MEDIA REVIEWS

INTRODUCTION TO BEDSIDE ULTRASOUND, VOLUMES 1 AND 2By Matt Dawson, Mike Mallin.Lexington, KY: Emergency Ultrasound Solutions, 2012;$30 via iTunes or Inkling.com (with 100% going towardsinnovation scholarship) or free at http://www.ultrasoundpodcast.com/2013/09/scott-weingart-emcrit-ivc-ultrasoundalso-free-ibooks-alland-also-foamed-innovation-scholarship/).

Over the past two decades the Internet has dramaticallyaltered the way we access and review information. Neverbefore have so much data been so readily and rapidlyavailable. While residents and students are swimming inresources, seasoned physicians are challenged to adaptto new methods of learning. Textbooks have become lessof a primary resource. In the realm of emergency ultra-sound, this may be for good reason. Introduction to Bed-side Ultrasound, a recently released iBook by MichaelMallin and Matthew Dawson, takes a multimediaapproach to ultrasound instruction and is demonstrativeof the changing face of medical education.Flipping through pages on the iPad, this iBook begs

the question: did we really learn ultrasound from a papertextbook? Consider how this book changes the learningprocess for an ultrasound novice just being introducedto the aorta exam. Similar to other available textbooks,the chapter starts with a brief description, clinical indica-tions, relevant anatomy, and scanning techniquesbutthe accompanying images are dynamic. Photos can beswiped or zoomed, ultrasound clips play with a tap ofthe nger, and video clips show subtle changes in trans-ducer manipulation. References at the end of the chapterlink directly to each article. It is less like reading a text-book and more like a quick lesson at the bedside. If moreinformation or examples are needed, the chapter pointsthe reader in the right direction.Volume 1 does not cover all the basic applications of

bedside ultrasound, but instead covers both beginnerand advanced topicsa breadth too wide for the brandnew sonographer to take in all at once. Not surpris-ingly, simple topics like aorta and renal ultrasound areconcisely and thoroughly explained, while more difcultareas like cardiac ultrasound will leave novices lookingto other resources to augment their new knowledgebase. Advanced topics like nerve blocks and musculo-skeletal ultrasound are included, as novices are ofteninterested in learning about more advanced topicsfairly soon after they have covered the basics.Volume 2 includes the basic topics that Volume 1 left

out (right upper quadrant, deep vein thrombosis) aswell as more advanced topics (medical school integra-tion, prehospital care). Buyer beware that as an iBookgoes, this one will take up quite a bit of space on youriPad, due to the imbedded content. Inkling.com allowsyou to view this content on any device.While the iBook is a very easy and informative read,

it is important to note that it is not a comprehensive text

of emergency ultrasound. It is not a reference book ifyou are looking for the full gamut of possible ultrasoundndings. It would benet from a beginning how-to-use-this-book section, as it starts off jumping right intothe FAST exam. Most readers with basic knowledge ofultrasound will have no problem with this format, butfor the beginner, reading some of the more basic-con-cept chapters rst may be helpful (physics, probes, arti-facts). Novices may want to hold off on some of theadvanced chapters until they have mastered the basicsof bedside ultrasound.The chapters are written by a range of experts in the

eld, and some chapters present the clinical context of theexam better than others. Similarly, even the basic anat-omy behind each exam is explained in variable depth.Some of the more advanced topics may be too

advanced or are covered too casually to add meaning-fully to most physicians arsenals. However, they willpique interest and provide a good starting point, andwhen the sonographer is ready to start doing intrasca-lene blocks and looking for diastolic heart failure, theresources are just a click away.So who is the appropriate audience for this book?

Because of the wide breadth of topics, it would be use-ful for students, residents, and clinicians with a widerange of skill levels. The novice would need to focus onthe basics rst, but judging by our own experienceswith resident education, would be ready for the moreadvanced chapters quickly. The recently graduated phy-sician would nd much of the advanced teaching useful,and similarly, the ultrasound fellow would nd it a valu-able guide to the wide range of applications of bedsideultrasound.Finally, the question for the educator: should this

iBook simply augment the textbooks our residents andcolleagues currently use to learn bedside ultrasound, orshould it replace those texts? Although hardcover booksare more easily shared and passed from resident to res-ident, they also rapidly become outdated, have gray-scale still images, and explain procedures in wordsrather than videos. Time will likely show that the iBookor online textbook is the new paradigm, and the supple-mentation will be from other multimedia onlineresources. If a picture is worth a thousand words, whatis the value of a textbook with imbedded video clips?doi: 10.1111/acem.12277

Elizabeth Schoenfeld, MD(Elizschoen@gmail.com)Gavin Budhram, MDTala Elia, MDDivision of Emergency UltrasoundBaystate Medical CenterTufts University School of MedicineSpringeld, MA

Supervising Editor: Peter Sokolove, MD.

PII ISSN 1069-6563583 E1 2013 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine ISSN 1069-6563 E1