BRS vs. Blueprints for pediatrics

[zeppelinpage4]

Hi everyone, just wanted some opinions. I'm re-mediating my pediatrics shelf. The exam is in 2.5 weeks.

I'm using my 4th year vacation time right now, so I can focus pretty much on the shelf these next 2 weeks.
I just finished reading CaseFiles Pediatrics.
However, I want to get a comprehensive knowledge base for the shelf, since I know CaseFiles is missing a lot of the details and doesn't cover everything.

But I can't decide whether to read Blueprints or BRS next. People have recommended both, but I don't think I'll have time to read both, since I want to do the 400 or so Uworld questions as well.

I heard BRS has more details, whereas Blueprints isn't as detailed and may not have the depth I need for the shelf exam. Is this true?
Also, which of the two books is faster to get through? BRS has more pages, but Blueprints has a lot more text per page.

I like the textbook format of Blueprints more than the bullet point/listed format of BRS, and I know BRS is not nearly as recent. Also I was able to read a number of chapters of BRS before taking my first peds shelf and didn't feel like it helped me much, reading bullet points just doesn't stick for me as well. So, if all else is equal and people have done well using either, I might just go with Blueprints.
But I thought I'd ask here to see how others experiences were with these books.


Thanks! 🙂

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[psylocke]

Everyone in my track, and even the upperclass, swore by Casefiles. I didn't do Casefiles but I did BRS...cover to cover, went through it once and did the questions. It's a fantastic book and actually made me like studying Peds. BRS is gold for the shelf...It's so well organized and covers every disease/disorder in a way that really also organizes your thoughts. It also has a number of diagrams and charts which were invaluable--these were sometimes geared by a presenting symptom or complaint so I found that it even helped for wards when admitting patients and osces...

I tried Blueprints to start with but it's such a dense text, I found that I was able to go through BRS more productively and actually learnt more going through it. Plus, I found BRS was presented in a way that made learning easier because all the information was presented in a logical manner. It was way faster to go through.

In my program, Peds is known to be the toughest rotation to honor because we have a CD that's so picky and particular when it comes to giving Honors. She emailed me the day after our NBME results came out asking me what I did to prepare because she was so impressed by my performance in the categories.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Everyone in my track, and even the upperclass, swore by Casefiles. I didn't do Casefiles but I did BRS...cover to cover, went through it once and did the questions. It's a fantastic book and actually made me like studying Peds. BRS is gold for the shelf...It's so well organized and covers every disease/disorder in a way that really also organizes your thoughts. It also has a number of diagrams and charts which were invaluable--these were sometimes geared by a presenting symptom or complaint so I found that it even helped for wards when admitting patients and osces...

I tried Blueprints to start with but it's such a dense text, I found that I was able to go through BRS more productively and actually learnt more going through it. Plus, I found BRS was presented in a way that made learning easier because all the information was presented in a logical manner. It was way faster to go through.

In my program, Peds is known to be the toughest rotation to honor because we have a CD that's so picky and particular when it comes to giving Honors. She emailed me the day after our NBME results came out asking me what I did to prepare because she was so impressed by my performance in the categories.

Awesome thank you! This restores my faith in BRS, maybe I'll give it a second chance. I'll try looking at a chapter or two of Blueprints and see how it suits me too, if I don't like it, I'll likely try BRS again then.

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

If using BRS didn't help you the first time, I would try something that you think you might be able to get more out of this time (ie not BRS). Even though I thought BRS was great for the shelf, it sounds like you really need to cover a lot of ground so should stick with something more review-book-ish. I really liked Pretest for peds if that helps.

 

[Gambler 101]

I'm using Blueprints because I don't do well with outline formats. I find it has taught me enough to do well on the floor, but I'll need to do questions (UWorld and Pretest) for the shelf.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

If using BRS didn't help you the first time, I would try something that you think you might be able to get more out of this time (ie not BRS). Even though I thought BRS was great for the shelf, it sounds like you really need to cover a lot of ground so should stick with something more review-book-ish. I really liked Pretest for peds if that helps.

Fantastic thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, that sounds wise, if it didn't work the first time, may not be worth doing the same this time. I'm starting with Blueprints now.

I'm using Blueprints because I don't do well with outline formats. I find it has taught me enough to do well on the floor, but I'll need to do questions (UWorld and Pretest) for the shelf.

Thanks! Exactly, I'm the same, I never did well with outline formats. I'm trying Blueprints now, but I'll try to get Uworld done with ii too if I can manage the time. Blueprints is taking me longer than expected to read....it's denser than I thought it would be.

 

[Gambler 101]

Fantastic thanks for the suggestion. Yeah, that sounds wise, if it didn't work the first time, may not be worth doing the same this time. I'm starting with Blueprints now.

Thanks! Exactly, I'm the same, I never did well with outline formats. I'm trying Blueprints now, but I'll try to get Uworld done with ii too if I can manage the time. Blueprints is taking me longer than expected to read....it's denser than I thought it would be.

It's dense. I agree. I planned out about 30 pages a day so I could finish in a reasonable time.


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[gujuDoc]

I never used BRS bc I got it after my rotation for sub I and then gave it to a friend bc I obtained a pdf and didn't want the hard copy. My friend proceeded to tell me that it was the most fabulous source for pediatrics and had 400 questionst that were Uworld like questions and explanations. My other friend who honored also felt BRS was the best source. It is quite dense but at least even if all you use it for is for questions then use it for that at the least over pretest. Do all 4 NBME shelf exam practice tests and do all Uworld questions. In the last 3 days before the exam you can switch the Casefiles.

 

[Trogdor_The_Burninator]

My advice is to use what works for you. If you use one of those books (BRS v. Blueprints v. Case files) with a question bank, you should be able to cover almost all the material that will show up on the pediatrics shelf. Getting a good knowledge base is the name of the game. I've always thought it's impossible to be prepared for all the questions on the shelf (or step1/2 for that matter), but having as broad as a knowledge base as possible will help you make better decisions when answering those tricky nbme questions.

As far as questions, I prefer UWorld over Pretest. I thought UWorld questions were better written (so were the answer explanations) and more representative of the questions on my peds shelf. I completed pretest as well - there were some thought provoking questions, but I'd pick UWorld over pretest if I had to pick just one.