OMT Review 3rd Edition

"This book has useful information for learning material that you will need to know in the classroom on on your boards.

That said, this book is riddled with errors. You have to be careful what you read, because there are typos on nearly every page.

The questions at the end of each chapter are moderately useful in asking about what you just read. However, the question blocks at the end of the book are atrociously bad. Many of the questions test your knowledge of concepts not presented in the book, so I suppose you can approach them as another learning opportunity, but as a question format they're not very helpful.

One example:
Supraventricular tachyarrhythmias that have been associated with hypersympathetic activity are most likely to arise from:
A. Right sided sympathetic fibers originating from T1-T4
B. Left sided sympathetic fibers originating from T2-T5
C. Left vagus nerve
(D and E are obviously wrong)

If you committed to memory the chart on page 104 (as you are supposed to for boards, see below) you will remember that the spinal cord level associated with the heart is T1-T5. There are 2 answer choices that fit that answer, and choice C is wrong because the vagus does parasympathetics. So you may be inclined to put B since the heart is, after all, on the left side. Well, you would be wrong, according to Savarese, as he explains in the answer explanation:

"Fibers originating on the right innervate the right heart and sinoatrial (SA) node...Left sided sympathetic fibers innervate the AV node." So the answer is A.

Very cute, but why didn't he include that information in the original text? He doesn't. Many of the questions end up this way, making for a frustrating exercise.

The one most important thing in this book, as regards to the board exams, is the chart on page 104 showing segmental sympathetic innervations. Since this chart is easily obtained from somewhere else, the value of buying this book is questionable at best. I suppose, looking back, that it might be worth it to get the book, if only just.

One thing going for this book is that it is a quick read; you can go through the whole thing at an easy pace in less than a week. Just heed my warnings about typos, errors, and the question blocks at the end are of dubious relevance."
~ Written on 2007-09-30

"This book was hyped up as the best, but I thought it was too elementary and too wordy with mistakes!"
~ Written on 2007-09-04

"This book is great, and all the 3d year medical students say it is a must have for the boards!"
~ Written on 2007-03-25

"I used this text extensively to review for Level 1, 2, and 3. With minimal exposure to OMT on rotations during 3rd and 4th years, I was able to still score 727, 715, and 694 respectively. If you want questions that will be representative of what you will see on the COMLEX, this is the book. The book is definitely not comprehensive, but it provides you 90% of the content you need to know for the COMLEX in a concise, easy 300+ page read. "
~ Written on 2007-02-22

"I read this book cover-to-cover three times and maxed the OMT and Osteopathic Principles sections of the COMLEX I. The COMLEX II felt equally good. The bottom line? This is a very easy to read and understand text that clarifies everything and removes all doubt. The perfect refresher for those who want to make sure they bag all the points they can get."
~ Written on 2001-03-23