Crash Course: Neurology, 5th Edition

By Umesh Vivekananda

ISBN: 9780702073854

Pub Date: 08 February 2019

Reviewed by: John Glenn Burkett, MD (Thomas Jefferson University)

Description

This review book covers the breadth of neurology, but not overly in depth, in an attempt to distill the important facts and high-yield information needed for exams. An accompanying website has the same material, along with a self-quiz mechanism for self-assessment questions and a search function to find references in the book for a given term. The previous edition was published in 2013.

Purpose

The purpose is to provide a concise, manageable, and up-to-date book on neurology for exam preparation. This is a resource that many students, interns, and residents need while they are learning this subject. Having online access to the full materials and self-assessments is very useful as it allows them to use the book even when it isn’t physically present with them. Both the book and website are the same information and are a good resource for learners trying to prepare for exams.

Audience

This book is intended primarily for medical students, interns, and residents. It may have some value to young doctors, but, appropriately, it does not go into the depth they may need. It functions as test preparation material and does this job well. The authors are young doctors who have recently taken some of the exams that readers may be preparing for and the advising faculty member is a well-published neurologist at St. George’s University in London.

Features

The 33 chapters are grouped into three sections that attempt to cover all aspects of the field of neurology. The initial section covers the history, the exam, and common labs/imaging studies. The second section covers patient presentations and the third section covers specific disease states. This is an appropriate layout and helps learners move from a basic to a more complex understanding of disease states. Images are full color with charts and figures to help organize information into a more palatable form. Because it is designed as a concise exam prep guide, the book may not go into the depth that some readers are looking for, bur this also is not the objective of this publication.

Assessment

This book sets out to help prepare readers for neurology exams and it performs this function admirably. It is compact, but rich in scope. Some readers will want more detail in a review book, but, for the majority, this one will provide the necessary information to do well on exams. The helpful self-assessments and the online version make this a greatly accessible resource for busy readers with limited time. This book will likely not satisfy those looking for more question-based review, but it will be sufficient as a reference for them. With the rapid pace with which medicine currently evolves, this is an appropriate update.

Doody’s Review Service Weighted Numerical Score: 92- 4 Stars