Nuclear Medicine Technology Study Guide: A Technologist's Review for Passing Board Exams

A. Moniuszko and D. Patel

New York, NY: Springer, 2011, 304 pages, $39.95

This softback review book, Nuclear Medicine Technology Study Guide: A Technologist's Review for Passing Board Exams, is a wealth of information. It is designed to develop readers’ test-taking confidence, test their knowledge of nuclear medicine, and provide resources for further study.

The expansion of test-taking confidence is 2-fold. The first chapter contains strategies for taking multiple-choice tests, including approaches to reducing test anxiety. In addition, the difficulty level of the questions escalates as the reader works through the book. The 3 chapters of questions are appropriate for someone preparing to take board examinations. Subjects include radiation safety, instrumentation, radiopharmacy, quality control, and procedures, including both diagnostic and therapy. The questions are written as a true review and do not attempt to introduce new material.

Chapters 2 through 4 contain a total of 660 multiple-choice questions with 4 discriminators, which directly parallel one of the nuclear medicine certification board examinations. As the chapter numbers progress, so does the question difficulty. The end of each chapter contains the question number, the correct answer, a short explanation of why that choice is the correct answer, and the resource, including the page number on which the correct answer is located. There are numerous black and white illustrations and pictures of scans to emphasize the real-world test-taking effect. Unfortunately, some reference materials used to clarify correct responses were not from the most recent editions of the textbooks.

Three appendices and an index make locating resources a breeze. Appendix A resembles flash cards, containing 48 charts and important math formulas in a pattern that is organized and well thought out. Appendix B is an extensive alphabetic listing of abbreviations used in nuclear medicine, followed by another list of symbols used in medical charting. The final appendix contains useful Web links, and as typical with Web links, many were broken. The good news is that the title of the resource is provided, and with a few clicks on a search, most of the Web sources can be found.

This book was written with the reader's success in mind. For under $40.00, this is a fun book to have in any nuclear medicine department for a little midday trivia and is an excellent investment for the student preparing for board examinations.