Product Description

The Insider's Guide to Acing the Neurology Boards-- Written by Physicians Who Passed!

Apply the proven First Aid formula for Neurology Board success!

First Aid for the Neurology Boards is a unique guide for success on the Neurology Boards, in-training exams, and recertification.You will find hundreds of frequently-tested facts based on feedback from students who just passed the exam along with mini-cases essential for oral board preparation.The books is written by recent test-takers and reviewed by top faculty so you know you are studying the most up-to-date, relevant information possible.

Features

• Hundreds of high-yield facts, mnenomics, clinical images, and summary tables help you ace the boards and in-service exams
• Covers must-know neurology AND psychiatry topics in one complete volume
• Written by recent, successful test-takers and reviewed by faculty so you know you're studying the most relevant, up-to-date material possible
• Integrated mini-cases highlight frequently tested scenarios and classic patient presentations
• Great for in-service and board exams and the perfect refresher before recertification

The Content You Need to Excel on the Boards:
Guide to the ABPN Examination,Neurology Topics:Neuroanatomy, Neuropharmacology, Neuroimmunology, Neurodegenerative Disorders, Headache and Pain, Neuro-oncology, Neuro-ophthalomology and Neuro-otology, Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Neurological Infections, Neuromuscular Disease, Pediatric Neurology and Neurogenetics, Seizures, Epilepsy, and Sleep Disorders, Psychiatry Topics: Substance Abuse and Dependence, Delirium, Anxiety Disorders, Somatoform Disorders, Bipolar Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Primary Psychotic Disorders.

Customer Reviews (1)

Worth it
Very concise and easy read. Has almost all the info needed for the board, and the rite. easy to get through all the chapters. along with geyer's review book, all the non-clinical stuff was covered. would buy again. i borrowed beattheboards manual from a friend and first aid covered the topics well itself. ... Read more

Product Description
The American College of Emergency Physicians has created an essential and comprehensive first aid manual with treatments and techniques explained, step-by-step and illustrated with hundreds of photographs to show how to perform them correctly. Featuring important life-saving procedures, including rescue breathing, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, treatment for a blocked airway, and other life-threatening situations, the book also provides detailed anatomical information and offers treatments for people of any age in any situation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Great manual for the price
Very nice, well done. What a find! Each page is easy to read and understand.Good pictures and descriptions. I highly recommend for every household! Great to have on hand for emergency/survival/first aid. My only problem (and I dare call it that) is each 'emergency' situation falls short with even the tiniest of follow through care. It simply states 'call 911 or seek med. care'...the end. And that is fair and a superb idea but, I was hoping for a bit more. Still looking for a companion book(s) on the subject. You will not be disappointed with this one though. A great teaching tool for kids as well. Highly recommend.

Thorough and informative
I bought this book as part of my first aid and disaster preparation library.It is small enough to include in most first aid kits (about 8"x6" and 1/2" thick.It has instructions for emergencies ranging from how to make a sling to what to do if your kid loses a tooth!It also has pretty good information for kids so I feel that my additional purchase of

http://www.amazon.com/First-Aid-Babies-Children-Fast/dp/0756619319/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1265350693&sr=8-9

was unnecessary.The only complaint I have is that the CPR information is not up to date.It lists 15 compressions with 2 breaths and the latest resuscitation guidelines lists 30 compressions and 2 breaths.

I supplement the photos and instructions in this manual with videos from youtube.Between these two resources I am quickly relearning all the first aid basics that I have long since forgotten!

seems great
lots of pictures and from what i've read it seems pretty good. nothing negative to say.

A must have for every household
This book is a must have. It covers virtually anything that can go wrong and outlines what to do in a very clear manner. I bought this book to suplement my family's earthquake kit. It's organized very well and can be easily refrenced in an emergency situation with it's simple language and demonstration photos. It packs a wealth of information into a small book and after skimming through it I know I picked the right book for my family. Get this book you won't regret it!!

Great Reference!
I was really thankful for this book when I had to play camp nurse for a week, and am not especially trained in all things first aid.When should you send someone to the hospital?It's there.What can you do for those emergency personnel to be arriving soon?It's there.Many pictures for those visual people and covers most first aid scenarios that could happen from the head to the toe.It shows how to use what you have in most cases, but also what is helpful to have if you are in preparation mode.It's easy to refer to with color coded pages, and short, easy to read instructions on what to do, but also gives information on what might be happening and how to tell the difference between a strain and a sprain for example.From sprains and abrasions to heart attacks and heatstrokes, it is a very helpful tool for the medically trained and for those who are not trained in the medical field.I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
Know exactly what to do for all scuba diving first aid situations.

High-tech laser printing on hard vinyl sheets make this pocket-sized "how to" guide virtually indestructible and completely portable. Waterproof. Dirtproof. You can even mark up pages with a grease pencil then wipe clean. Spiral binding allows you to fully open the book anywhere and lay it flat. Fully illustrated with easy-to-follow instructions. Index-tabbed pages allow you to quickly access the information you need. "What you really need to know, when you really need it!"

Tabbed sections include: Emergency Assistance Plan, Dive Injury Information Form, Safety Assessment, Injured Diver Assessment, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), Bleeding, Physical Assessment, Field Neurological Exam, Positioning of the Injured Diver, Oxygen First Aid, Bone and Joint Injuries, Carbon Monoxide Toxicity, Decompression Illness (DCI), Subcutaneous Emphysema/Mediastinal Emphysema/Pneumothorax, Seafood Poisoning, Heart Attack/Cardiac Arrest, Seizures, Spinal Injuries, Squeeze/Barotrauma, Seasickness (Motion Sickness), Oxygen Toxicity, Allergic Reactions, Thermal Injuries and Marine Animal Injuries.

