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Lecture Notes : Paediatrics

Lecture Notes: Paediatrics aims to be a “small book” that can be carried around on the wards “without the excess of postgraduate detail seen in many texts” but that still “covers the core curriculum in paediatrics … sufficient for the medical student during the paediatric appointment”.

Does the book meet these aims?  The answer is resoundingly positive.  The fact that this book is now in its 8th edition is testament to the popularity of the format.  The book is relatively small and could easily be carried around and referred to whilst on paediatric attachments.  Although smaller than many other textbooks aimed at undergraduates it is hard to see any area that is not covered in the detail that would be expected for the purposes of undergraduate exams.

An emphasis on ensuring that the reader is able to do well in exams is characterised by a chapter that is new to this edition, “Preparing for clinical examinations in paediatrics and child health”.  There are also frequent boxes throughout the text called “OSCE Pointers” and “OSCE stations”.  OSCE Pointers give tips regarding frequently encounter OSCE problems. For example in the chapter on nutrition the OSCE Pointers include the use of the Red Book and growth charts, obesity, and making up infant formulae.  OSCE Stations which are listed at the front of the book describe in detail the approach to typical OSCE stations.  For example, development assessment, neurological examination of the lower leg, and use of equipment.  These aspects of Lecture Notes: Paediatrics are seldom seen in other undergraduate paediatric textbooks.  Another very useful part directed towards ensuring a good exam pass is the chapter on extended matching questions.  There are 182 questions in this chapter and is something of a “bonus” as you would usually have to pay for a dedicated MCQ / EMQ book to get this number of questions.  A helpful touch is the cross-referencing to these EMQs in the main part of the book.

The book is extensively illustrated with excellent photographs and illustrations.  Very few of these are full colour but this does not detract from their usefulness.  Indexing is well thought out and makes use of bold page numbers to highlight the main section of the book dealing with the topic in question.  This book does not have any associated online access or CD-ROM that is being seen increasingly bundled with textbooks.  However, it could be argued that the portability of the book negates the need for these additions.

Summary : Manages to pull off the tricky combination of being comprehensive but still compact.  Excellent focus on undergraduate exams and a large number of EMQs.


List of Sections:

1. Children and their health
2. Parents and children: listening and talking
3. Examination of children
4. Developmental assessment
5. Preparing for clinical examinations in paediatrics and child health
6. Emergency paediatrics
7. Fetal medicine
8. Birth and the newborn infant
9. Disorders of the newborn
10. Nutrition
11. Abnormal growth and sex development
12. The child with learning problems
13. Neurology
14. Emotional and behavioural problems
15. Cardiology
16. Respiratory medicine
17. Ear, nose and throat
18. Gastroenterology
19. Bones and joints
20. Skin
21. Immunization and infections
22. Urinary tract
23. Haematology
24. Neoplastic disease
25. Endocrine and metabolic disorders
26. Accidents and non-accidents
27. Extended matching questions


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