2008 First Aid vs. 2007 FA

[2Sexy4MedSchool]

Hello. I'm posting this for a friend of mine who is not an SDN member:

"Does anyone know what has been added/changed/deleted to upgrade the 2008 First Aid compared to the 2007 edition? I noticed there's some new biochem and micro stuff."

That's all. Happy hunting.

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[g6pddfishnc]

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[g6pddfishnc]

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[DragonWell]

Whether or not to buy the latest edition of FA is a perennial question on this board, with some folks feeling that anything post 2006 (when FA went systems) is fine, and some folks indulging their paranoia and opting to shell out $40 for the latest edition. Seems to be a personal call.

I briefly looked over the 2007 errata, and all the errors I looked at had been fixed in the '08 version.

2007 was 530 pages, 2008 is 580 pages for what that's worth.

 

[Tulip701]

I think the biochem is definitely larger. The lung section seemed trimmed down a bit. Pictures seemed similiar amount, but don't quote me on that one. I don't mind the money, since I bought the 2008. Most people will end up doing that anyways, just as scare factor. But 2007 in my opinion is very good on its own, so if you don't want to spend the money, I don't think you have to. That's just my personal opinion.

 

[seriously]

does 2008 rate usmleworld? i know 2007 didn't. i was wondering if it appeared in this addition, and if so, how it fared, especially considering its high approval in this forum.

 

[Fireboy]

does 2008 rate usmleworld? i know 2007 didn't. i was wondering if it appeared in this addition, and if so, how it fared, especially considering its high approval in this forum.

It got an A.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

This is something I'm trying to figure out, too. I went ahead and asked the McGrawHill people about it here --

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?p=6065899#post6065899

Maybe they'll give us some specifics about the features of the latest edition.

 

[Musashi450]

Out of curiosity what does it list as its A's for pharm review? Curious if they've changed from the 2007 as I'm getting ready to purchase my review materials. Thanks!

 

[DragonWell]

Out of curiosity what does it list as its A's for pharm review? Curious if they've changed from the 2007 as I'm getting ready to purchase my review materials. Thanks!

These all got an A-:

Pharm Flash Cards - Brenner
Lippincott Reviews
Katzung and Trevor - Examination and Board Review
Deja Review: Pharm

Pharm Recall got a B+.

 

[Musashi450]

Thank you DragonWell, I don't see the Deja Review listed in the 2007.

 

[CoolMusic]

These all got an A-:

Pharm Flash Cards - Brenner
Lippincott Reviews
Katzung and Trevor - Examination and Board Review
Deja Review: Pharm

Pharm Recall got a B+.

DragonWell,

Are these rankings for the 2008 edition? I downloaded the Rankings from the First Aid website, and the only two resources which got an A- were Lippincott's and Baby Katzung. I'm curious to know about Brenner, because the Brenner flash cards weren't even included in the 2008 rankings I downloaded, but they were the highest ranked resource in the 2007 copy that I bought. Thanks.

 

[DragonWell]

DragonWell,

Are these rankings for the 2008 edition? I downloaded the Rankings from the First Aid website, and the only two resources which got an A- were Lippincott's and Baby Katzung. I'm curious to know about Brenner, because the Brenner flash cards weren't even included in the 2008 rankings I downloaded, but they were the highest ranked resource in the 2007 copy that I bought. Thanks.

Yep, p535 of FA 2008.

I find the ratings kind of interesting in that you never really hear much about some of the A-rated resources - like the Brenner pharm cards. The Deja Review series has A ratings in every category, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone recommend those books here. Makes me kind of curious about their methodology for coming up with these ratings...

 

[CoolMusic]

Yep, p535 of FA 2008.

I find the ratings kind of interesting in that you never really hear much about some of the A-rated resources - like the Brenner pharm cards. The Deja Review series has A ratings in every category, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone recommend those books here. Makes me kind of curious about their methodology for coming up with these ratings...

Thanks for the quick response. I'm surprised that the Deja Review books scored so high all across the board. I've looked at them and definitely liked what I saw, but I was under the impression that they cover less material than the Recall series. Maybe this works out better since they may only focus on the highest of the high-yield material. I was comparing Pharm Recall vs. Deja Review Pharm and ended up going with Recall (and I'm very happy with my selection - njbmd speaks very highly of the book and was the main reason I went ahead with the purchase). I've been considering picking up either Micro Recall or Deja Review Micro, but I'm unsure of whether I'll get either one (unfortunately buying additional books has not helped me improve my grades - I imagine I'm supposed to buy them AND read them, but that's yet to happen)

 

[DragonWell]

...(unfortunately buying additional books has not helped me improve my grades - I imagine I'm supposed to buy them AND read them, but that's yet to happen)

"It is easier to buy books than to read them, and easier to read them than to absorb them."

-Wm. Osler, MD

Osler knew it back in the day, but somehow it still hasn't sunk in for me either...