The top 10 Psychiatry Board Review Books
When it comes to studying for ABPN Psychiatry Boards, most people agree that doing thousands of psychiatry practice questions is the KEY to passing. Our web-based psychiatry board review question bank is a great option for this! Besides doing questions, here are some good options for board review books:
1. Kaplan and Sadock Synopsis of Psychiatry
This text really boils down all of the major key concepts in Psychiatry and Neurology that are needed to pass the PRITE and the boards. It is a larger book and could take a good few months to page through.
Again, a large text but this is comprehensive. Another great, broad textbook for psychiatry board review.
3. Massachusetts General Hospital Psychiatry Update
This book is a great quick review for any subject and setting. Great to have as a quick review before rounds or after reading a larger text like Kaplan and Sadock or the APA books.
4. The APA Publishing Board Review Guide
Much larger than the Mass General Psychiatry Guide and a bit more cumbersome. Just overall not as user friendly, especially if you are looking for high-yield psychiatry review material.
5. Current Diagnosis and Treatment
A good comprehensive review, shorter than Kaplan and Sadock and the APA book but is dense. Good coverage of all the topics.
6. Manual of Clinical Psychopharmacology
This is a great psychopharmacology book, especially for board review. It is more high-yield than other textbooks of psychopharmacology.
I just love this series. The information is a bit dated (2001), however much of the core information is unchanged. It is a good quick resource for review before rounds or lectures.
8. First Aid for the Psychiatry Boards
If you are familiar with the Step books made by First Aid, then you should be familiar with the format of this book. It seems a bit busy and over inclusive to be a great review.
9. Clinical Neurology for Psychiatrists
The “gold standard” crash course for psychiatrists struggling to recall all of the general neurology they were supposed to learn on their 2-3 month rotations as an intern. This book is an easy read.
10. Psychiatry Board Review: Pearls of Wisdom
The nice thing about the Pearls book compared to First Aid is that the layout is much less busy and seems much more focused. It is a less cohesive guide, perhaps a bit more suited for quick tidbits of time between patients .
