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What is it? People who have used both?
Best study book for USMLE Step 2 CS
- Thread starter Pox in a box
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first aid hands down. it's all you need.
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agreed, First Aid only. Trust me, I was one who often bought multiple books despite prior recommendations, but this is the only book you need. Hell, I didn't even read all of it, and easily passed.
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First Aid is good for the cases and gives you the format you need to follow for the patient note. It is a MUST have for the CS.
However, I don't think they adequately explain the CIS (communication and interpersonal skills) part of the exam and don't emphasize its importance enough. I mean they devote like a few pages to this part of the exam when it's probably the MOST important. Almost the entire book is dedicated to history taking, PE, and cases. Remember, you must pass all 3 sections (ICE, CIS, SPE) to pass. You will fail even if you do extremely well on one section and fail another.
I'd recommend you get a copy of the Kaplan CS book. It goes into extensive detail about what needs to be done to earn points for CIS. You can get a copy cheaply from ebay.
I'm telling you this because I failed CS the 1st time because I failed CIS. From just reading FA, I did not get a sense of how important CIS is. I Sure, I did excellent on ICE (with aterisks), thanks to reading FA, but failed CIS and failed overall. So for my retake I paid extra attention to CIS and passed, despite not doing very well in ICE.
I would also recommend usmleworld. They also have some nice tips and mnemonics for the exam. What I like most about usmleworld is that they have video clips of how to perform the PE for each section. I just copied what they did and passed.
Anyways, good luck.
However, I don't think they adequately explain the CIS (communication and interpersonal skills) part of the exam and don't emphasize its importance enough. I mean they devote like a few pages to this part of the exam when it's probably the MOST important. Almost the entire book is dedicated to history taking, PE, and cases. Remember, you must pass all 3 sections (ICE, CIS, SPE) to pass. You will fail even if you do extremely well on one section and fail another.
I'd recommend you get a copy of the Kaplan CS book. It goes into extensive detail about what needs to be done to earn points for CIS. You can get a copy cheaply from ebay.
I'm telling you this because I failed CS the 1st time because I failed CIS. From just reading FA, I did not get a sense of how important CIS is. I Sure, I did excellent on ICE (with aterisks), thanks to reading FA, but failed CIS and failed overall. So for my retake I paid extra attention to CIS and passed, despite not doing very well in ICE.
I would also recommend usmleworld. They also have some nice tips and mnemonics for the exam. What I like most about usmleworld is that they have video clips of how to perform the PE for each section. I just copied what they did and passed.
Anyways, good luck.
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Right now the consensus appears to be First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CS followed by Kaplan 's USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills...any other choices?
