The goal of this course is to provide a broad, but in-depth review of pediatrics for those preparing for the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) certification examination, those undergoing ABP re-certification, and pediatricians and family practitioners seeking an intensive refresher course in pediatrics.

The program is designed to maximize performance on the American Board of Pediatrics examination. The focus of the Board examination, historically, has been on diagnosis. Two key elements to making a successful diagnosis are pattern recognition and knowledge of links and associations. An appreciation of these elements is essential for maximal performance on the Board examination, and they are emphasized in this program.

Pattern recognition involves fitting a set of symptoms, physical signs, and/or laboratory values to the pattern of a particular disease. For example, cough of ten days' duration, of increasing intensity and occurring in paroxysms, accompanied by coryza, with little or no fever, in a 7-week-old, fits the pattern of pertussis.

Links and associations represent key features of diseases that are necessary to suspect or make the diagnosis. In the example above, one might recognize the diagnosis, yet success in answering the question could depend on recall of the link that, with pertussis, the white blood count is typically elevated, with a predominance of lymphocytes.