I am asked this question frequently, so I have decided to put the answer in a Word document for all to see. In fact, I am going to use this as a blog on both my website and my Facebook page “Pediatric Echo Sonographers.”
It is best to buy this book off of my website, as you will get a much better bang for your buck. Primarily, you have access to 30 cme’s for free, which you can use anytime you wish just by taking the online test. The test consists of ten questions for each of the 30 chapters in the book (300 questions total). It is an open book test and you have 1 year to complete the test. You have three tries to pass each test, and the best score for each test is used to calculate your final score.
Hundreds of people have taken the test and not one person has failed! The test is very well designed, there are no trick questions, and the test is designed to make you learn the material rather than to use obscure, trick questions. (This is my biggest gripe against on line cme tests, they use obscure trick questions in an attempt to make you fail the test.) My goal is to use the questions to make you understand the material
Do not forget to look at the blog section for my website. There are currently over 70 blogs on congenital defects not found in the book, everything from hypertension in children to atherosclerosis in children, to genetic defects abnormalities to preeclampsia in pregnancy.
The difference between the two editions is huge…almost night and day. I have added many new illustrations to clear up chapters that I never really liked in the first edition, particularly AV Canal and Anomalous Venous Return. In the second edition, I delve much more deeply into embryology and the “segmental approach to pediatric heart disease.”
These two additions alone to the book are critical to understanding congenital heart defects. If one understands why and how these defects occur, then it possible to figure out any defect no matter how complex they may be, as opposed to trying to memorize all of these defects.
Furthermore, I have expanded the appendices, and added much more to the glossary, as well as streamlining the index. It is very easy to look up anything one wishes. The defects, surgeries and much of the embryology are all contained in each 2 page chapter, 30 chapters in all. The forward explains the “segmental approach” and the chapter on embryology is very well explained in easy to understand terminology.
The book is made of very durable, thick bond glossy paper, bound in a tough plastic spiral binding. This book will last you a very long time. (Some of the books I purchased for my research literally fell apart just upon opening them.)
Further, the book is printed in the USA (very patriotic) and shipped for free usually the next day.
If one has a good understanding of the “segmental approach” and embryology, then one may even be able to figure out the defect without ever having seen the defect on an ultrasound. Memorizing the defects is pointless, since these defects can occur in multiple ways with each other.
I consider my book to be head and shoulders above all the others (and I have purchased and read all the others.) Many of the others tend to be confusing and poorly organized, making it difficult to find what one is looking for easily. Some of these books are thick and bulky, whereas my book is very portable, organized, and condensed to just 120 pages.
I have eliminated the “techno-jargon” so that this book is ideal for patients, parents and particularly sonographers; many doctors buy this book for their patients since the full-color illustrations are easy to understand. I have even had several medical students write me to say that they have used my book to pass their pediatric boards. My current internal medicine doctor is one of them!
All in all, this book that includes over 100 full-color illustrations, 30 free, SDMS approved cme’s plus access to the blogs is a very good deal. The ©2017 means that this book is completely up-to-date and will be of service to you for many years to come.
I have been selling these books for nine years now, and I have yet to receive one negative review from anyone who has bought this book. Many schools out there buy books from us every year, and we have even shipped many books overseas.
I have lost track of all the people who have written to thank me, and told me that they passed the pediatric registry exam on the first try (this is the hardest of all the registries, and there is approximately a 50% failure rate on the first try.)
We have sold this book at many Mayo Clinic pediatric conferences, and have ended up selling books to a large percentage of the participants by the second day. My theory is that many people get so lost that they buy this book to make the material more understandable. Even the Mayo Clinic keeps copies of this book in their library.
So buy this book and I am confident that you will be very pleased.
Thank You