I never took a review course for the writtens. I looked at someone else's copy of Big Blue for a couple of minutes and reailzed there is no way I could torture myself by reading through such a dry presentation of things I was supposed to memorize.
I did well on the in-training exams and the actual written test by reading legitimite texts and journals. I did occasionally force myself to make notes and memorize some of the basic facts, but that was not the bulk of my reading. I realized that if I focused on reading, learning, and memorizing concepts, techniques, and even plain factual knowledge that was actually useful in the OR, I would retain it, and get something out of it other than just passing the stupid test. I ENJOYED studying because I took that approach. I would read on the next day's cases, and on cases that I had recently done. If I had a complication, I would try to learn more about what (if anything) could have been done to prevent that. I still try to do that.
So I suggest that if you spend your money on a text, it should be on something you will actually read AFTER you pass the test as well. And I don't think Big Blue meets that criteria.
