Peer Review

Pediatric Dermatology

Material Detail page

Reviewed:: Oct 28, 2026 by Health Sciences

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Ratings

Overall Rating:

Content Quality:

Effectiveness:

Ease of Use:

Overview:

A manual covering the basics of treating common skin conditions in children, adolescents, and adults. This manual is meant to accompany rotation or a course in pediatric dermatology.

Type of Material:

Open (Access) Textbook

Recommended Uses:

This book is meant to be one of many resources used by medical practitioners in the care of patients with skin disease. A helpful Quick reference guide for novice health care students and providers.
It may be used by providers in their formal education.
Pre-reading or a reference during a pediatric or dermatology clinical rotation.
Self-study before clinic sessions
Preparation for case-based tutorials or lectures on pediatric skin disease
Individual self-assessment using the end-of-chapter quizzes

Technical Requirements:

Internet Access
Web Browser
PDF Reader

Identify Major Learning Goals:

After using this material, students will be able to -
Describe the basic structure and functions of the skin.
Describe skin findings using correct primary and secondary lesion morphology.
Recognize the presentation of common pediatric skin conditions, including those of the newborn.
Identify red-flag features that call for referral or further investigation.
Outline first-line management of common conditions.

Target Student Population:

Graduate Students and Professionals

Medical students on pediatric or dermatology rotations
Pediatric and family medicine residents
Nurse practitioner and physician assistant students
Practicing primary care clinicians

Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

Basic human anatomy, physiology, immunology, microbiology, and introductory pharmacology
Familiarity with common medical terminology

Content Quality

Rating:

Strengths:

Practicing pediatric dermatologists wrote the content.
Explanations are short and plain, and each condition uses a similar question structure, making the material easy to scan and compare.
The breadth of coverage across 16 chapters makes the book useful in several courses and settings.
The pictures are clear and clearly labeled to add definition and clarity for different dermatologic conditions.
The tables also improve readability and understanding of the material.
This quick-reference guide provides brief terms, images, and definitions of common dermatologic skin conditions.
The content is appropriate and follows a consistent format.
The images are clear and include hover-over image titles.
The differential diagnosis section helps novice practitioners.

Concerns:

The sampled pages contain no references or citations, so readers cannot trace clinical statements or treatment recommendations to their evidence base or to current guidelines.
Although a group of physicians compiled the work, supporting it with research studies would increase the content's rigor.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:

Strengths:

Each chapter ends with a few multiple-choice questions to highlight key facts, allowing learners to check their understanding.
The chapters include images and descriptions of common skin conditions, presented in simple text and using dermatology-related terms.
Terms are well-defined throughout the book.
Each condition fits on a single short page, with the key recognition features, triggers, and first-line management side by side, so a student can prepare for a clinic session in minutes.
The modular page structure makes it easy to assign individual topics.
The chapter-by-chapter layout could support a sequence of case-based tutorials.
The quizzes give students a quick self-check after each block.
This is not meant to be a comprehensive teaching tool but a supportive resource.

Concerns:

The book does not state learning objectives or what prior knowledge a reader needs. This makes it harder to align the material with course outcomes and assessments.
The license (CC BY-NC-ND) permits sharing but not adaptation. Instructors therefore cannot adapt it.
A glossary of terms would help with quick reference, although the chapters include terms in call-out boxes.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:

Strengths:

Images have empty alt text. Some chapter images include detailed captions directly below each image. Text also appears on hover, but it's not programmed as alt text; it's the image title.
Sequential headings are set up.
Text is selectable.
No tables with split cells.
Navigation is consistent and easy to use: forward and backward arrows, plus a table of contents.
The book is free, requires no login, and can be downloaded in several formats for offline use on phones or tablets in clinic.
The About this Book page explains the book's purpose and features and lists further online resources.

Concerns:

Image titles appear when you hover over the image, as the page instructs. Hover-only content can be hard to reach on touch devices and for keyboard users.
Alt-text is not programmed for images. Hover titles for images aren't programmed as alt-text, so screen readers may not read them. The images are programmed as titles. Some chapters do have captions directly below the images.

Other Issues and Comments:

Outstanding book on pediatric dermatology! Thank you for your scholarship!

The book is authored by Dr. Wingfield E. Rehmus, Dr. Jamie Phillips, Dr. Lisa Flegel, Dr. Saud Alobaida, and Hannah Podoaba, and is published by UBC Library.

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