USMLE/COMLEX Save 20% Case Files Series: Learn in the context of real patients

[McGrawHillMed]

CASE FILES BOOKS SERIES​

Cases written for use during courses and clinical roations to improve course/shelf exam scores.​

High-yield cases, each with USMLE-style questions
Clinical pearls highlight key concepts
Primer on how to approach clinical problems and think like a doctor
Proven learning system maximizes your shelf-exam scores

Available titles include: Biochemistry, Histology and Medical Cell Biology, Microbiology and Immunology, Neuroscience, Physiology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Pediatrics, Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, Family Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Internal Medicine, Surgery

For a full list of books and to save 20% off click here.
Offer good until February 5, 2010. Discount only applies to books ordered directly from McGraw-Hill website

McGraw-Hill Companies will be giving away one copy of this title to one lucky member! Winners for each raffle will be drawn from among the members who post questions about the product or otherwise meaningfully contribute to the discussion.

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[Depakote]

I am a fan of the case files series and used it for my OB/gyn and peds rotations. The books did a great job covering the core subject matter for those rotations.

How well does it cover the broader rotations like Internal Medicine or Family Medicine?

Thanks.

 

[lacrossefiend73]

How are these books formatted? I tried to look at them on amazon but it only gives me the first couple of pages. Is it case, questions, answers w/ explanations? Or are there explanations about parts of the case? Or something totally different?

Thanks!

 

[SeminoleFan3]

How are these books formatted? I tried to look at them on amazon but it only gives me the first couple of pages. Is it case, questions, answers w/ explanations? Or are there explanations about parts of the case? Or something totally different?

Thanks!

They have about 60 cases per book. The case itself is a paragraph or two, then there's a few pages about the diagnosis, the DDx, treatments, and outcomes. At the end, there's anywhere from 3-6 multiple choice questions, and then a small section of clinical pearls for that particular case. Good stuff.

 

[QofQuimica]

I am a fan of the case files series and used it for my OB/gyn and peds rotations. The books did a great job covering the core subject matter for those rotations.

How well does it cover the broader rotations like Internal Medicine or Family Medicine?

Thanks.

I didn't use the Case Files internal medicine book, so I can't comment on that. But Step Up to Medicine is a great book for IM if you're disciplined enough to read through it all during your rotation.

FM is kind of an amalgamation of most of the other rotations you've done, so what you need is a more general review of everything (peds, OB/gyn, medicine, neuro, psych, geriatrics, maybe even a little surgery if you're in an office where they do procedures). I used the FM Case Files book and liked it. There really aren't a lot of FM books geared toward med students on rotations, and this one is a reasonable length to be readable during your rotation while covering a good selection of topics you might see. It's organized similarly to the other books in the series, so you'll probably like it since you liked the peds and ob/gyn books. The only thing is that if you have to take a FM shelf, you will probably also want to get a FM question book to go along with the Case Files book.

 

[lacrossefiend73]

They have about 60 cases per book. The case itself is a paragraph or two, then there's a few pages about the diagnosis, the DDx, treatments, and outcomes. At the end, there's anywhere from 3-6 multiple choice questions, and then a small section of clinical pearls for that particular case. Good stuff.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Depakote]

I didn't use the Case Files internal medicine book, so I can't comment on that. But Step Up to Medicine is a great book for IM if you're disciplined enough to read through it all during your rotation.

FM is kind of an amalgamation of most of the other rotations you've done, so what you need is a more general review of everything (peds, OB/gyn, medicine, neuro, psych, geriatrics, maybe even a little surgery if you're in an office where they do procedures). I used the FM Case Files book and liked it. There really aren't a lot of FM books geared toward med students on rotations, and this one is a reasonable length to be readable during your rotation while covering a good selection of topics you might see. It's organized similarly to the other books in the series, so you'll probably like it since you liked the peds and ob/gyn books. The only thing is that if you have to take a FM shelf, you will probably also want to get a FM question book to go along with the Case Files book.

Thanks.

I'm currently in the trenches of IM now. I've got Step-Up as a text-style book, but I'm looking for a good pocket-book to read on short amounts of downtime. This is where case files was good on the other rotations.


I've got Family Medicine last, right before Step 2. I'm hoping having had everything else before hand will help, but a book to highlight the frequently tested concepts wouldn't hurt. The same thing about looking for a pocket book to go along with the other texts I already own.

 

[QofQuimica]

I'm currently in the trenches of IM now. I've got Step-Up as a text-style book, but I'm looking for a good pocket-book to read on short amounts of downtime. This is where case files was good on the other rotations.

Of course it won't ever hurt to have a book with you for when you have a few minutes to read, but what you might want to do during those times is hop onto UpToDate or Harrison's Online and read about your patients' specific problems. In my experience, most attendings like to see that you are trying to educate yourself about your patients' problems. When I was on medicine, I would print out articles to read during downtime. But I'm sure there will be plenty of overlap with the cases in the book.

For me, there was a ton of overlap between the ob/gyn cases I actually saw and the ob/gyn Case Files book, and not as much overlap in FM. But that's probably because FM is so broad. I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, because one of the main points of reading the Case Files books is to get exposure to cases you didn't see on the rotation. Just make sure you do some specific patient-oriented reading too, though.

I've got Family Medicine last, right before Step 2. I'm hoping having had everything else before hand will help, but a book to highlight the frequently tested concepts wouldn't hurt. The same thing about looking for a pocket book to go along with the other texts I already own.

I did FM first, and I think it works well either way. For me, it was a good intro to everything else, and for you, it will be a good review.

 

[scarletgirl777]

Would a Case Files book be enough to study from for a shelf, or is it meant just to cover disease processes you may not see on a rotation but that would be tested? Is it meant to complement other products?

 

[Aceso]

I am very interested in the Case Files series, but I am wondering how it compares to First Aid Q&A. Thanks for any input you can give

 

[ButImLETired]

Are these kinds of books more geared toward students who are preparing for the boards, or those who are currently in the wards?

Thanks!

 

[QofQuimica]

Would a Case Files book be enough to study from for a shelf, or is it meant just to cover disease processes you may not see on a rotation but that would be tested? Is it meant to complement other products?

You will want to also get a question book along with the Case Files book to study for shelfs. A lot of people like to use PreTest. Some people also buy a year long subscription to an online question bank and do the questions for each specialty while on that rotation.

Are these kinds of books more geared toward students who are preparing for the boards, or those who are currently in the wards?

Definitely wards. These books are great for learning about each specialty, but they're not an efficient way to review for Step 2.

 

[yellowumbrella]

I've heard good things about the Case Files series. is it sufficient for the wards, or would i need to supplement it? are there certain subjects that are stronger than others in this series?

 

[f1re11]

I've used a couple of these books and found them to be much better than First aid Cases.

 

[daria1314]

I absolutely love the Case Files format! I'm about to start my family medicine rotation, and wanted to know how the Case Files Family Medicine differs from Internal Medicine. Is there more of a focus on preventive medicine, and are other topics such as ob/gyn and pediatrics included as well?

 

[scowdeva]

Would you suggest getting these early for USMLE or just waiting until 3rd year starts? Are they helpful at all to pre-read, or more of a read-as-you're-in-there sorts of texts? Heard great things about them from classmates!