The NASPHGHAN Fellows Concise Review of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition

The NASPGHAN Fellows Concise Handbook of Pediatric Gastroenterology is a product of discussions that took place in 2009 between Ulysses B Li, MD, then president of NASPGHAN, and the NASPGHAN Fellows Committee. The lack of an up-to-date and comprehensive review that would assist fellows in preparing for certifying examinations was identified as an issue of importance to Pediatric GI, Hepatology and Nutrition fellows throughout North America. With the encouragement of Dr. Li and our publisher, Michael Wolf, PhD, Nestle Nutrition agreed to fund a printed version of what had originally been planned as an on-line resource. Thanks to Jose Saavedra, MD, Medical Director of Nestle USA for his support in the development of this new resource. We used the weighted topic list prepared by the American Board of Pediatric Gastroenterology Sub-board to guide the outline of the Handbook. Sections have been weighted as to length and emphasis to reflect the relative importance assigned to the topics by the Sub-board. To improve the Handbook s utility as a study guide, we have focused on factual content and have not included discussions of current controversies in diagnosis, therapy and causation - interesting as they may be. The number of images and color pictures in the Handbook has been limited because of time. It is vital to remember that ours is a visual sub-specialty. The complete pediatric gastroenterologist interprets radiographs, endoscopy images, physical findings and histology slides. Physicians preparing for exams should be sure to access other resources that fill this information void. If you find the book helpful in your practice or exam preparation, or have suggestions for enhancing the review, please let us know! Good reading! Christine Waasdorp Hurtado, MD, MSCS, FAAP and Judith M. Sondheimer, MD