Best Comprehensive USMLE Step 2 CK Book

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IMGUSMLEStep1

IMGUSMLEStep1

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First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK

USMLE Step 2 Secrets

Step-Up to USMLE Step 2

Crush Step 2: The Ultimate USMLE Step 2 Review

Kaplan Medical USMLE Master the Boards Step 2 CK

Step-Up to Medicine

Other (please specify)
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Excellent poll question. I'm just trying to decide on what to use for Step 2 as well and would love to see some input on this.
 
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The real answer is: non of the above. Nothing called single best comprehensive book, though some may argue that Master the Boards step 2 CK is fine. But it is just out and you can't rely on that without reviews. You have also to combine reading with UWorld as a source of study, rather than evaluation. For evaluation use NBME forms.
 
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I'd say none of the above. But if I have to choose, I would go with Secrets and Kaplan USMLE Master the Boards step 2CK.
 
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I read Step Up to Medicine, all the non-IM chapters in First Aid for CK, secrets, and then did all the USMLE World questions. Ended up with a 274 on the exam, so I figure those must have been pretty comprehensive
 
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Good thread, I will be using with Step Up for Step 2, Secrets and UW for my exam next year.
 
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can someone who have used more than 1 book ( First Aid, Crush, Secret...for Step 2) comment a little bit about how different these books are from each other? Content wise and format wise THANKS:)
 
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Gpan said:
can someone who have used more than 1 book ( First Aid, Crush, Secret...for Step 2) comment a little bit about how different these books are from each other? Content wise and format wise THANKS:)
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The content of Crush and Secrets seemed almost identical on a brief survey of the two although I pretty much only used Secrets. They are written by the same guy and it seems that the only difference is the format - Secrets is written in more of a question/answer format while Crush is more of an outline format like other review books. Crush was significantly larger but it seemed like the only difference was the addition of a bunch of charts that regurgitate the info in the text. I used FA for all the non-medicine stuff and it seemed sufficient, but given that medicine makes up a very large majority of this exam and I didn't touch any of the medicine chapters of FA I can't really comment on that (I used Step Up To Medicine for all the IM material since I really liked it on my IM clerkship). FA seems to be a little less comprehensive than Step Up, but then again Step Up may have gone into too much detail. Basically if you have enough time to read Step Up and you wanna make sure you cover all your bases then I'd go for it.
 
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kdburton said:
The content of Crush and Secrets seemed almost identical on a brief survey of the two although I pretty much only used Secrets. They are written by the same guy and it seems that the only difference is the format - Secrets is written in more of a question/answer format while Crush is more of an outline format like other review books. Crush was significantly larger but it seemed like the only difference was the addition of a bunch of charts that regurgitate the info in the text. I used FA for all the non-medicine stuff and it seemed sufficient, but given that medicine makes up a very large majority of this exam and I didn't touch any of the medicine chapters of FA I can't really comment on that (I used Step Up To Medicine for all the IM material since I really liked it on my IM clerkship). FA seems to be a little less comprehensive than Step Up, but then again Step Up may have gone into too much detail. Basically if you have enough time to read Step Up and you wanna make sure you cover all your bases then I'd go for it.
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thanks man. Just to clarify 1 thing. When you said Step Up, u meant Step Up For Medicine, right? and not Step Up for Board Exam step 2 right? Because I used Step Up for Medicine during my IM rotations too and I liked it a lot. I just dont wanna waste $$$ buying another Step Up book. I already bought FA for Step 2, and I will maybe buy Secret.
 
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Gpan said:
thanks man. Just to clarify 1 thing. When you said Step Up, u meant Step Up For Medicine, right? and not Step Up for Board Exam step 2 right? Because I used Step Up for Medicine during my IM rotations too and I liked it a lot. I just dont wanna waste $$$ buying another Step Up book. I already bought FA for Step 2, and I will maybe buy Secret.
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Yes I mean Step Up to Medicine. I didn't even know Step Up to Step 2 existed a couple months ago haha. My rationale for using SUTM while Studying for Step 2 was that I had read it 2x during IM so I figured just seeing it a 3rd time around, no matter that it was months later, I would be able to remember the material better than if I picked a new book with a new format. Since it doesn't cover all the OB/Peds/Psych/etc then you gotta supplement with something however and most people can get their hands on a copy of FA for cheap/free. Secrets was just a little icing on the cake at the end but I don't even know if it was necessary. FWIW I did USMLE world all the way through then went back and did all the ones I got wrong plus a couple hundred that I had marked in addition to the wrong ones.
 