Pocket Guides are jam-packed with critical information from field experts. World renowned Pocket Guides have had an international almost cult-like following for over ten years.

Virtually indestructible and completely indispensable, Pocket Guides are perfect for enthusiasts and gift giving. Join the experts and carry Pocket Guides. Select from 28 Sports/Hobbies, Fishing and Emergency Assistance titles.

POCKET GUIDES: The Biggest Little Books You'll Ever Need. Finally, you can take it with you! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

Brazil
Excelente proposta da DAN. Sempre levo nos meus mergulhos (200+). Esse é o tipo de material que esperamos nunca usar. Mas em caso de emergência pode fazer muita diferença.

Good tool. One I hope I'll never use
It is smaller than I thought, therefore really easy to carry on your BC. It is sturdy and really easy to read and follow. The index makes finding the information you need really easy. I'll give it a read once every diving season and pack it along with the BC, hoping I'll never have to reach for it.

Not worth the money paid.
This is basically a very expensive simple first aid guide.If this book only cost $5.00 or less it would be worth the money.This book goes in depth about assessment, which is great, but it does not tell you what to do about items that are found abnormal in the assessment.The information in this book is very vague.I would recommend a better book.This book does fit nicely into a log book binder.

informative but very small
Outstanding product produced.I was just taken back on how small the book was.the picture was just looked bigger than it is.Other than that it has great resources.

Covers it all
This little book pretty much covers anything that can happen to a diver, and is specific to diving injuries from drowning to the bends to stings and bites. The best thing about this book, aside from the material, is that it is completely made of plastic and is impervious to water so you don't have to worry about taking it on deck with you or even carrying it in your BCD pocket.

If you forgot the information in that CPR class you took years ago this will refresh your memory. ... Read more

Product Description

Zero-in on exactly what you must know to pass the OMM section of the COMLEX with this unique student-to-student guide

"As a test preparation book, this is a distillation of the OMM concepts and techniques that are considered pertinent to the examination. This is a very worthy idea primarily because of the limited number of comprehensive textbooks in OMM....This is an important book for schools of osteopathic medicine. 3 Stars."--Doody's Review Service

Written by an exceptional team of former teaching fellows at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine, First Aid for the® COMLEX presents high-yield bulleted information on OMM techniques with corresponding mnemonics, illustrations, and tables to reinforce must-know information. This is the only review book to include frequently-tested cases for the new COMLEX and is the perfect companion to First Aid for the® USMLE Step 1, insuring the most complete exam preparation possible.

Customer Reviews (11)

DO NOT RECOMMEND
This book is terrible, I highly recommend the Savarese (green) book to review OMT concepts.This book takes easy to explain concepts and makes them much more difficult to understand.It also covers the exact same stuff from the green book but tries to explain it terribly.I bought it hoping to study both books but I became frustrated with trying to study it.It looks like it copies concepts directly from the green book and the Pikeville OMT book.Do not waste your money.

Decent review for the COMLEX
It's about time First Aid made something for the COMLEX. While it is not all inclusive, it helped. I used 3 sources and did pretty well on the COMLEX:

First Aid COMLEX
Savarese (THE green book)
Went through the COMQUEST Med questions twice

Each of these three contributed in their own unique way to a successful score. I scored a 679 so I'm pretty happy with this combination and will probably use the same exact method to study for COMLEX Level III.

GREAT PURCHASE
The product was shipped in excellent condition just as described, and I received it in a timely manner.

Not as good as people say it is.
This book is okay but I prefer another OMT review book by Sagresse(Can't spell his name right)

MUST HAVE
First Aid for the Comlex is a must have for all three steps.
It is not a full review of the whole exam but a wonderful review of OMM.
With all of the different colleges teaching different techniques it was great to have a standardized book for the exams.
Much more precious than the"Green Book".
Great to see the comlex is starting to have review books like the USMLE has had for years.
Great Job! ... Read more

Product Description
The only Obstetrics & Gynecology Board review written by residents for residents!

4 STAR DOODY'S REVIEW!
"I would highly recommend this review to clinicians and residents studying for the obstetrics/gynecology boards as well as for the obstetrics/gynecology resident CREOG exams."--Doody's Review Service

From the authors of First Aid for the® USMLE Step 1, this is the book time-strapped residents can rely on to ace the obstetrics and gynecology board exam.This is the only board review book written by residents for residents and is perfect for certification and re-certification.

Following the popular First Aid series format, this high-yield review covers everything you must know to pass the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology board certification exam and in-service exam. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Very insufficient
Don't be fooled !
Although the title of this book is "OBGYN for the boards", I'd rather rename it "OBGYN for 1st year med students". The information is very insufficient for a 4th (USA) or 5th year (Canada) resident preparing for the boards.
Don't waste your money....keep it for your vacations !
... Read more

Product Description
75 illustrations 5 x 8

A sound foundation in first aid skills, this standard reference emphasizes prevention and treatment of common wilderness accidents and illnesses. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Wilderness First Aid
This is the guide I was looking for. It has follow through for most of it and not so much a temporary fix until medical personel take over. I feel I got a good price considering the (as new) condition and it was out of print. I got it quite fast. Over all I give the seller and item 5 stars.

An effective refresher tool!
This is a solid, easy-to-read refresher on all major wilderness emergencies. This is not a standalone medical training work. It is great as a refresher, just before heading out! Some illustrations and simplistic explanations of treatment options make this valuable for nearly anyone, regardless of their prior exposure to medical care knowledge.

