What is Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Pediatrics, 27th Edition?
Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Pediatrics, 27th Edition (McGraw Hill, 2025) is a clinical reference covering pediatric care from the newborn period through adolescence. Its 46 chapters span preventive care, emergencies, organ systems, infections, and laboratory reference intervals. It suits medical students, residents, pediatricians, and other child health professionals.
Introduction
Pediatric practice asks a lot of a single reference book. You need newborn care, developmental screening, vaccines, emergencies, chronic disease, and antimicrobial dosing within reach, ideally in one place. Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Pediatrics 27th Edition is built around that need.
The book is a broad clinical reference for child and adolescent health. It opens with quality and safety of care, then moves through the newborn infant, development and behavior, adolescent medicine, and every major organ system. It closes with infectious disease, travel medicine, and laboratory reference intervals.
If you are a medical student on a pediatrics rotation, a resident preparing for in-hospital and clinic work, or a practicing clinician who wants a dependable desk reference, this review will help you decide whether the book fits your needs. Its main specialty is general pediatrics, with substantial coverage of pediatric subspecialty topics.
Book Overview
|
Detail |
Information |
|
Full
title |
Current Diagnosis & Treatment:
Pediatrics |
|
Edition |
27th Edition |
|
Authors/Editors |
Chapter authors are credited at the
start of each chapter. The overall editors are not listed in the pages
reviewed, so that information is unavailable here. |
|
Publisher |
McGraw Hill |
|
Publication
year |
2025 |
|
Medical
specialty |
Pediatrics (general pediatrics and
pediatric subspecialties) |
|
Number
of chapters |
46 |
|
Intended
audience |
Medical students, residents,
pediatricians, primary care clinicians, and other child health professionals |
What This Book Covers
The book is organized as a chapter-by-chapter clinical reference, and its scope is wide. Here is how the content breaks down.
Quality, safety, and the foundations of pediatric care
Chapter 1 sets the tone by treating quality and safety as part of everyday pediatric practice. It discusses the Institute of Medicine's landmark reports, the six domains of health care quality (safe, effective, efficient, timely, patient and family centered, and equitable), and the Quadruple Aim. It also describes the major national bodies that shape quality expectations, including CMS, the National Quality Forum, Leapfrog, AHRQ, specialty certification boards, and The Joint Commission.
Newborns, development, and adolescence
The early chapters cover the newborn infant, child development and behavior, adolescence, adolescent substance use disorders, and eating disorders. These chapters matter for well-child care and for the psychosocial side of pediatrics.
Mental health, child protection, and office practice
The book includes chapters on child and adolescent psychiatric disorders and psychosocial aspects of pediatrics, child abuse and neglect, ambulatory and office pediatrics, and immunization. Normal childhood nutrition and its disorders follow.
Emergencies, toxicology, and critical care
Separate chapters address emergencies and injuries, pediatric toxicology, and critical care. For residents on call or in the emergency department, this group is likely to be among the most frequently opened.
Organ systems and subspecialties
Most of the book follows an organ-system approach: skin, eye, oral medicine and dentistry, ear, respiratory tract and mediastinum, cardiovascular diseases, gastrointestinal tract, liver and pancreas, fluid and electrolytes, kidney and urinary tract, and neurologic and muscular disorders. It continues with orthopedics, sports medicine, rehabilitation medicine, rheumatic diseases, hematologic disorders, neoplastic disease, and pain management with pediatric palliative and end-of-life care.
Immunology, endocrinology, metabolism, and genetics
Further chapters cover immunodeficiency, endocrine disorders, diabetes mellitus, inborn errors of metabolism, genetics and dysmorphology, and allergic disorders.
Infectious disease and laboratory reference
The final section includes antimicrobial therapy, viral and rickettsial infections, HIV infection, bacterial and spirochetal infections, parasitic and mycotic infections, sexually transmitted infections, and travel medicine. The book ends with chemistry and hematology reference intervals.
Key Features
- Broad coverage in one volume: 46 chapters running from newborn care to travel medicine and laboratory values.
- Organ-system structure: Easy to navigate when you already know the system involved.
- Quality and safety framing: Opens with a chapter on advancing quality and safety, an unusual and useful starting point for a clinical reference.
- Attention to adolescent health: Dedicated chapters on adolescence, substance use disorders, and eating disorders.
- Acute care content: Chapters on emergencies and injuries, toxicology, and critical care.
- Infectious disease depth: Multiple chapters on antimicrobial therapy and on viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal infections.
- Reference intervals: A closing chapter of chemistry and hematology reference intervals for quick lookup.
- Referenced chapters: Chapters end with reference lists, which helps readers who want to go deeper.
Who Should Read This Book
Medical students: The organ-system layout works well alongside a pediatrics clerkship, and the early chapters on newborns and development build a solid base.
Residents and interns: The emergency, toxicology, critical care, and infectious disease chapters are practical for ward and clinic work.
Specialists and practicing pediatricians: The book works as a desk reference for topics outside your own subspecialty.
Nurses: Chapters on immunization, nutrition, ambulatory care, and pain management are relevant to bedside and clinic practice.
Exam candidates: The book is a broad review of pediatric topics. Readers should confirm with their own program whether it matches the format of a particular exam.
Why This Book is Useful
Clinical relevance
The book is organized around the conditions and problems that child health professionals actually meet, from neonatal care and developmental concerns to emergencies and chronic disease.
