Pharmacology for step 2

[robotsonic]

Ok, I'm pretty bad with pharmacology. My school doesn't have a pharmacology course, claiming that our curriculum incorporates pharm into physiology, pathology, etc... but this isn't really true. When I took step 1, I just tried to memorize what was in First Aid, and I guess this worked.
Now I'm studying for step 2, and I realize that I am doing the same thing again, and I kind of wish I had a better grasp of pharm.

What would you recommend? I have the huge Katzung book, and it is good, but I don't really have time to read the entire thing. I've started going through the tables in it, which is pretty helpful, but I kind of want a brief text.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[EctopicFetus]

There isnt a ton of pharm per se but you should have some expertise from being on the wards. basic things were tested on mine like HCTZ as the first choice for HTN, use of ACEs for DM with HTN. Mostly basic stuff but all stuff you have seen. I really liked USMLEWorld for questions and the pharm on there was more than enough for the real thing.

 

[robotsonic]

Thanks Ectopic.

I guess I also want to read a basic pharm text so that I feel more confident, even though I probably already know most of the basics for the exam.

 

[sponch]

I would advise against spending too much time on a pharm text book, mainly because the pharm you need to know will kind of be integrated into books like Secrets/B&W. Just worry about the commonly used drugs, common side effects. All in all, the pharm isn't even tested that much. I'd focus more on formulating your differential diagnosis and using clues in the question stem to arrive at the correct diagnosis. After that, you'll need to know the first line treatment.

 

[trkd]

I would agree the with the above posters simply because they have taken the exam and I am just studying for it. However, you seem pretty gung ho on a book to be mentioned so I will just say that lippincott pharm was good for me. Easy/quick-ish read and I was able to follow it. The other pharm books were too dense for me to understand. Again, I would follow the advise of the people who have taken the exam though. Good luck.