Short Answer Questions for the MRCOphth Part 1, by

Nathaniel Knox Cartwright

Petros Carvounis,

ISBN: 1 85775 884 6, £21.95, 160pp

My first impressions upon reading this book were that it is concise and accessible, as revision aids should be. It has a clear layout with a question followed immediately by the answer, so no flipping back and forth through the book. The answers are set out in bullet points and written in straightforward language. They are well subdivided with ample detail and would be easy to learn direct from the book. A strong point of the text is that it covers all the small tricky subjects, such as Immunology, Genetics, and Statistics very well. These are the topics where it is hard to judge the amount of revision necessary, as the prospect of reading a whole text on immunology can be daunting to say the least. The larger subjects of Anatomy and Pharmacology are also covered. It is clear the authors have actually used past papers to base their book on, which is of great help since questions can often be repeated in future exams.

This book certainly fills a gap in the literature, as I am not aware of any others that specifically address the Short Answer Paper of the exam. Although delighted to be asked to review the book, I cannot help feeling aggrieved that it was not available while I was sitting the exam myself! Highly recommended.