Preparation Books

This is a well researched and written aid for the student or practicioner who wishes to revue prior to taking a phlebotomist certification exam.

The question and answer format of this text is a familiar theme in medical training, and carries over very well into this written format. The questions are "right on" as to what is really important. I review it regularly.

I really love this book! It isn't a guide or textbook, it's just USMLE style questions, but it often helped me figure out what I was missing. I think the questions are great, and the explanations are extremely useful!

Reviewer: Sue Alpaugh, English teacher from New Jersey
I was very pleased with my students' responsiveness to Philip Geer's book Simon's Saga, and with its effectiveness as a tool for learning and recalling the meanings of advanced words.

Recently I've been trying out Picture These SAT Words! and its flashcards with my classes. The pictures and accompanying puns that integrate the sound links for word recall are very creative and funny. My students really like the zany ideas behind them, and also appreciate the rhythm and rhyme of the puns. Another excellent thing about this method is that the sound link itself comes as close as it possibly can to the actual sound of the word.

One favorite is the difficult word "iconoclastic." The sound link is Ike Kono's class.The picture shows a teacher, Mr. Ike Kono, writing on a blackboard. His students are seen being "iconoclastic" (attacking cherished traditions). One student is sticking pins into a small Santa Claus doll. Others are raising their hands to suggest the abolishment of schools, tests, and Thanksgiving. The pun below the picture reads: Iconoclastic students in Ike Kono's class.

Another example that really amuses my students is "soporific," another difficult word which means "marked by sleepiness." The sound link given is soap horrific. The picture shows an alert old man sitting in a bathtub scrubbing himself, surrounded by little devils and snakes rising up out of the water. On the floor in front of the tub is a discarded soap wrapper upon which is written "soap horrific." From the bathroom door two old ladies look in on this scene. One says "He used to fall asleep in the bath until he tried Soap Horrific." The pun below the picture reads: He isn't soporific when he uses Soap Horrific.

As with Simon's Saga, I would rate Picture These SAT Words! and Picture These SAT Words in a Flash very highly as advanced vocabulary building tools. The book teaches 300 important SAT words, and the box of flashcards is a selection of 200 from the book. Both are fun and both have their advantages. The book has excellent exercises after each unit that reinforce the sound link and ensure that the words are learned. The set of flashcards offers the added dimension of fun and games.

I guess this book is best one I've seen for its object .. many cases with answers and explanations .. this what I need ..

This book should be considered standard reference for individuals who make agricultural decisions based on laboratory analysis. The Plant Analysis Handbook provides comprehensive and understandable insight as to the individual elements and there relation to proper crop development, and it relates this information to the analysis and its apropriate use as a tool for intuitive and informed decition making. Steven Mullins

I saw these cards at the University of Toronto Bookstore 2 years ago and used it for the final exam. These are an excellent pocket-sized study cards (44 cards), which have the basic information for residents and medical students.

One of the best features is that each card has its own independent information e.g. 1 card only about delirium, or, 1 card about OCD, which makes it easy if you want to revise just one disorder.

Most of the cards start with the (Interview & Assessment), (Physical exam & lab test), (Treatment options including drug tables listing dosages and side effects), (Management principles & clinical course), and finally (Key diagnostic features).

The only disavantage in my opinion is the lack of spiral which can hold all the cards together, otherwise you might lose one or two cards during the ward round.

Contents of the cards include:
Psychiatric history & physical including neurologic exam, Mental Status exam & Mini mental state exam, DSM-IV axis diagnosis, Delirium, Dementia, Psychosis, Schizophrenia and related disorders, Antipsychotic drugs, Panic disorder, Anxiolytic drugs, Specific and social phobias, OCD, GAS, Post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD, Depression & Dysthymia & Adjustment disorder, Drugs used to treat depression, Bipolar I & II & Cyclothymia, Drugs used to treat mania, Anorexia & Bulimia, The suicidal patient, Insomnia & dyatime sleepiness, Somatization disorder, Psychogenic pain disorder, Drug-induced movement disorders, Smoking cessation, Alcohol addiction & abuse, Drus used for nicotine/ETOH withdrawal, Signs of intoxication & withdrawal, Personality disorders, Mental retardation & intelligence, The psychotherapies, Vocabulary definitions, biography, Scales (including: Yale-Brown OCD scale, Hamilton anxiety rating scale, Beck depression inventory, Hamilton depression scale, Epworth sleepiness scale, Madison scale, AIMS scale, Simpson-Angus rating scale, Fagerstrom tolerance test, CAGE questionnare, Brief MAST).

It is a simple book that approaches the topic in a Q&A format. It is great to review for CRIP or for the boards.

I had a chance to read both of the guides that I purchased and they are very high quality. I didn't notive many spelling/grammatical errors <8. Clear cut and informative statements. I recommend the 0522 guide to anyone that is required to take the Praxis II test.

When I first received the cards I was completely overwhelmed. The set was huge and they covered so much information that I was like "Im not going to read these notes." So I did my own research and put together my own notes. On March 15, 2008 I took the exam. It was so much info on the exam that I had not remotely covered. I flipped through the flash card system and there they were. If I would have used the flash card system and paid more attention to them I would have felt more comfy with the information on the test. I also wish that someone was selling them on amazon a little cheaper because $81.00 after tax, shipping and handling was a bit much for college students. So if you can get it cheaper than $73.00. Buy it.