How often does the USMLE change?

[Pemulis]

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I'm an MS1. So far, I've done most of my studying from class notes, and have not bought many textbooks. I was thinking that I might buy a couple of board review books to supplement my current studying, since I'll probably end up buying these next year when I start studying for the boards.

My question is does step 1 (and the prep books for it) change often? If I buy the current editions of some books, will they still be OK to use when I'm prepping for the boards in the Spring of '08?

For specifics, the books I'm thinking of purchasing right now are:
1. BRS Physio
2. Microbio Made Ridiculously Simple
3. BRS Path or Goljan Rapid Review Path or Robins Review of Path
4. BRS behavioral science

Can I go ahead and buy these now, or should I wait a year in case the test changes and/or newer versions come out? As a bonus question, if anyone has an informed opinion about which of the path books I've mentioned is best, I'd like the hear it, as there seems to be a lot of debate on the matter.

Thanks.

 

[39094]

Questions change from year to year but the general content of the exam changes very little. They do try to incorporate new medical knowledge as it comes along (like new drugs or what not) but there's a definite lag as to when those things come on the scene and they show up in the exam. I'd say the most significant changes in the last few years haven't been so much content as the way content is presented. The exam is almost entirely clinically based now rather than just asking you to regurgitate basic science knowledge.

Besides that, many of the subjects covered by the boards haven't changed significantly in the last 50 years (Anatomy for example). You'd be fine to buy whatever books you like right now and could expect them to be accurate when your test rolls around.

The only exception might be First Aid which is updated year to year based on student feedback. You can study with an older version now, but I'd recommend getting the newest version when it comes to actually studying for your exam.

 

[Taus]

Agreed....not much will change at all, except for maybe some pharm. Any pharm you really have to know should be in the most current edition of first aid, so I'd 2nd getting a new one of those next year (they come out in december). If you really want a first aid to go through w/ coursework...just get an old/used one from a 3rd year (actually...you can get all books like that...)

 

[Pemulis]

Thanks for the replies!