Did anyone use the Pretest series, and what did you think of them?

[spiritgirl]

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Hi everyone,

I did a quick search and I could not find a lot of comments on the Pretest series, so I am guessing that maybe a lot of people don't use this series... makes me a little worried for myself.

I've started using this series and I like its format and explanations... but uh... just curious- does anyone have any idea how useful the Pretest series are for preparation for the actual test etc.? I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has any thoughts on this whatsoever.

Thanks!

 

[exmike]

Hi everyone,

I did a quick search and I could not find a lot of comments on the Pretest series, so I am guessing that maybe a lot of people don't use this series... makes me a little worried for myself.

I've started using this series and I like its format and explanations... but uh... just curious- does anyone have any idea how useful the Pretest series are for preparation for the actual test etc.? I would appreciate any comments from anyone who has any thoughts on this whatsoever.

Thanks!

this probably belongs in step 2 forums or clinical rotations.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I used PreTest for basic sciences, but I definitely wouldn't have used them for Step 1. They weren't clinically-oriented enough.

 

[ayanjoe]

If you have exhausted the best question resources like Q Bank and UW ... and maybe NMS, and you have lots of time and you got bored, that's the time to do Pretest Series for Step 1 or whatever questions you may have.

 

[exmike]

If you have exhausted the best question resources like Q Bank and UW ... and maybe NMS, and you have lots of time and you got bored, that's the time to do Pretest Series for Step 1 or whatever questions you may have.

i also recommend robbins review of pathology q's. they're, as burns would say, E X C E L L E N T

 

[trdc3lica]

I did the pretest pharma, patho, micro, physio books. They were all way to difficult (relative to USMLE standards). They asked about alot of things I had never heard of... especially micro. I had read Levinsons Micro, and it had no mention of several bacteria that appeared in Pretest. Like the above poster said, use it as a last resort if all other qbanks have been used up. I'd def recommend UW over pretest anyday. And if I had to take step one again, i wouldn't use pretest.

 

[Uegis]

Pre-Test as mentioned isn't clinically oriented. Stick with QBank or UW. If you have time, do Robbins like someone suggested. I found them more fun than Qbank, though I did only 9 or 10 chapters of them quickly on the big topics like heme, oncology, GI, endocrine, etc.

 

[shivasHeroLike]

hated it.

 

[ertugrul]

hated it.

me too

 

[drss]

i also didnt like

 

[acpl]

It might not be good for board studying if boards are 3 months away but I find it useful to reinforce concepts during classes.

 

[IzzyMD09]

the questıons are so ambıguous the whole serıes ıs just off focus ıt needs to be done away wıth, ı am stayıng away from the pretest serıes durıng clınıcal years, thınk about the trees you would save by not buyıng those books

 

[mm3781]

I found the pre-test pharm book to be quite good for the boards, but not if you are short on time. Also, you must read the explanations to answers and I thought it was a good book. I also recommend the pathology book, but use it more with 2nd year classes and not as much for the boards. Also, as stated above, Robbins Qbook is hands down a great investment.