Your best backcontry companion!
Even with some professional first aid training under my belt, this book gave me the confidence to trust in my abilities (in all types of situations).A must have on any backcountry trip!

Fabulous!
I have read different books on the topic of wilderness first aid, but this book is the best ever. Although hands on training can not replace any book, this book is a course by it self and will definitly help you through any course on the matter of wilderness first aid.
If you are serious about wilderness survival, this book will be of great value to you.
The level of this book is easy to read and very easy to understand for anybody. It is very obvious that they know what they are talking about.

Excellent intermediate/advanced resource
I read this after completing the American Red Cross Standard First Aid and Adult CPR courses.This book assumes some basic first-aid knowledge and takes you to the next step with a deeper level of material, specificallyfocused on wilderness first aid techniques.Traditional first aid coursesand materials like those taught by ARC assume an urban setting whereparamedics and hospitals are minutes away.This book is geared toward thecare of patients where such help is hours or days away.It coverseffective assessment, treatment and evacuation techniques, as well asassessing urgency of evacuation.Included is information on the frequencyof various kinds of illness/injuries in the wilderness based upon years ofexperience at NOLS.In addition to the standard subjects like shock, softtissue injuries, broken bones, venomous bites & stings, etc., itdiscusses diagnosis of difficult abdominal symptoms, gender-specificillnesses/injuries, and stress on the rescuer.The illustrations are clearand the text is highly readable.I recommend this book to any seriousoutdoor enthusiast or leader. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

Very fine small first aid manual
Backcountry First Aid is an excellent choice for a small manual or compendium about first aid treatments when you are in the outdoors. It is four inches by five and a half, and 125 pages long, so it will fit in a first aid kit or bag. The back cover has an "Action Index" that refers you to the pages for 47 different conditions or accidents. Topics like Bites and Stings, hypothermia, shock, water disinfection, etc, etc. The topics are covered very well - succinct and as comprehensive as you could hope for in a portable manual.

Of course it pays to read the manual before heading out, and in fact is valuable for anyone who wants to be ready for an accident or sudden sickness, whether in the wilderness, driving to work, or in your backyard.

Highly recommended.

Good Resource
This is a good resource for first aid.It is small enough that you can take it in your pack with out worrying about space and weight.It is a little dated.It follows with NOLS Wilderness First Responder (textbook) by the same author. ... Read more

Product Description
College costs are continuing to rise, with a four-year private school averaging $22,218 and a four-year public school averaging $5,836 for the 2006-07 school year. The good news is that more than $134 billion in financial aid is available. The Scholarship & Financial Aid Handbook will show you how to earmark some of that money for your college education, ensuring that you will be able to afford a higher education. In this book, you will learn about the different types of scholarships, including those based on academics, awards, honors, leadership, test scores, extracurricular activities, majors, community service, volunteer work, essays, financial aid, minority status, even some unusual ones. You will learn how to determine your eligibility for these scholarships, as well as how to enlist the help of your parents, how to recognize and avoid scholarship scams, how to create a resume, how to ask and who to ask for letters of recommendation, how to ace interviews with scholarship committees, and how to prepare for your interview. Additionally, you will discover where to look for scholarships, from your school to local organizations, businesses, and online. You will be provided with tips on filling out applications and tips for writing essays, as well as how to alter your essays for multiple uses. Also included are possible essay topics, sample interview questions, and information on state grants, FAFSA, and work study. The Scholarship & Financial Aid Handbook is intended to be a guide for students, parents, and school personnel to assist students in finding and obtaining scholarships. The author uses her years of experience and exhaustive research to help you benefit from scholarships. Even if you do not have above average grades, participate in lots of extracurricular activities, or have an abundance of extracurricular activities, you can find money to go to college. Just read this book and apply the techniques found within. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Short & sweet
You don't want a long review, and this isn't one. I have twin 17yr olds and I need all the help I can get. The book is packed with info, concise and to the point, and anything but boring. If you want what the title promises, buy the damned book.

Happy to disagree
Upon reading this book, I must completely disagree with the angry review written by `dogboy'. This book has wonderful tips on how to find scholarships and is a great assistance with the agonizing process of applying for them. I even found the article written on Debra Lipphardt in the Hispanic Outlook magazine (January 2009) and totally agree with the article written by Gary. M. Stern; "Professors who live in ivory towers removed from the reality of most urban, minority and working-class students write many financial aid books.But Debra Lipphardt is connected to public high school students." For me this book is connected to students (and parents) that do not know where to start or how to go about winning scholarships. I found it extremely helpful.

A Book for Simpletons Written by One
I found this book to be a complete waste of time and money.The author seems to have never graduated high school, based on her lack of writing skills.I was shocked by her poor grammar and elementary-school writing style.If your child is reading at a fifth-grade level and knows ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about applying for college, then this book may add some value.Otherwise, skip it and go for something written with intelligence for the intelligent.Try Tim Higgins' "Pay for College Without Sacrificing Your Retirement."That book was fabulously helpful to me.

The Scholarship & Financial Aid Solution
This book has a wealth of information written by someone with a passion for helping others.Her success in aquiring scholarships for students is truly amazing... a must read!

