors are seasoned trainers who are actively teaching. One of the unique aspects of this book is that the authors invite contributions by current residents to share their individual memory joggers and mnemonics to help others.
Features: Each chapter has the basic terminology and definitions and explanations of the basic physiology, which are then followed by individual syndromes and disease states. Numerous pearls of clinical significance appear in the margins. The tables are intuitive and there are a number of color figures. Just about everything is covered succinctly. There are no references as this is a study aid and not intended to be a comprehensive text. Finally, the index is well organized and comprehensive.
Assessment: I wish I had this book when I was studying for my boards. It is well worth the price for both study for the boards and for a quick reference.