First Aid for the Psychiatry Boards

First Aid for the Psychiatry Boards is an excellent book. It is very useful to help prepare for the psychiatry boards. It is easy to read and covers the topic well. By Gregg L. Friedman MD, Psychiatrist, Hallandale Beach, FL

This book is great for a high yield review of the majority of information on the boards. Most of the information in the book is accurate and is actually tested on the ABPN exam. I am a mom of a 2 year old and therefore had limited time to study. This book helped me focus on what was most important. It, however, needs to be supplemented with other more comprehensive texts like Kaplan and Sadock or even the Mass General Update for certain (very important) topics including Neuropsych testing, psychological theories/ theorists (Piaget, Erikson, Mahler...), social psychology, medicolegal aspects of psychiatry, learning models, statistics, and psychotherapies. There is nothing in this book about any of these topics. It is nice in that it has both a neuro and a psych section in one book, and makes reviewing Kaufman Neuro more manageable. I was able to read through the entire book a second time the day before the exam, which was helpful for a quick last minute review of pertinent facts.

Not too detailed, you will still need to do something like Beat the Boards, but a great supplement. Has little tips and hints. I did Beat the Boards, but towards the end, when I was tired of watching lectures and doing questions, this was a great way to taper off the studying and get some good tips. I would totally recommend it AS A SUPPLEMENT.

I found it poorly written and confusing. Admittedly I only went through a few chapters. There were some parts I found acceptable and useful, but the amount of confusing sections exceeded my threshold and these then made me decide not to spend any more time on the book. For instance, in the table about bipolar meds, after listing and describing standard treatments like lithium, depakote, and tegretol, there is an "others" section which included lamictal, topamax and gabapentin. Now this might lead one to believe that topamax and gabapentin are acceptable treatments, but in fact there is no evidence supporting their efficacy in bipolar disorder. As another example, the algorithm for diagnosing psychotic disorders, as well as the text that followed it, I found to not be helpful at all. It seems like the author attempted to paraphrase and re-organize DSM-IV criteria, but only succeeded in making things more complicated for the reader. Frankly I think it would be easier and more comprehensible to just look up the actual DSM-IV criteria yourself. And so on and so forth... This is a shame because I had a lot of faith in the First Aid series (USMLE Step 1 and 2 editions from several years ago) until this. The text needs a lot of work to be useful (and at least not harmful) to any degree.

Excellent review book for the ABPN Part 1. It doesn't have any information regarding neuropsych testing, child development and psychotherapies. I used Mass General Board Preparation Book for those topics. I only reviewed neurology using this book and I passed with 80%. I also used other questions books such as the Kaplan and Sadock's Study guide and Psychiatry Test preparation and review manual. Overall, great book and easy to read.

I ordered 3 books to study for Part I of the ABPN: 1) this First Aid book, 2) Kaufman's Clinical Neuro for Psychiatrists, and 3) the Spiegel and Kenny Psychiatry Test Prep book. I also did old PRITE exams. I passed the exam on first attempt and couldn't have done it without Kaufman or Spiegel/Kenny, but I did not think this First Aid volume helped me prepare well. Truthfully, in the end, I feel my time would have been better spent reviewing/looking up answers to old PRITE questions. I must stress that having used the First Aid Series for my USMLE Steps 1-3, I was always a fan of the series and was expecting much more from this book as a result. But I found it did not deliver on a number of levels. It skips over basic yet important facts in certain sections (e.g., doesn't even mention in the Rett syndrome section what gene is implicated, or that it predominantly affects females, etc.--it is missing some simple details you will need to pass the exam). Then on the flip side, it goes into excessive, minute detail in the Neuroanatomy section (to the point where I couldn't use it any more as a study guide because it was too detailed and overwhelming), which is not an enormous focus on the boards. It almost seemed as if the writers hadn't taken the actual ABPN Part I board exam. I actually ended up spending more time than I would have liked (more time than anyone has while prepping for boards) trying to figure out the missing information in First Aid or clarifying with supplemental info (by searching other texts), that I ultimately wished I hadn't even purchased this book as it was not money well spent. The text was disappointing for a First Aid book, and it is obvious that significant effort went into creating this book, but it just seemed as if the authors/publishers either erred by trying to be too broad and thus missing essential facts, or by being too focused and going overboard. In the end, it simply was not a high yield text for me.

Did not find it helpful as half the book is dedicated to neurology which does not serve the Canadian residents purpose.