Thanks for the help!
This is a great straight to the point book, gives good advice, and helps students cut through the nonsense. I have taken the advice from this book especially when it can to formatting my resume, as I have so many activities and volunteer project I wanted to be sure to include all the proper information while not being overwhelming. The resume example Lipphardt's book provides makes it real and easy to follow. Needless to say, I have done very well applying and receiving scholarships. Thanks Scholarship & Financial Aid Solutions".
... Read more

Product Description
An A-to-Z guide to using herbs to treat everything from ant bites to wounds. Create a natural first aid kit. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

the best book
Natural First Aid will help you to care for others with the natural remedies you have on hand. The key is to stay calm, move quickly, and know what to do.If you need to arm yourself with information forboth emergency and non-emergency situations this is the book. After readingit I have come to the conclusion that it is one of those indispensablereference books everyone should have.It's definitely a book to have inthe First Aid kit when camping.Brigitte Mars also tells us the mostimportant items to stock in a natural first-aid kit for your car,backpack, and yes ladies even in your handbag.

Do you know thatcayenne pepper can stop bleeding? Or that garlic can alleviate atoothache? Or that honey can soothe a burn?

I was impressed withNATURAL FIRST AID. It's easy to read and understand and there is nothingextreme about the natural remedies. I highly recommend it to everyone. ... Read more

Product Description
AIDS: Science and Society, Sixth Edition provides readers with the most current information available on the biology of the virus and the impact it has on society. The Sixth Edition of this best-selling text provides readers with a solid overview of AIDS from both a biomedical and a psychosocial perspective. The authors cover the molecular and cellular aspects of the virus and the immune system's response to it, and examine epidemiology and its role in understanding HIV and AIDS. The use of understandable vocabulary and clear illustrations, along with updated biomedical data and the most current statistics on AIDS available, makes AIDS: Science and Society an essential resource for students, researchers, and general readers. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Best book i bought online.
This was one of several times i have bought a book online, before i have been very disppointed and upset for the quality of the books. This book looked brand new and it was worth half of what they were selling it in school. The book is very intereted, detailed, and worth buying to read. I had to buy it for my class but if i would of ever heard it was good to educate yourself, i probably would of bought it before. Hope this helps. Also the book shipped on time and with good packaging.

Excellent!
AIDS Fundamentals Science and Society is like reading about the background and history information in a "Dummies Guide to HIV/AIDS" book.The book is informative and incredibly simplistic, it's about as easy as it gets learning about such a complex subject.From taking the class at UC Irvine, I know that it definitely relates to the lectures from professor Hung Fan... The book is easier to understand than his lecture material!

A book that is continuously updated
An amazing book.I came to know it by being a student in the class that the authors teach at UC Irvine--AIDS Fundamentals (by far the most informative and interesting class I have ever taken). I read the second edition, originally--the great thing about this book is that it is consistantly updated textbook--if you read each edition as it appears, you keep up with the developments. This is a book to be read over and over.

Great for anyone!
This book is a must-have for anyone who works in health education or is a practitioner of any sort.Fan et al have created an easy-to-read yet detailed account of HIV and AIDS from the views of the epidemiologist, virologist, health care worker, psychologist, sociologist, and anyone else interested in the topic.I first encountered this book in 1999 as a student enrolled in a course on HIV and it's impact on our society.I now use it in teaching County sponsored HIV/STD workshops and mini courses to youth ages 13-19 and to professors and students at my university. ... Read more

Product Description

The Student-to-Student, Step-by-Step Guide to Radiology Clerkship Success

This survival guide for the radiology wards teaches you how to read and present normal and abnormal x-rays, CTs, and MRIs for the most commonly seen diseases and disorders. You'll find 150 radiologic images divided by modality, clear guidelines on when to order a specific modality and how to read the results, and illustrations of classic results of important conditions.

• Discover med students’ “secret weapon”
• Impress on the wards and succeed in the clerkships
• Save time with high-yield topics, important radiology images, and pocket-ready reminders
• The first book to describe how to read radiographic films for the most commonly seen disorders
• Apply the First Aid formula for clerkship success! ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (25)

poorly written with no insight
This is merely the work of one person capitalizing on the efforts of others for his own personal gain. it is not only a complete cut and paste of existing work, but is strewn with made up terms and concepts the writer attempts to imply as uniqeu and insightful. you would be better off NEVER purchasong anything from this writer, who in all honesty dosnt even deserve the title of author. There are a number of other excellent works by Meredith and Ayittey which make even attempting to read this book painful at best and regretful at times.

Credible, Pointed, Relevant, Useful, Essential
I read in groups in order to avoid being "captured" or overly-swayed by any single point of view.The other books on Africa that I will be reviewing this week-end include:
Dead Aid: Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is a Better Way for Africa
The Challenge for Africa
Africa Unchained: The Blueprint for Africa's Future

Up front the author stresses that since 1975 Africa has been in a downward spiral, ultimately losing HALF of its foreign market for African goods and services, a $70 billion a year plus loss that no amount of foreign aid can supplant.

The corruption of the leaders and the complacency of the West in accepting that corruption is a recurring theme.If the USA does not stop supporting dictators and embracing corruption as part of the "status quo" then no amount of good will or aid will suffice.

The author emphasizes the pettiness and egotism of African leaders, another recurring theme distinct from their corruption.He praises Nelson Mandela, Leopold Senghor of Senegal, and Julius Nyerere of Tanzania as wise men and models.

He also emphasizes the need to eliminate monopolies, and I have for myself a note, "need to map monopolies--governmental and corporate as well as religious and tribal--down to the district level."

Opening quote (p 7):

"...most not ... aware that Africa has steadily lost markets by its own mismanagement; that most countries--including supposedly "capitalist" ones like the Ivory Coast--have been anti-business; that African family loyalty and fatalism have been more destructive than tribalism; that African leaders and intellectuals play intentionally on Western guilt; that even Africa's "new" leaders are indifferent to public opinion and key issues like AIDS; and that, in recent decades, Africans have probably been more cruel to each other than anyone else has been."

