First Aid 2012 vs 2011

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So the first pre-orders are arriving for FA 2012.

If you used 2011 and have 2012, what are your thoughts on needing to buy the 2012 book?

I've been using 2011 since the beginning of M2, annotated it, and I don't know if its worth buying the 2012 book, plus I'm a poor medical student

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

I'm still using my 2010 1st aid , if i could buy insurance to cover loss or damage , i would do so .. lol

I am wondering the same thing...my 2011 is annotated with lots of good information. I don't know if I want to switch books or not.

Any more opinions would be appreciated.

I could use thoughts on this as well. Annotated a lot into 2011 and taking step 1 in March...is it worth upgrading?

Thanks!

This was difficult for me but I'm staying with FA 2011 because the errata is out. I don't want to go through the effort of rewriting everything in FA 2012 either. So basically my other med school friends who buy the book will show me what the differences are (I doubt there will be many) & I'll add it to my 2011 version. Every FA book has errata & I'm sure 2012 will be no different. (My exam is in June btw).

Disclaimer:
I do not have FA 2011 so my comments are based on the 2010 version and how it has changed from 2010 --> 2012.

The new First Aid is not much different from the previous editions... most of the text is the same.
However, the color images that were once in the index are now distributed in the relevant sections of the text with almost all color figures/diagrams.

I did notice some errata in 2010 has been changed and fixed in the new 2012 edition, but of course there is inevitably going to be some more errata in the new book. I would say it may be worth getting the new version, but only if you are taking the exam later in the year as in summer or later (after the 2012 errata is released) or have not really annotated a 2011 or 2010 copy.

Here is my post on another thread about 2012 FA:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/show...2&postcount=33

I purchased the basic sciences book and realized that was not the one with the complete information to prepare for the Step 1. Can someone tell me the title of the First aid (ISBN would be even better) I should use for the step 1? Thanks so much Happy New Year!

Originally Posted by Drc17

I purchased the basic sciences book and realized that was not the one with the complete information to prepare for the Step 1. Can someone tell me the title of the First aid (ISBN would be even better) I should use for the step 1? Thanks so much Happy New Year!

First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2012 --> click here

Think I may have already found a mistake in the 2012 version, but not sure. Page 117 states, under fatty acid metabolism:

Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency ----> increase in dicarboxylic acids, glucose and ketones.

Pretty sure this should say decrease in glucose.

Thoughts?

Wonder if we could keep a running tally of these for those that are using this puppy for the test prior to errata release (would serve my selfish ends anyway).

I took Step 1 this past summer, so my thoughts on FA might be a bit dated, but when I studied for the test, I used FA 2010 even though I had both 2010 and 2011. There were some new entries in FA 2011 (like SRY gene in the reproductive section if I remember correctly), and I just took those new subjects from FA 2011 and photocopied, then taped them to my FA 2010.

In my opinion, FA should be more of an outline for what you have to know, so it's not imperative to have a specific edition. Most of my learning was done in UWorld, and FA was just a place to collect and annotate my notes and thoughts for review later on.

If I could go back, I would have just stuck to one of the editions of FA and focus more on UWorld rather than wasting my time going through both 2010/2011 books and transferring entries (I was kind of neurotic back then).

Originally Posted by Zenfudge

Think I may have already found a mistake in the 2012 version, but not sure. Page 117 states, under fatty acid metabolism:

Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency ----> increase in dicarboxylic acids, glucose and ketones.

Pretty sure this should say decrease in glucose.

Thoughts?

Wonder if we could keep a running tally of these for those that are using this puppy for the test prior to errata release (would serve my selfish ends anyway).

It should be increase in dicarboxylic acids, and decrease in both glucose and ketones. It is also known as MCAD deficiency.

Originally Posted by Zenfudge

Think I may have already found a mistake in the 2012 version, but not sure. Page 117 states, under fatty acid metabolism:

Acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency ----> increase in dicarboxylic acids, glucose and ketones.

Pretty sure this should say decrease in glucose.

Thoughts?

Wonder if we could keep a running tally of these for those that are using this puppy for the test prior to errata release (would serve my selfish ends anyway).

Good catch... In FA 2010, they correctly state that acyl CoA dehydrogenase deficiency involves increase in dicarboxylic acids with decrease in glucose and ketones. Strange that they get it right in the older edition and wrong in the newer one

When do they first release the errata usually? Agree it would be a good idea to post ones we may notice in the meantime.

Originally Posted by futuredoctor10

When do they first release the errata usually? Agree it would be a good idea to post ones we may notice in the meantime.

I don't remember exactly, but I think for FA 2011 the first errata was released in March, so I assume it will be the same for the 2012 version. Good luck with the studying guys.

If you have already been going through the older one, stick with that and don't upgrade. Not much is really going to be added to the new edition and you are already familiar with the layout and likely added notes to the old one.

i like that it's in color, personally that helps pique your interest.