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kdburton said:
The content of Crush and Secrets seemed almost identical on a brief survey of the two although I pretty much only used Secrets. They are written by the same guy and it seems that the only difference is the format - Secrets is written in more of a question/answer format while Crush is more of an outline format like other review books. Crush was significantly larger but it seemed like the only difference was the addition of a bunch of charts that regurgitate the info in the text. I used FA for all the non-medicine stuff and it seemed sufficient, but given that medicine makes up a very large majority of this exam and I didn't touch any of the medicine chapters of FA I can't really comment on that (I used Step Up To Medicine for all the IM material since I really liked it on my IM clerkship). FA seems to be a little less comprehensive than Step Up, but then again Step Up may have gone into too much detail. Basically if you have enough time to read Step Up and you wanna make sure you cover all your bases then I'd go for it.
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thanks for the great info!
 
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Thanks to everyone who voted on this poll. I'd love to see more input if anyone still hasn't voted.

I just bought Kaplan's Master the Boards Step 2 CK. I'll post a review about it when I read it.
 
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IMGUSMLEStep1 said:
Thanks to everyone who voted on this poll. I'd love to see more input if anyone still hasn't voted.

I just bought Kaplan's Master the Boards Step 2 CK. I'll post a review about it when I read it.
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Ive been searching for a good comprehensive source to use as a primary study source until closer to exam date when question banks will take over. I have read Crush (Secrets in different format) and part of step up to step 2 and Master the boards step II by Fisher. The others mentioned dont even belong on the same shelf IMO. As a third year we've all read the same info about the same conditions ect ect. But this book covers that and then explains What to Order, which labs, which imaging study is likely to be done FIRST, but which is also the most accurate test and WHY. Im sold on this book and wont touch the others because its a great review with excellent questions/answers throughout the book in addition to helping you think 'like a resident' meaning, ok here's what I think this person has and why, now what am I going to do about it" Whereas the other books (especially Step Up), is just rambling on in a painful format of disease, H&P, Labs, radiology ect. Without any explanation. In a nutshell, its the best IMO and am very content with it as my sole study source until Qbank time.
 
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OK so after the rave reviews, I grabed a copy of Master the Boards for CK after a quick skim it seems to be a summary of the kaplan lecture notes for step 2. It is also missing an epidemiology and biostatistics section are we not tested on these topics in step 2 or is it assuming we know enough biostats from basic sciences?
 
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So what's the best deal for psychiatry prep? The same books listed here or is there anything else that's better for psych? I started with BRS psych for now.
 
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IMGUSMLEStep1 said:
Thanks to everyone who voted on this poll. I'd love to see more input if anyone still hasn't voted.

I just bought Kaplan's Master the Boards Step 2 CK. I'll post a review about it when I read it.
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I've been skimming through it while studying, seems like an excellent text. I'm trying to figure out which to use:

MTB STEP 2CK vs. DIT/Step Up to Step 2
 
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Step up to step 2 is thinner than STUM (one advantage) and it has peds, ob, and a surgery type section. Also, it has more of a scaled down version which i liked. First aid CK had waaaay to much crap in it, lots of details that were not high yield.

I used the complement of Step up to step 2 and Step 2 secrets, worked very very well. killed step 2 (>265) as did 2 of my study mates (both >260). We also used the DIT step 2 course, which I would also highly highly recommend.
 
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AgentRaiden said:
So what's the best deal for psychiatry prep? The same books listed here or is there anything else that's better for psych? I started with BRS psych for now.
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First aid for psych is all you need for all the psych stuff, if you're talking rotation. If you're talking just step 2, step up to step 2 has a psych section, or you could go through FA for Psych (150 pages)
 
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knuckles said:
MTB Step 2 seems like its missing a lot of high yield subjects that UWorld likes to test on.