The author is also optimistic, observing as so many have the richness of Africa in talent, resources, and tradition.

In the author's view, aid works best when the government and society are already moderately effective, and a new approach for Africa might start with Uganda, Tanzania, Mozambique [this was written before the recent implosion of that country], Ghana, and Mail.He praises Botswana and Mauritius as success stories of lasting importance.I am reminded that four countries have 50% of Africa's population: Nigeria, Congo (CD), Ethiopia, and South Africa.

Practical impediments to African develop identified by the author include a lack of deep-water ports (to which I would add multiple land-locked countries); a failure to achieve unity as a whole and even unity at the sub-region level--he spends time on the collapse of Central Africa.

Highlights from this book, which "tells a story" in a very credible way and also improves my appreciation for the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, both of which I have considered part of the problem for over a decade:

+Home-grown corruption & despotism is the leading cause of decline.

+ The greatest need is for open debate, a free and informative press, a full disclosure to the public of public information about problems, programs, incoming aid funds, and the contributions of outsiders as well as the negative impact of insiders.On page 55 the author is eloquent in condemning "the ignorance, uncertainty, dishonesty, and insecurity that rule African lives."

+Core issues include the importance of primary education, family planning, giving women access to credit, fighting corruption, and opening internal markets for farmers and workers, not just business.

+A full chapter discusses culture, corruption, and correctness, and here I learn more about the connection between the family tradition and corruption, the fatalism and acceptance of hardship, the community culture that discourages individual imitative (which is successful is drained by family claims for "sharing), and so on.I am especially impressed by the author's urgency in condemning Western acceptance of continued corruption at all levels of any government.

+I learn that racism is alive and well and that hypocrisy runs deep in Africa.

+Only one aid program has truly worked in the author's view, the fight against river blindness.

+If the World Bank annual budget for Africa were given directly to the poor, it would last ten days (this is one of the reasons I believe we must empower the poor with cell phones and access to information so they can create infinite wealth on their own).

After case studies of Tanzania, Ivory Coast, and Central Africa (region), the author concludes with ten recommendations that I find gripping in their practical value:

01Introduce mechanisms for tracing and recovering public funds [i.e. from Switzerland, Caymans]

02Require all Heads of State, Ministers, and Senior Officials to open their bank accounts to public scrutiny

03Cut direct aid to individual countries in half

04Focus direct aid on four to five countries that are serious about reducing poverty

05Require all countries to hold internationally-supervised elections

06Promote other aspects of democracy including a free press and an independent judiciary

07Supervise the running Africa's schools and HIV/AIDS program

08Establish citizen review groups to oversee government policy and agreements

09Put more emphasis on infrastructure and regional links

10Merge the World Bank, IMF, and United Nations Development Programme

As something of a bottom line, I conclude from this book that decades of Western tolerance for massive corruption and ineffectiveness at the leadership level in Africa, combined with aid generosity lacking in practical direction has allowed Africa to rot from within.

A final quote from the last page (230):

"Only those familiar with the human beauty, potential, and suffering of the continent will dare hope for breakthroughs in the next ten years.More than others, they know that only Africans can break the cycle of terror, poverty, and mediocrity that keeps them subdued."

Other books I recommend with this one:
Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict
Breaking the Real Axis of Evil: How to Oust the World's Last Dictators by 2025
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It
The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid: Eradicating Poverty Through Profits (Wharton School Publishing Paperbacks)
A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility--Report of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change
The leadership of civilization building: Administrative and civilization theory, symbolic dialogue, and citizen skills for the 21st century
How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas, Updated Edition

My take-away:Africa is an Information Operations (IO) challenge; create a regional Range of Needs table at the household level that the one billion rich can plug into while also harmonizing the giving and the investments of organizations, and Africa can be the first Smart Continent that uses information as a substitute for violence, corruption, time, and space.

Personal insight
Robert Calderisi is someone who has lived in Africa and worked at the World Bank.He has the personal/professional experience to speak as an expert on the subject of Africa's political and economic problems.I think it's about time someone speaks to Africa's problems honestly so that hopefully Africa will finally be able to get on board with all the other developing nations.Africa is a diamond in the rough and it's time for her brilliance to finally shine...

Enjoyed the honesty
I recently had a client that moved here from Nigeria after living in various places in Africa for 12 years. She had some very eye opening things to say about the state of things on that continent, and it got me curious to know more. I enjoyed the honesty, though I see where it might raise eyebrows. His experiences come across vividly and he shares many personal and specific anecdotes to illustrate his points. Africa seems a little less mysterious, if not a little more contradictory. A good read.

"The Trouble with AFRICANS" would be more like it....
For Robert Calderisi, experienced development economist and ex-World Bank official, Africans would be a lot better off today if it weren't for their backward culture. "The Trouble with Africa" presents Calderisi's argument that the continent's scourges of poverty, corruption and mismanagement are of Africans' own making; "Africa's handicaps are inbred," he writes bluntly (143). The author believes aspects of what he calls "the African character" (e.g. fatalism, undue deference to authority and an ethic favoring collective distribution over private accumulation of wealth) must be corrected before African societies can develop. In making this case, he presents himself as a hard-headed realist doling out uncomfortable truths which other Africa specialists are too politically correct to utter--even if they secretly recognize they're true.

