So let's say I already bought First Aid 2013 and have been moderately using it during first semester of 2nd year (started out strong, fell off a bit as I went along). My school is doing a bulk order or 2014. Is there a difference in each year's books? Was any one else in this situation last year? Is there any point in buying the new edition or are they exactly the same? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks.
Do I need to buy First Aid 2014
- Thread starter jessiemsy
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First Aid changes are sometimes subtle and sometimes big. I recommend buying 2014 and transferring your better annotations when you get closer to Step studying. One year, there was like 20-something pages of errata, ppl that corrected the mistakes said it took like 4 to 6 hours. That alone was worth paying the $35 for me.
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The 2013 update was way better than the 2012 edition (which was so full of errors). I recommend spending the $40 on the latest FA simply because it features input from those who have most recently taken the exam. The writers may put more weight behind certain subjects, and update images and any small errors from 2013. At the end of the day it probably doesn't matter too much, but the cost of the book is really a drop in the bucket compared to cost of board prep and medical education.
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And this is backed up by your street smarts?
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You don't need to buy FA 2014. You also don't need to get higher than a 188 on Step 1.
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Easiest way to save $40 is to pack your lunch for 1 week.
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If you think asking for step 1 advice isn't the same thing as asking for life advice then you probably don't know how important step 1 is.
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I was one of the students invited to participate in proofing/contributing to the 2014 edition. There are some significant changes and quite a few new images, figures, and facts. It seems like more changes were made to the organ systems chapters than the basic sciences but I didn't notice any huge structural changes between 2013 and 2014. If you have already annotated 2013 and have your basics down, I would probably just stick with that version and spend your money elsewhere. If, on the other hand, you need the most thorough organ systems review possible in First Aid, then, perhaps, the ~15% increase in organ systems material would be worthwhile.
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Source for that? I'm quite positive you just made that up.
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What are you psychic or something?
http://www.usmle.org/announcements/?ContentId=123
Stop trolling, they haven't even met to review any changes in the score. It occurs December 9-10th. Just to remind you it's still NOVEMBER.
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Hey man you can take 30% off any book today on Amazon, so perhaps consider pre-ordering First Aid 2014 today and using the code BOOKDEAL when you checkout to save like $14.
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Sure. I base it on how the latest update for the 2013 errata came out in may 2013 and I don't want to study wrong info in the 2014 edition. Do you really think your step score will be influenced by using 2014 over 2013? I don't.
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Good. This is better than a one-liner from an M1
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I heard that the newest first aid has brainstem cross sections; maybe the above reviewer can confirm this?
No idea how represented brainstem questions are on the real deal.
No idea how represented brainstem questions are on the real deal.
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Thanks for the heads-up, but the discount is a max of $10, which is still pretty nice. If you ordered it a few months ago, it cost ~30 USD.
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I'm a M2
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Oh yeah I didn't read the small print to see maximum discount was $10. I also ordered mine earlier but thought saving 30% was a pretty good deal.
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Yeah, now Amazon's playing the fine print game.
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Not sure. Unfortunately, because the review period is over and 2014 is on its way to the publisher, I no longer have access to the entire book and can only access the chapters that I contributed to, so I can answer questions on all the basic science sections plus HemeOnc and Endocrine. Sorry I couldn't help more than that.
When can we expect from the new edition for what you've reviewed?
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My school says the passing score has been bumped up to 192, not 200.
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I'd agree with this. If you have been making notes in the 2013 one already, I'd keep it.
I personally wouldn't recommend this if you had 2012 only for the sheer volume and severity of the errors in it. I had a lot of classmates with 2012 that had done all of the errata (almost 30 pages with all three levels of errors combined). I personally thought FA 2012 was a disaster and I literally ripped that book in half and threw it away right before I started studying for Step 1 earlier this year, because I couldn't stand how bad so many of the errors were (like needing to basically redraw some diagrams). I bought 2013 immediately after and there were a fraction of the errors in 2012. I WAS concerned about studying the wrong information (I actually found one of the errors myself and got an Amazon card for it), but the first errata comes out pretty quickly and I think it's safe to assume the most egregious errors will be caught pretty quickly.
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Yeah, it's 192 now.
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I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you mean when or what or something else? It should be out next month, I believe but I haven't really checked recently. I believe Amazon lists the expected dates for such books....
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I think you should have the most recent copy. Will it make a huge difference....probably not but why take the chance. Sounds like some updating was done from the above conversation. I can also say I just ordered mine off of Amazon today and it is supposed to be here 12/27. I believe it said the release date was 12/13
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IMO, most of the "wrong" info in FA is obvious stuff that you'll likely notice and ignore, or esoteric details that aren't actually that important. To me, it was worth it to have an updated edition that was slanted more toward the most recent version of the exam. I also didn't bother looking at the errata and it wasn't an issue; I felt that going through more UW qs was a far better use of my time than reviewing the FA errata.
Also, I personally advise against using the version of FA you've been scribbling notes in for the past 18 months. You will find that the notes you take when initially learning the material are pretty much worthless when it comes to reviewing it, and mostly just make you less efficient come crunch time. IMO, the tried and true annotate-UW-into-FA method is where the money is.
Also, I personally advise against using the version of FA you've been scribbling notes in for the past 18 months. You will find that the notes you take when initially learning the material are pretty much worthless when it comes to reviewing it, and mostly just make you less efficient come crunch time. IMO, the tried and true annotate-UW-into-FA method is where the money is.