Examples: Leukocyte adhesion deficiency, Friedrich's Ataxia, CNS Tumors, etc
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I agree. I finished Uworld and Read most of Step Up to Step 2 and MTB. The former is much more complete IMO. Although, the format of MTB is muuuuch more appealing.
 
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DrVanNostran said:
I've been skimming through it while studying, seems like an excellent text. I'm trying to figure out which to use:

MTB STEP 2CK vs. DIT/Step Up to Step 2
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I'm using both MTB and Step up Step2CK. Step-up seems to skimp on management and MTB skimps on some details of diseases. So they seem to work well together, fill in each other's weakness.
 
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psychobob said:
I'm using both MTB and Step up Step2CK. Step-up seems to skimp on management and MTB skimps on some details of diseases. So they seem to work well together, fill in each other's weakness.
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I have come to the same conclusion, and MTB has no biostats section
 
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psychobob said:
I'm using both MTB and Step up Step2CK. Step-up seems to skimp on management and MTB skimps on some details of diseases. So they seem to work well together, fill in each other's weakness.
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I may end up annotating MTB into Step up since MTB has some really good management points.
 
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JustUseYourHead said:
Step up to step 2 is thinner than STUM (one advantage) and it has peds, ob, and a surgery type section. Also, it has more of a scaled down version which i liked. First aid CK had waaaay to much crap in it, lots of details that were not high yield.

I used the complement of Step up to step 2 and Step 2 secrets, worked very very well. killed step 2 (>265) as did 2 of my study mates (both >260). We also used the DIT step 2 course, which I would also highly highly recommend.
Click to expand...

How long did you study for?
What were your UW scores first time around if you did it?
Doing about the same as you guys in hopes of >245 in 1.5 months
Thanks
 
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Currently I am on my Internal Medicine clerkship. I been using Step-up to medicine/MKSAP for the shelf. My last rotation is family medicine. This is where I will start reading Kaplan Master the Boards USMLE Step 2 CK. That in addition to USMLE World should be good for Step 2 CK I think. I will keep Step-up to Medicine in the background if I really need extra reading.

I am just impressed with the style of Master the Boards.
 
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greg1184 said:
Currently I am on my Internal Medicine clerkship. I been using Step-up to medicine/MKSAP for the shelf. My last rotation is family medicine. This is where I will start reading Kaplan Master the Boards USMLE Step 2 CK. That in addition to USMLE World should be good for Step 2 CK I think. I will keep Step-up to Medicine in the background if I really need extra reading.

I am just impressed with the style of Master the Boards.
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Today, I made an alteration my plans. I was skimming through Step 2 secrets, and I liked the Q&A format and how they put so much high yield stuff into a thin book. So that book and U-World will be my plans. Step Up to Medicine if I need to read more on a topic. With the amount of time I have (I have an 8 week Family Medicine rotation coming) I can read that book many times and do UWorld at least twice.

Comprehensive or not, UWorld is probably the most important part of Step 2 studying.
 
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Other: All you need is U World. Take your time on U World, and refer back to the back the books you used for each shelf exam. I found it much better to jog my memory from a book I have already studied, than to try to learn a brand new book last minute. Just my style though.
 
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My plan is to listen to kaplan videos, and correlate them with Secrets. Then do U world according to topics. After all that, do uworld again mixing all the topics. How does that sound? Does anyone think FA for ck is any good? I bought it, but I don't know if I want to use it...
 
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I have most of the step 2 books but not Step up to medicine. So far I like Master the boards step 2 in terms of organizations but the Psych section seems to be fairly small and incomplete (Im doing psych rotation now). The step up to step 2 psych section seemed more complete. So I don't know what to do. Maybe DIT Step 2 + step up and later master the boards, I wish I could just use 1 book and annotate it though.

Kyptik and Knuckles thanks for your advice during step 1 days. :)
 
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I read step 2 secrets one time, but that was like 3 mo ago. How about if I read it once more+ annotate MTB step 2+ from UWorld, would it be enough for 260+ ?
Thanks
 
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Anyone tried Toronto Notes + uworld? I've heard its overkill but do presume that using it all over rotations would make it easier to read over subsequent runs :)
 
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Decided to go with Step Up to Step 2, Secrets, and Uworld to study for Step 2. Used SUTM for my medicine clerkship and liked the format. I have 4 weeks to study for the exam. Do most people read Step Up first and use secrets as a review? Also how many hours per day are people usually studying for this? Thanks.
 
