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The NBE curriculum list, reproduced exactly, plus the editions residents actually read in 2026 — with journals, a year-wise reading plan, and the references you will need for your thesis and exit practical.
Doing the DM instead? The same superspecialty is covered at DM Clinical Immunology & Rheumatology books.
These 5 titles are reproduced as they appear in the National Board of Examinations curriculum document for Rheumatology — spelling and abbreviations included. Treat it as the scope anchor, not as a shopping list.
Source: National Board of Examinations curriculum document for Rheumatology
The books most residents actually buy. These are the editions in circulation now, with a note on whether each is something you read through, keep as a reference, or open only for the viva.
Journal club and the recent-advances parts of the theory paper come from here. You do not need all of them — follow one Indian and two international titles properly.
Three years of superspecialty training goes faster than it sounds, and most of it is spent on the floor. The order below is what works for most DrNB Rheumatology residents.
Read Hochberg or the Oxford Textbook cover to cover with the clinic case mix, master joint examination from the Oxford Handbook, and learn ACR/EULAR criteria. Register the thesis.
Move to Firestein for depth, read Dubois during the lupus block and Cassidy and Petty during paediatric clinics, and train in MSK ultrasound and capillaroscopy.
Consolidate criteria and treatment recommendations, revise Firestein selectively, drill radiograph and immunology report spots, and practise timed short notes.
Protocol, methodology and reporting standards examiners expect you to have followed.
Cases, spotters and stations that come up again and again in the exit exam.
DrNB Rheumatology theory consists of three papers of 100 marks and three hours each in the NBE short-notes format, with 150/300 to pass, and a 300-mark practical taken after theory that combines clinical cases and/or OSCE with viva. Rheumatology practicals reward precise joint examination, correct application of ACR/EULAR classification criteria and confident interpretation of autoantibody panels and imaging.
The National Board of Examinations curriculum for Rheumatology lists 5 titles, beginning with Oxford Handbook of Rheumatology (Eds Hakim, Clunie and Haq. Published by Oxford University Press). The full list is reproduced on this page exactly as it is published.
Firestein and Kelley's Textbook of Rheumatology by Firestein, Budd, Gabriel, Koretzky, McInnes, O'Dell is the usual anchor. The definitive rheumatology reference and the basis for detailed theory answers.
DrNB Rheumatology is a superspecialty course taken after a broad-specialty MD, MS or DNB, so the reading is narrower and deeper. The broad-specialty texts are assumed knowledge by the time you start.
No. Most residents own two or three and use the department or library copy for the rest. That is exactly why printing selected chapters from a PDF works out cheaper than buying volumes you will open twice.
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