Text Book on Pediatric Nutrition, Dr. Suraj Gupte, Editor, PeePee Publishers and Distributors (P) Ltd., New Delhi, First Edition 2006, Pages 566, Price Rs. 375/-.

This text book on Pediatric Nutrition is a very comprehensive and up-to-date book on childhood nutrition especially relevant for the readers of Indian subcontinent. The book has 69 state-of-the-art chapters with 85 distinguished contributors from India and abroad. Special feature of this book is incorporation of National and International re-commendations from NFI, IAP, NNF, BPNI, IBVFAN, WABA, ACASH, FOGSI, ICMR, AAP, IPA, UNICEF, WHO and Ministry of Women and Child Development. However, there are minor editing lacunae which is inevitable in a book of such magnitude like related to numbering of some tables and abrupt presentation of CDC Growth and Development charts at the end. Illustrations are very good and informative. The book with an eloquent foreword by Dr. Uday Bodhankar, Past President of IAP and International Council Member-SPR is easy reading and will serve pediatricians both from academic and practicing background for a long time to come.

Panna Choudhury,
Consultant Pediatrician,
Lok Nayak Hospital,
New Delhi 110 002, India.
E-mail: [email protected]

Clinical Competency Skills–A Reference Manual, Balu H. Athreya, Professor of Pediatrics, Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Medical College,Philadelphia,USA, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, USA. Online ‘e’ copies ($ 8.95) and paperback($16.95) at Booklocker.com Inc USA 2006.

A former editor of the Lancet called rheumatology ‘the last haven of a bedside clinician’. It is only appropriate then, that a book on clinical competency comes from a teacher who has spent his life studying rheumatology. Prof Athreya shares in this book over half a century of experience (from penicillin to PET scans) in listening / observing /deducing / decision making / communicating by the bedside thereby focusing on the spectrum of non-scientific issues that impinge on a clinicians work. Chapter 5–the one that deals with the mental processes at work when we approach a diagnosis and comes mid-way through the read is easily the icing on the cake.

This 11 chapter, 200 page book is studded with memorable quotes and case scenarios. These are bound to remind a reader about his own experiences during patient interviews. In the words of the author at the end of a consultation the ‘patient should feel better even when science cannot heal him’

The book is well referenced and with a reading list at the end of each chapter. It would have been smoother to read if the tables appeared in the text where they are referred to rather than at the end of each chapter and if the paper quality were slightly better. The author being a pediatrician, the case scenarios have a pediatric slant–else this book would well interest internists too.

All in all strongly recommended for your next weekend when in a pensive mood. Not to forget that the author is an alumnus of the Wadia Childrens Hospital, Mumbai.