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Kind of unrelated but I'm curious to know if Davidson's Internal Medicine is read in the United States. I love this book.
 
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I plan to use MTB as my main book (with UWorld, of course) throughout studying. I understand that Step Up to Step 2 is more comprehensive and I want to annotate its stronger portions into MTB.

Anybody have suggestions of stronger sections of Step Up/areas of weakness in MTB? I have searched many threads for this answer and have come up with some but I'm hoping for a more comprehensive input. Anything is appreciated, thanks!
 
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MTB is weak in Neuro and Gyn from my studying so far. It does leave out some obvious things that I thought would be covered.
 
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jhaquett said:
I plan to use MTB as my main book (with UWorld, of course) throughout studying. I understand that Step Up to Step 2 is more comprehensive and I want to annotate its stronger portions into MTB.

Anybody have suggestions of stronger sections of Step Up/areas of weakness in MTB? I have searched many threads for this answer and have come up with some but I'm hoping for a more comprehensive input. Anything is appreciated, thanks!
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I've heard many people combine MTB step 2 with MTB step 3, and do well.

From what I've seen, Step 3 has most of the info missing from step 2, including the OB-Gyn and Neuro sections.
 
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theRainmaker78 said:
I've heard many people combine MTB step 2 with MTB step 3, and do well.

From what I've seen, Step 3 has most of the info missing from step 2, including the OB-Gyn and Neuro sections.
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I am currently following that formula.. MTB 2+ MTB 3 + UW.. I heard that MTB 3 will fill in the gaps of MTB 2. They both have the same format (which is really great..because you feel like it gives you just what you need) and so I usually start with MTB 2 and then skim over 3 to highlight the extra info not mentioned.
I'm wondering though if this is really the way to go. I need a 250+ on the exam and am still nervous. I do have secrets ..it is a nice pocket book to read when on the metro, ect. But as far as comprehensive coverage..still am not sure. Anyone in the same boat?
 
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NoWayOut said:
I am currently following that formula.. MTB 2+ MTB 3 + UW.. I heard that MTB 3 will fill in the gaps of MTB 2. They both have the same format (which is really great..because you feel like it gives you just what you need) and so I usually start with MTB 2 and then skim over 3 to highlight the extra info not mentioned.
I'm wondering though if this is really the way to go. I need a 250+ on the exam and am still nervous. I do have secrets ..it is a nice pocket book to read when on the metro, ect. But as far as comprehensive coverage..still am not sure. Anyone in the same boat?
Click to expand...

You know I was just mentioning this matter-of-factly based on what others have said on message boards(I personally know some ppl who used MTB as well and did well). It has worked for others and the MTB's are decent books (I do have them and have read them during med school). But I am not making any recommendation about any books to read...

All the step 2 books, are just ok. Not one of them is really worth spending too much time on.

You should be spending most of your time on Uworld and just going over a review book on the side to hammer home the important points.
 
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NoWayOut said:
I am currently following that formula.. MTB 2+ MTB 3 + UW.. I heard that MTB 3 will fill in the gaps of MTB 2. They both have the same format (which is really great..because you feel like it gives you just what you need) and so I usually start with MTB 2 and then skim over 3 to highlight the extra info not mentioned.
I'm wondering though if this is really the way to go. I need a 250+ on the exam and am still nervous. I do have secrets ..it is a nice pocket book to read when on the metro, ect. But as far as comprehensive coverage..still am not sure. Anyone in the same boat?
Click to expand...
Do MTB 2 and 3 have a lot of different material or are they overly redundant? I'm just wondering if MTB3 has enough extra material to justify the time spent reading it.
 
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turkeyjerky said:
Do MTB 2 and 3 have a lot of different material or are they overly redundant? I'm just wondering if MTB3 has enough extra material to justify the time spent reading it.
Click to expand...

MTB 3 adds a little more to management along with some extras here and there and a few extra images. If you do MTB 2, then MTB 3 will seem very familiar in context with the additions that you can easily pick up. I've only done 2 chapters in it so far, so that's just my opinion from what I see so far.
 
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