Step Up

I really like the systems based organization of Step Up, which is a big plus, but my one big complaint is its scarcity of detail on many topics compared to First Aid (generally considered the gold standard). It does contain a lot more charts and graphical representations, though. And these are great for comparing and contrasting diseases and syndromes and for getting visual representations of concepts.

I wonder why the First Aid folks don't offer a version of their book arranged in systems format. (There's a systems index on the inside cover of the 2003 and 2004 editions, but it's just a band-aid. The basic framework is still subject based.) I suppose they don't have much motivation to do so. Nearly every med student that I know ends up getting it.

I really liked this book, I thought that it was *almost* as good as First Aid as a system's based review book. Just be sure that you purchase the revised first edition or the second edition since the first edition is riddled with errors. Be sure to read my thoughts on it in this FAQ thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?s=&postid=1242790#post1242790

Most people I know use used both First Aid and Step-Up. I much preferred a system-approach, and Step-Up gives a bit more context for it's information. However, First Aid (as previously described as the gold-standard) has more details. Since I needed more active studying, I, in essence, worked through Step-Up by adding the information that it was missing comparred to First Aid by going through the two of them together. I felt it worked well.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there are, indeed, still quite a few errors in the second edition. I submitted most of them (all confirmed by the author), and LWW has posted the corrections here http://www.lww.com/products/?0-7817-3793-1

Should I be concerned that the errata ends at page 193 and there are 300+ pages in the book? Maybe this isn't all of them?

Which version do you have? The 2nd edition ends at page 256 (although the appendices and index take the total to 339 pages).

Yes, I have the second edition. I'm talking about the errata sheet for the second edition.

Originally posted by Spang
Should I be concerned that the errata ends at page 193 and there are 300+ pages in the book? Maybe this isn't all of them?

Click to expand...

The errors were submitted myself and confirmed by the authors and editors. I can't say that I ever stopped looking for errors, but I also don't know that I found them al. If you find something else you think is odd, check it out with a couple friends first because it's obviously quite easy to be over the edge when studying for Step I. If your friends agree, confirm the truth in two trusted sources and then get back to studying. I do believe, that found the most obvious of problems (especially since my friends didn't have anything to add to my list before I submitted it).

I would say that if there are any other errors, the likelihood of it affecting your step I score or your life is pretty slim.