Ok, I've read a lot of posts and it's left me more confused

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I'm going to start my first rotation soon. It's family med. I don't want to make the same mistake(s) I did with my step 1 so I want to start preparing from now.

I've gone through a number of threads and the stickies but theres so many different opinions on books. Personally,for me, I like 1 large reference book and 1 thin review book.

I have the Harrison's e-book, I may buy the actual book too b/c I like highlighting and stuff, and sometimes staring at a computer really bugs me.

However for Step 2 prep while in rotations, should I go with Step-Up to USMLE Step2 or FA Step2CK?

If I have harrison's should I invest in Step-Up Medicine as well?😕

And as far as review books go how does Step-Up Medicine compare to MedStudy?

 

[MilkmanAl]

I think you'll have better luck with the Step 2 forum.

 

[OveractiveBrain]

I'm going to start my first rotation soon. It's family med. I don't want to make the same mistake(s) I did with my step 1 so I want to start preparing from now.

I've gone through a number of threads and the stickies but theres so many different opinions on books. Personally,for me, I like 1 large reference book and 1 thin review book.

I have the Harrison's e-book, I may buy the actual book too b/c I like highlighting and stuff, and sometimes staring at a computer really bugs me.

However for Step 2 prep while in rotations, should I go with Step-Up to USMLE Step2 or FA Step2CK?

If I have harrison's should I invest in Step-Up Medicine as well?😕

And as far as review books go how does Step-Up Medicine compare to MedStudy?

Really? NEVER read that book. MAYBE if you are a resident doing a presentation for fellows (aka "Let me show you how much i can look up"). NEVER for rotations, NEVER for understanding, NEVER for tests, NEVER in life.

Family medicine isnt on the step. Its "internal medicine" or "preventive medicine." If you want to rape Step 2, get on a project now. Start with First Aid or Step Up (you should do both if you study for a year while on rotations).

 

[Metaform]

@overactivebrain thanks

I was never going to read all of Harrison's (idk if anyone can, esp me) but rather use it as a reference. so is Step up the way to go for step2 and IM rotations??

any thoughts on Medstudy?

 

[nlax30]

Yea, don't try to study from Harrison's. I mean, look up specific questions in there on your patients or for presentations but at 3rd year level trying to use that as your daily general medicine reading material is just overkill.

I used step up to medicine and I liked it. It seems to be one of the more popular choices so I went with it and didn't bother trying to use several different review books.

 

[yayMD]

I liked case files Internal Medicine and Family Med for my family rotation. You should use Up to Date if it's available to you. Don't sweat family med too much. The doctors there are usually very approachable. It's more important to do all the procedures (PAPs, rectals, guaiacs etc.) and provide smoking cessation/lifestyle mod advice than to show off your knowledge.

 

[gocoastal]

Are you talking about what Step 2 CK study methods to use in general? Or are you trying to study just the family medicine material now?

 

[LSU Alex]

BluePrints for Medicine served me well for IM and FM shelf exams. When studying for step 2, get yourself a Qbook and UWorld... then go to town.

 

[vicinihil]

Fam Med is a tough one to start with. A lot of information on a test and you have no background in any clinical rotations. I would start with a general text aka Blueprint for FM and do a bunch of questions from sources like PreTest, AAFP Website, Uworld/Kaplan. If you have time/energy, you can also try reading Step-up to Medicine or just the ambulatory medicine section.

Family doesn't have great resources because the shelf is a smoogasboard so unless someone can recommend a better quick review text than Blueprint, your best bet is to read BP.

 

[Perrotfish]

Are you sure that your school uses the shelf exam for Family? There's another exam that some schools give instead of the NBME shelf for that rotation, and you study for that exam differently than you would study for the shelf.

 

[Day man]

minor thread hijack...my apologies BUT FM is my first rotation also. i keep seeing questions are key. this may be a dumb question, but do you guys recommend just buying a year subscription to UW? Is that overkill? Seems like just about every rotation study method has "do UW questions" as part of the plan...but the 400$, or whatever is is, isn't very inviting haha. Thanks in advance.

 

[vicinihil]

Buy buy buy

 

[michigator04]

Buy buy buy

Pardon my ignorance, but to be clear you are advocating buying the UWorld Step 2 CK qbank for studying for the FM (and other) shelf exams? Does this seem to be a consensus? Because the other thread about FM shelf seemed to be very split about what works/doesn't.

I am fresh off of step 1, so to me UW=step 1, but I am trying to adjust to the 3rd year jargon.

 

[Jolie South]

Pardon my ignorance, but to be clear you are advocating buying the UWorld Step 2 CK qbank for studying for the FM (and other) shelf exams? Does this seem to be a consensus? Because the other thread about FM shelf seemed to be very split about what works/doesn't.

I am fresh off of step 1, so to me UW=step 1, but I am trying to adjust to the 3rd year jargon.

Step 2CK qbank. I think it's probably most useful for medicine as that makes up the bulk of the questions. I only bought it for my medicine rotation, but a year's subscription would not be a waste as there are questions on pretty much every shelf on there, including pedi, ob/gyn, surgery, and psych.

I don't know how useful it would be for FM.

 

[ArcGurren]

Step 2CK qbank. I think it's probably most useful for medicine as that makes up the bulk of the questions. I only bought it for my medicine rotation, but a year's subscription would not be a waste as there are questions on pretty much every shelf on there, including pedi, ob/gyn, surgery, and psych.

I don't know how useful it would be for FM.

I have it for FM and I guess I'll do the preventive medicine questions... but other than that I definitely can't see it being THAT useful for now.

OP I am also starting with family medicine... I guess this is practice dependent but I would usually start with reading up on the cases I saw that day (uncontrolled HTN, DM, etc) in Case Files and in Essentials of Family Medicine. Closer to the Shelf I'm probably going to start doing more questions.

I've definitely heard this is a tough one to start with (so is Medicine) but I'd rather spend it learning and learning it hard.

 

[2012mdc]

Step 2CK qbank. I think it's probably most useful for medicine as that makes up the bulk of the questions. I only bought it for my medicine rotation, but a year's subscription would not be a waste as there are questions on pretty much every shelf on there, including pedi, ob/gyn, surgery, and psych.

I don't know how useful it would be for FM.

didn't use it at all for FM. Pre-Test was sufficient for FM IMO