Originally Posted by sylvanthus

If you have already been going through the older one, stick with that and don't upgrade. Not much is really going to be added to the new edition and you are already familiar with the layout and likely added notes to the old one.

QFT. Why do people feel the need to buy a new FA every year? I probably can go back 5 or 6 years and the core information is pretty much the same. I definitely cannot tell people how to spend their money.

Originally Posted by HeyThere13

QFT. Why do people feel the need to buy a new FA every year? I probably can go back 5 or 6 years and the core information is pretty much the same. I definitely cannot tell people how to spend their money.

$30-40 bucks is nothing when you're dropping $40,000-$80,000 a year in other expenses. It's not that hard of a decision.

Plus, they update based on student feedback. When new drugs get added to First Aid it's for a good reason.

I probably can go back 5 or 6 years and the core information is pretty much the same. I doubt if one or two new drugs a year will change your score. Anal med students (shrugs shoulders and making my final exit). LOL

The color images distributed throughout the text was what sold me on it -- I rarely referenced the color section in the old version.

Originally Posted by HeyThere13

I probably can go back 5 or 6 years and the core information is pretty much the same. I doubt if one or two new drugs a year will change your score. Anal med students (shrugs shoulders and making my final exit). LOL

My god, a $30-40 expenditure. HOW CAN I BUDGET IT IN???! It's not like I'm going to be a doctor or something.

You are missing the point.

Bump....anymore info. on this?

I was set on using the 2011 edition, but some of my classmates said that this is a bad idea. These really isn't that much added to the 2012 besides color....right?

Thanks...

So how do you guys feel about the whole

"less space to annotate"

situation... is outweighed by the positives of the new book.... or someone who obsessively makes notes like me stick to the 2011?

on amazon, some people commented that the quality of paper is worse.
is this true?

Originally Posted by Chirurg

on amazon, some people commented that the quality of paper is worse.
is this true?

I have noticed that some of my pen-written notes will smudge, but overall I love my FA 2012 and I own both. It makes sense that the paper quality had to go down if they wanted it in color yet keep the same list price.

Originally Posted by WarriorMD

So how do you guys feel about the whole

"less space to annotate"

situation... is outweighed by the positives of the new book.... or someone who obsessively makes notes like me stick to the 2011?

as someone who annotates feverishly into FA, notes space is essential & so I'm sticking to FA 2011. No amount of pretty pictures can help me ignore the fact that the 2012 errata won't be out for months & my exam is in June.

Originally Posted by missmedschool

as someone who annotates feverishly into FA, notes space is essential & so I'm sticking to FA 2011. No amount of pretty pictures can help me ignore the fact that the 2012 errata won't be out for months & my exam is in June.

I feel the same way....I have sooooo many notes already in my 2011. It would be a pain to switch to 2012.

Hmm yeah, I am a pretty crazy annotater so I can see myself running out of space quickly. I also use a lot of different colours while annotating and it seems like the paper in the new FA is a bit smudge prone which I hate.

I didn't really care for colour pictures, since I already reference the pictures elsewhere to make sense of them. The only thing that was really pulling me into FA was the organization of presented info. Especially large charts were now organized with some horizontal lines in between each big chunk of info. I noticed in the micro sections and biochem and stuff that the 2011 just had a huge page of writing everywhere and it's a bit tough to organize it visually.

Originally Posted by missmedschool

as someone who annotates feverishly into FA, notes space is essential & so I'm sticking to FA 2011. No amount of pretty pictures can help me ignore the fact that the 2012 errata won't be out for months & my exam is in June.

I had the same concern about the errata as you did, but since the actual content for 2012 is almost the same as 2011 (aside from the pictures), there shouldn't be much additional errata than what has already been put out.

Originally Posted by HelloGoodbye

Bump....anymore info. on this?

I was set on using the 2011 edition, but some of my classmates said that this is a bad idea. These really isn't that much added to the 2012 besides color....right?

Thanks...

I do not own FA 2011... However in comparing 2010 to 2012, there are really not many changes at all. Especially in terms of the actual content (writing).

The major changes are (1) its in color obviously, (2) the images in the index from the older book are now included within the actual text in the relevant section, (3) almost all the errata in the 2010 book has now been fixed in the actual 2012 text, and (4) a couple of minor changes or new mnemonics.

Hope this helps your decision!

I agree that if you have already annotated into FA 2011, it is probably easier to stick to that text that you already know well and have notes written in, especially considering there are not huge differences from 2011 to 12.

As far as the paper quality in 2012, it is not ideal or the best by any means, but I think it's fine. That being said, I don't do highlighting or heavy annotating...

Originally Posted by med8957

I had the same concern about the errata as you did, but since the actual content for 2012 is almost the same as 2011 (aside from the pictures), there shouldn't be much additional errata than what has already been put out.

That's what should make sense, but go to the FA website & they have extensive errata for every edition ...