Evidence-based content
Chapter 1 explicitly places evidence-based medicine among the new imperatives facing clinicians, alongside safety and cost awareness. Chapters include reference lists with citations, which support verification and further reading.
Practical applications
The mix of office pediatrics, emergency care, critical care, and subspecialty chapters makes the book useful across different clinical settings.
Board exam usefulness
The scope is broad enough to serve as a general review of pediatrics. The book does not present itself as a question bank, so pairing it with practice questions is sensible.
Learning efficiency
A single reference covering newborn through adolescent care, plus laboratory intervals at the end, reduces the need to hunt through multiple texts for routine questions.
Table of Contents Overview
The book contains 46 chapters:
- Advancing the Quality & Safety of Care
- The Newborn Infant
- Child Development & Behavior
- Adolescence
- Adolescent Substance Use Disorders
- Eating Disorders
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Disorders & Psychosocial Aspects of Pediatrics
- Child Abuse & Neglect
- Ambulatory & Office Pediatrics
- Immunization
- Normal Childhood Nutrition & Its Disorders
- Emergencies & Injuries
- Pediatric Toxicology
- Critical Care
- Skin
- Eye
- Oral Medicine & Dentistry
- Ear
- Respiratory Tract & Mediastinum
- Cardiovascular Diseases
- Gastrointestinal Tract
- Liver & Pancreas
- Fluid & Electrolytes
- Kidney & Urinary Tract
- Neurologic & Muscular Disorders
- Orthopedics
- Sports Medicine
- Rehabilitation Medicine
- Rheumatic Diseases
- Hematologic Disorders
- Neoplastic Disease
- Pain Management & Pediatric Palliative & End-of-Life Care
- Immunodeficiency
- Endocrine Disorders
- Diabetes Mellitus
- Inborn Errors of Metabolism
- Genetics & Dysmorphology
- Allergic Disorders
- Antimicrobial Therapy
- Infections: Viral & Rickettsial
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infection
- Infections: Bacterial & Spirochetal
- Infections: Parasitic & Mycotic
- Sexually Transmitted Infections
- Travel Medicine
- Chemistry & Hematology Reference Intervals
Strengths of The Book
The most obvious strength is breadth. Very few single volumes cover so many pediatric domains while keeping a consistent chapter structure.
The inclusion of quality and safety at the very start reflects how modern pediatric practice is evaluated and organized. It gives trainees vocabulary they will meet in hospital committees, accreditation, and certification.
Attention to adolescent medicine, mental health, and child protection acknowledges that pediatric care extends beyond physical disease.
Finally, the closing chapters on antimicrobial therapy, infections, and laboratory intervals give the book real day-to-day utility on the wards and in clinic.
Limitations
- Breadth over depth: As a general reference, it cannot match a dedicated subspecialty text such as a full cardiology or oncology reference.
- Editor details: The overall editors are not identifiable in the pages reviewed, so authorship at the book level is unavailable here.
- Not a question bank: The book does not appear to be built around practice questions for exam preparation.
- Time-sensitive material: Topics such as health policy, immunization schedules, and antimicrobial choices change. Readers should cross-check current guidelines before making clinical decisions.
- Size: With 46 chapters, it is a large reference and is better used for lookup than for cover-to-cover reading.
Comparison With Similar Books
The book sits among the major general pediatrics references. Compared with large, comprehensive pediatric textbooks, it follows a more practical, clinically oriented, chapter-by-chapter structure that suits quick lookup. Compared with shorter pocket handbooks, it gives considerably more detail and context. Compared with subspecialty monographs, it trades depth for range.
The best approach is to use it as a primary general reference and add a subspecialty text or question bank when a particular need arises. This comparison is general in nature, since the book itself does not compare itself with other titles.
FAQs
It is a pediatric clinical reference published by McGraw Hill in 2025. It has 46 chapters covering newborn care, development, adolescence, emergencies, organ systems, infections, and laboratory reference intervals.
It is aimed at medical students, residents, pediatricians, primary care clinicians, and other health professionals who care for children and adolescents.
The book has 46 chapters, beginning with Advancing the Quality & Safety of Care and ending with Chemistry & Hematology Reference Intervals.
Yes. It includes chapters on adolescence, adolescent substance use disorders, and eating disorders, along with child and adolescent psychiatric disorders.
Yes. Chapters cover antimicrobial therapy, viral and rickettsial infections, HIV infection, bacterial and spirochetal infections, parasitic and mycotic infections, sexually transmitted infections, and travel medicine.
It offers broad pediatric coverage that can support general review. It does not present itself as a question bank, so many candidates will want to add practice questions.
Yes. The final chapter provides chemistry and hematology reference intervals.
The overall editors are not listed in the pages reviewed, so that information is unavailable here. Individual chapter authors are named at the start of each chapter.
Conclusion
Current Diagnosis & Treatment: Pediatrics 27th Edition is a broad, practical reference for anyone who cares for children and adolescents. Its strengths are scope, a clear organ-system structure, and a modern emphasis on quality and safety, adolescent health, and infectious disease.
It works best as a first-line reference for rotations, ward work, clinic, and general review. Readers needing subspecialty depth or exam-style practice will want to pair it with other materials. For medical students, residents, and practicing clinicians, it earns a place on the shelf as a dependable pediatric companion.