Many Westerners who've worked in Africa will recognize the cultural characteristics Calderisi describes; as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer I know them well. The problem I have with his approach is that it's based on an outdated concept of culture as a set of essential traits, and it confuses cause with effect. Culture is not some timeless essence passed down unchanged from the ancestors, but a dynamic system constantly being reshaped by politics, economics and history. As an anthropologist I'm uncomfortable with the author's reference to "the African character"--not because I'm concerned it might offend someone, but because a vast scientific literature accumulated over the last half century has shown the danger of viewing culture as an independent variable. Another ex-World Bank economist (Paul Collier in "The Botton Billion") convincingly outlines structural and historical explanations for Africa's plight which have nothing to do with culture and aren't even specific to Africa. Calderisi, alas, completely ignores such explanations.

"The Trouble with Africa" tries to account for the near-universal failure of Western development policies in Africa over the last four decades using little more than personal vignettes and anecdotal evidence; its author seems uninterested in rethinking the assumptions that underlay those failed policies. To apply a metaphor from my own profession, Calderisi is like a teacher whose students have all flunked the exam. Such a teacher should at least stop to wonder, "What's wrong with my approach? Where did my instruction fall short?" Calderisi, in contrast, asks only "What's wrong with them? Why don't they get it?" As long as he keeps focusing on these questions and grounding his answers in antiquated culturalist fallacies, he is not the hard-headed realist he thinks he is. ... Read more

Product Description
Foreign aid is now a $100bn business and is expanding more rapidly today than it has for a generation. But does it work? Indeed, is it needed at all?

Other attempts to answer these important questions have been dominated by a focus on the impact of official aid provided by governments. But today possibly as much as 30 percent of aid is provided by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and over 10 percent is provided as emergency assistance.

In this first-ever attempt to provide an overall assessment of aid, Roger Riddell presents a rigorous but highly readable account of aid, warts and all. oes Foreign Aid Really Work? sets out the evidence and exposes the instances where aid has failed and explains why. The book also examines the way that politics distorts aid, and disentangles the moral and ethical assumptions that lie behind the belief that aid does good. The book concludes by detailing the practical ways that aid needs to change if it is to be the effective force for good that its providers claim it is. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Excellent Review of Development Literature!
Riddell has done an excellent job to update his earlier work - Foreign Aid Reconsidered (a seminal work) to include the massive changes in aid that have occurred in the past 20 years, especially the shift to NGOs.

His depth of knowledge, both firsthand and theoretical, of development is clear from the very start. It is clearly a very, very well researched book.

The question he aims to answer is obviously huge, and he makes it quite clear that there are no yes/no answers. He deftly avoids over-generalizing, but does an incredible job to work with the limited and biased data that exists on development.

The greatest strength of the book is really as a massive, 500 page literature review. He is able to sum up, in a very readable way, the major debates on development's efficacy. In the end, he presents a very well thought out normative set of suggestions on how to fix many of the problems he highlights about aid - a refreshing piece of concrete steps (which he admits readily are only the framework, and subject to much debate). Yet I think it's very important to point out that, despite his catchy title, this is not your run of the mill, "How to End Poverty in 10 Years With MicroHydro" book. This is a scholarly work that looks at all aspects of aid, even though it seems aimed at a wider audience. There are no easy answers, but Riddell's analysis is penetrating.

Overall, its an excellent piece of critical development scholarship, and comes highly recommended for anyone interested or involved in development, from NGOs to academia. He plows through the numerous, unfounded myths that go both for and against aid through detailed reasoning and evidence. He avoids the trivial, surface level problems and goes straight to the systemic contradictions of aid.

If I was to sum up the message of the book in a few words - and answer the question of the title - it would be that, to Riddell, aid is working, but not nearly as well as it could.
... Read more

Product Description

The high-yield questions you need to prepare for the USMLE Step 2 CK!

Prepare to ace the USMLE Step 2 CK with First Aid Q&A for the USMLE Step 2 CK. The new second edition of this student-proven book features 1000 board-style questions along with easy to navigate, high-yield explanations of correct and incorrect answers. You'll also find hundreds of valuable images, diagrams, and tables. The book is correlated with First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK and First Aid Cases for the USMLE Step 2 CK for the ultimate review package!

Customer Reviews (5)

Hasn't saved our lives yet, but still comes in useful
We have three or four first aid books on our cruising boat and usually look at them all. On any given topic one seems to have more to say than the others. Still, this is a good one and I would buy it again.

good reference
Excellent book. It might actually contain what I need to know if an accident happens while single handing.compliments Merck manual (home edition).

Great Book, Quick Delivery, Thanks
I was very pleasantly surprised with how nice the book is, how quickly I recieved it and how cheap it was. Thanks for the great service!

Serious First Aid for Far Offshore
Good hands on emergency medical text which could save a life. Details handling much more serious crises than typical first aid books.Have your physician check it out, however, and recommend appropriate updated meds.The author's list is out of date and in some cases is no longer appropriate.

Excellent book that can easily save your life
I'm very happy to be the first reviewer of this, but a little suprised since it means there are a lot of sailors who don't know what's in this great book.

Levinson and Eastman (both physicians and active sailors) did a great job laying out serious medical problems in a way that even I can understand them. Also, they give readable scenarios that help put these accidents in context. A good example is the opening chapter, which goes into a story of a helmsman who wasn't paying close enough attention, and from an accidental jibe, suffered a head impact from the boom, leaving him out cold on the side deck.

Situations like that are real, and the authors have certainly laid out sound and solid advice for keeping your crew (and yourself) safe. The only reason I'm dinging a star from them is because I wish it could have been a bit bigger to cover even more. ... Read more

Product Description
Words as Medicine
What to say to your children to get them through the bumps, bruises, and crises of childhood.

