BOOK FOR Step 2

[AMV]

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Hello 🙂

I'm starting to collect my materials to study for Step 2.
I'm finishing medicine in Europe, so my biggest problem is- What books to buy??

I read all about the question books, online pre etc. but I would like to buy books - Internal medicine, Pediatrics etc. and learn from them. Can you recommend me the books?
I found this: http://www.usmleguide.com/books.htm
what do you think about that?

I see that most of you have different approach because you study in the USA, but as my language is different and also some things are different in European books, I'd like to buy a good USA book for each subject that is going to be in Step 2 and start studying like that.

Thank you so much for your help!
Best

 

[AMV]

Nobody? 🙁

 

[jakeislove]

That seems like too many books.

I'm using MTB and Step up to medicine for reading. Kaplan Disease/Diagnosis and Deja Review for recall drilling.

 

[katarina90]

I've been doing something similar. So far I've used the following

Psychiatry-- BRS Psychiatry (out of print, an oldie but a goodie as far as DSM-IV diagnoses. You'll have to write in the margins and update the new psychopharmacology though. They didn't even have Pristiq and Cymbalta back then, what ever did they do without it?). A little lofty, but I love psych, and therefore, I loved this book. Tore it up with my highlighting and notes. Well worth the four bucks paid.

Surgery-- First Aid for the Surgery Clerkship (good as far as knowing when someone is a surgical candidate and when not, which was big on my shelf and in the step practice questions). The section on surgical subspecialties is in my opinion, low yield, unless you are rotating in these specialties--and even then, the short chapter would not be enough of a review. However, the principles chapters and the ones on gen surg are golden.

Orthopedic Surgery -- Orthopedic Secrets (recommended by preceptor, a little pricey for someone who has absolutely zero interest in orthopedics, but great for "pimp questions" and something you can read in a weekend). A recommended, but not a must-have in my opinion.

OB-GYN-- Blueprints OBGYN. Concise review, paragraph form, more of an abridged textbook than a review book, but good practice question set in the back of the book.

Internal Medicine -- So far, I've mostly been using FA for the Step 2, although I've purchased the more favorably reviewed "Step Up to Medicine". I haven't gotten far enough into Step Up to give you my thoughts, but most of the students seem to agree that that is the best review book for IM. If you're willing to invest a little more time and money, Cecils' Essentials is a fantastic book that can be kept around later as a reference.

(Everything else--I've purchased FA Pediatrics, Lange Neurology, and Blueprints Family Medicine but haven't used them yet as I haven't done those rotations). Hope this gives you a good guide to start your book search!

 

[AMV]

Yes, that is really helpful! Thank you so much.
If anyone else would like to add some necessary books for each subject, I'd be very grateful.