Anyone use Step 2 books for Step 1 prep?

[MedLover25]

I've looked at First Aid Step 2 CK and I kind of like it. I know it's not great for Step 2 - but I sort of like how it paints a "clinical picture."

Has anyone used something like this to supplement their studying?

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[Disinence2]

I used High Yield Psych, that was for Step 2 for all my psych review. It worked well for my med school exam, so hopefully it will be good enough for Step 1 as well.

 

[kdburton]

I've looked at First Aid Step 2 CK and I kind of like it. I know it's not great for Step 2 - but I sort of like how it paints a "clinical picture."

Has anyone used something like this to supplement their studying?

If time is limited (which is usually is when people are studying for Step 1), then I would personally not use anything other than materials for Step 1. The emphasis is going to be different even if there is overlap. If you like the "clinical picture" then maybe you could use that for your shelf exams and for Step 2 itself when the book may actually be an efficient resource.

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

A guy a couple years ahead of us mentioned that he thought the Step 2 books did a good job of preparing you for the more clinical side of things. He mentioned he read First Aid for Step 2 and thought it was useful.

I don't know how he did but he matched into a damn fine residency so probably okay. I tried it and I didn't think it helped too much, the focus is just different between the exams. To each his own.

 

[InternationlDoc]

you know I wish somebody told me about this when I was preparing for step 1.

As for my story, even though I got a 250, I was unhappy because I knew alot of minute details, knew pharm and micro really well and path too - but I absolutely had no sense of physical exam, symptamology etc. Guess what - my step 1 looked very step 2ish to me atleast (many people disagree with me on this; this is my experience though). I really was going for a 260+ but I believe some clinical knowledge would have given me those 10 extra points.

As proof, my shelf exam grades, except psych, have all been near 99 percentile. So clinical knowledge is where its at. I've said this some other threads too, but I feel like schools like Baylor and Duke where there are clinical rotations before you take step 1 is a huge advantage IMHO.

 

[tabula0rasa]

Congrats Internationldoc on the 250. I think if you're going for the step 2 books, might as well grab the Harrison internal medicine book instead. And I'm not talking about the mini version. I mean the BIG book.