Falling off a bike, having a bad dream, getting stitches...sometimes a kiss isn't enough to make it all better. But what you say to your child in those first moments of pain or fear could make all the difference.

Using techniques the authors have taught to doctors, nurses, and first responders, Verbal First Aid(tm) explains how words can be used to promote healing from burns, bruises, nightmares, asthma attacks, and more. It provides scripts and tips on how to short-circuit traumatic memories, sometimes just by speaking a sentence or two.

This revolutionary book gives parents the responses they need to immediately stabilize their children's emotions. And these methods will build a foundation of confidence and inner strength that will help kids heal at the deepest level, and weather whatever hardships and difficulties they encounter throughout life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

The way to start life right...
As parents, we would like to create a perfect world for our children filled with good health, beauty, peace and lots of fun!But, life happens and our perfect world is shattered.What then?How we cope determines if an event is perceived as a part of life or a catastrophe.This book is a must for parents and health care workers.It helps to guide their responses to the events in life that are unavoidable.Through the proven techniques of Verbal First Aid and positive reinforcement, a seemingly tragic event can be turned into an experience that is understood and accepted... thus leading to healing in a real and immediate way.

Verbal First Aid
A treasure chest of knowledge and love shared in this wonderfully written book! Much thought has been gifted in these written works to help and sustain our most precious resource, our children. Verbal First Aid should be in every familys home.

pediatrician/ parent
Thirty years of parenting and pediatric practice could not have been more beautifully stated than in Verbal First Aide.All those times you know you said the wrong thing could have been avoided had the straight-forward, easily learned techniques described by Prager and Costa been practiced.A must read for every parent, health provider, or curious "child".Love, attention., and compassion will certain make our worlds better places.

David Springer, MD MPH
Seattle, Washington

Makes me a stronger parent
I have to admit that on the whole I am someone who avoids parenting manuals. I just feel like there is so much conflicting information that I could drive myself absolutely crazy instead of following my instincts. But lately I've experienced some of those sleepless nights - lying awake worrying that I said the wrong thing to one of my children after a nightmare, a fall or any other stressful situation. As an adult, it is easy to forget and therefore dismiss how traumatic these things can be when you're small. I am so grateful to have come across this book. I feel it has given me the confidence that comes with knowing I have the tools to handle the inevitable hardships all children face. This book teaches you to respond in ways that not only promote healing but also help to make your children stronger. I believe it is such an important read for all parents!

A useful Mommy manual
Okay, as a Mom I've always been keenly aware that sometimes I say the right thing to my daughter and sometimes I say the very wrong thing. I love this book! It is such an amazing guide for how to speak to your child during any number of stressful situations. This has always been the missing piece for me and no one teaches you how to speak to your child in a way that will really serve them in the short term and in the long term. This book really is a must read! ... Read more

Product Description
Job Aids and Performance Support in the Workplace gives us everything we’ve ever wanted to know about these invaluable tools and techniques!  Allison Rossett and Lisa Schafer have created a comprehensive, pragmatic, and very readable guide.  The authors don’t exaggerate when they claim it’s ‘knowledge everywhere.’ ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Allison continues to improve my results
Got the book---I LOVE IT! .....Better yet, I am using it!

I have referred the book to several other associates at Bank of America.I find great value in the concepts of Planners and
Sidekicks. I am leading a project in the deployment of a number of substantial changes to the Bank's Desk top Sales Tool platform.In discussion with the Design and Development Team,I have introduced the idea of developing planner and sidekick performance support tools as part of the Learning Solution.


Allison, you continue to engage and improve my results.

Thanks!

Jenelle Lozano
GCIB Learning & Organizational Effectiveness

Great examples! Love this book.
Purchased and read your new book. Great examples! My favorite new learning was about the sweat-band job aids used by football teams. I'm trying to figure out how to use those as a training aid for new non-English speaking house cleaners . . . Will really help me sell my ideas to Sr. Management

Next I'll order a copy of your prior Job Aids book just to have it in my library. Thanks for gathering the examples and sharing.

Laura Handrick, Director Training Development, The Maids International ... Read more

Product Description
In 1978 Susan Sontag wrote Illness as Metaphor, a classic work described by Newsweek as "one of the most liberating books of its time." A cancer patient herself when she was writing the book, Sontag shows how the metaphors and myths surrounding certain illnesses, especially cancer, add greatly to the suffering of patients and often inhibit them from seeking proper treatment. By demystifying the fantasies surrounding cancer, Sontag shows cancer for what it is--just a disease. Cancer, she argues, is not a curse, not a punishment, certainly not an embarrassment and, it is highly curable, if good treatment is followed.

Almost a decade later, with the outbreak of a new, stigmatized disease replete with mystifications and punitive metaphors, Sontag wrote a sequel to Illness as Metaphor, extending the argument of the earlier book to the AIDS pandemic.

These two essays now published together, Illness as Metaphor and AIDS and Its Metaphors, have been translated into many languages and continue to have an enormous influence on the thinking of medical professionals and, above all, on the lives of many thousands of patients and caregivers.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Complementary readings
There are already many good reviews so I will only suggest reading the following books in addition to Sontag's, all of them relevant for those interested in the social history of ideas: 1) "A Terrible Beauty: The People and Ideas That Shaped the Modern Mind - A History" by Peter Watson; 2) "The passions and the interests" by Albert Hirschman; 3) "The mind and the market: capitalism in Western thought" by Jerry Muller; 4) "The proper study of mankind" by Isaiah Berlin; and 4) "Citizens to Lords: A Social History of Western Political Thought from Antiquity to the Middle Ages" by Ellen Meiksins Wood.

excellent book
I got this book because of an art object that was placed at the lobby of UConn. The artist explanation of the theme - illness - mentioned this book. It looks at disease from a philosophical point of view, or from a social point of view, in a very good writing from this famous author.

Correct on metaphor; incorrect on mind-body link and HIV causation
Sontag is spot-on in her analysis of metaphors of AIDS: the military metaphors, the latency metaphors, and the plague metaphors. Her observations are keen and insightful in this regard. It is troubling then, that she seems unwilling to follow her own analysis and that she dismisses "psychological" aspects of disease causation in favor of a purely materialist understanding. Does she not realise that the "de-interpretation" of illness metaphors is itself a psychological act that affects patients? How does she reconcile her dismissal of psychological states with the fact that her very own writings on illness and AIDS are themselves psychological and therapeutic?

Sontag forgets that metaphor itself is a social-psychological phenomenon. If she had kept this fact in mind, she might have arrived at the conclusion that the basic medical and scientific paradigm of AIDS is itself flawed and kept alive solely through metaphor. At many points, she appears to be on the cusp of piercing the HIV mythology, pointing out discrepancies and exposing flaws in the science. For example, she recognizes the use of the latency period as a way of holding people in a perpetual state of "just haven't gotten AIDS...yet". She observes that the "AIDS tests" test for antibody, not virus, and that objectively healthy people are claimed to be ill based solely on infection (what would later be codified as "HIV disease".) She plainly points out the distinctions between "AIDS" in Africa vs. North America and Europe, and rightly discerns the racist motives behind an "African origin" of AIDS, yet she accepts the racist scientific wisdom (which has not been borne out in 20 years) that the African situation is the "true" AIDS situation and that North American and European AIDS will explode into the heterosexual population.

It's too bad she wasn't willing to follow through on her train of thought. That a thinker of her intellectual acumen was able to come so close to grasping the essence of the HIV mythology, and then, at the last minute, get derailed and capitulate to conventional wisdom, is a testament to the enormous power of group-fantasy.

Poor Susan
Susan Sontag disparaged the idea that dis-eases are caused by mental states, and her resolutely taking this position illustrates the great and willing blindness of this talented but dis-eased anti-white racist. She had such a beautiful basket of blossoms to offer, and between their leaves and stems crawled poisonous snakes she could not free herself of because she wasn't willing to look in her own basket. Unfortunately her work is forever tainted with her hatred.Sad -

this book misses the point
i think Susan Sontag is missing the political nature of illness.as far as i'm concerned there is a culture of blaming the victim in our society that is not limited to medicine.the victim is blamed because the victim has little power.the ill person is blamed because the tobacco companies are powerful, the oil companies are powerful, the sugar companies are powerful, the retail chains are powerful, the manufacturers are powerful, the health insurance companies are powerful and the governments are powerful.they have armies of lawyers to defend them; they have armies of doctors, scientists, and psychiatrists to fabricate pseudo-scientific evidence to support their self interest, but the victim is powerless to defend themselves against blame.this isn't about language, it's about politics of money and power.language is only one of the tools that the powerful use to blame the ill, and victims more generally. ... Read more

Product Description
For 20 years, Don't Miss Out has been the most widely used, authoritative book available on financing a college education. Written from a consumer's point of view, the 20th edition presents everything students and their parents must know. The book lists hundreds of scholarship, grant, and loan sources, and gives insider tips on personal finance techniques. Charts, tables & worksheets. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A comprehensive guide.
The authors have been putting out annual editions of this guide for more than 20 years. (They need to, the rules keep changing.) It's a classic, focused more on the brass tacks of maximizing the financial aid your teengets. This is the one to read when your child is a junior or senior, andthere are all those financial aid forms to fill out. ... Read more

Product Description
CHAPTER I mutual aid among animals Struggle for existence.-Mutual Aid-a law of Nature and chief factor of progressive evolution.--Invertebrates.-Ants and Bees.- Birds : Hunting and fishing associations.-Sociability.-Mutual protection among small birds,-Cranes; parrots. The conception of struggle for existence as a factor of evolution, introduced into science by Darwin and Wallace, has permitted us to embrace an immensely-wide range of phenomena in one single generalization, which soon became the very basis of our philosophical, biological, and sociological speculations. An immense variety of facts :-adaptations of function and structure of organic beings to their surroundings ; physiological and anatomical evolution ; intellectual progress, and moral development itself, which we formerly used to explain by so many different causes, were embodied by Darwin in one general conception. We understood them as continued endeavours-as a struggle against adverse circumstances-for such a deve

Table of Contents

PASS; Introduction vii; CHAPTER I; mutual aid among animals; Struggle for existence-Mutual Aid-a law of Nature and chief factor of progressive evolution-Invertebrates-Ants and bees--Birds : Hunting and fishing associations-Sociability-Mutual protection among small birds-Cranes; parrots i; CHAPTER II; mutual aid among animals {continued); Migrations of birds-Breeding associations-Autumn societies- Mammals : small number of unsociable species-Hunting associations of wolves, Hons, etc-Societies of rodents ; of ruminants ; of monkeys-Mutual Aid in the struggle for life-Darwin's arguments to prove the struggle for life within the species-Natural checks to over-multiplication-Supposed extermination of intermediate links- Elimination of competition in Nature 32; CHAPTER III; mutual aid among savages; Supposed war of each against all-Tribal origin of human society -Late appearance of the separate family-Bushmen, Hottento ... Read more