PLEASE HELP with books for IM Rotation and Step 2, Looked @ 100s of posts 4 book list

[lafferty]

Hi everyone,

Thanks in adavance for listening to my worries. I just got my scores back from step 1 and I think the biggest help for me was the Goljan lectures. But as I am sitting going through the website trying to come up with books for both Internal Medicine rotation, which I start with in 2 weeks, and books I can use to study during the next year which I then can use for my boards (step 2). Dont get me wrong, Im not a gunner, but as I was studying for Step 1 I wish I had known that BRS Phys, or some high yields were used to study for the boards so I could have looked at them during my first and second year medical school years (especially Goljan for path) instead of just textbooks and then seeing, for example, BRS PHYS for the first time. Here is what I gathered from reading through hundreds of posts, maybe others will benefit from this too!

Interenal Medicine

#1 Book that was recommended MKSAP 3 (by far the most liked)
#2 Step Up for Medicine
#3 Pre-test medicine
#4 Harrisons/Cecils/uptodate.com (which I dont know if my hospital had a subscription to) for cases Im assigned to

Step 2 Boards (they dont overlap)

#1 USMLE Wolrd (By far the #1)
#2 Boards and Wards
#3 FA for CK

I havent heards anything about Goljan for step 2 except that I found it on sale for like 6 bucks on ebay, I loved it for step 1 (fill me in on this if you know anything)

So my question is, with the book lists I have created, are they everyones favorite, and would it be worth while to use the B and W and FA for CK though out my thrid year with questions from USMLE World? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

THANK YOU! Lafferty

 

[randomedstudent]

Hi everyone,

Thanks in adavance for listening to my worries. I just got my scores back from step 1 and I think the biggest help for me was the Goljan lectures. But as I am sitting going through the website trying to come up with books for both Internal Medicine rotation, which I start with in 2 weeks, and books I can use to study during the next year which I then can use for my boards (step 2). Dont get me wrong, Im not a gunner, but as I was studying for Step 1 I wish I had known that BRS Phys, or some high yields were used to study for the boards so I could have looked at them during my first and second year medical school years (especially Goljan for path) instead of just textbooks and then seeing, for example, BRS PHYS for the first time. Here is what I gathered from reading through hundreds of posts, maybe others will benefit from this too!

Interenal Medicine

#1 Book that was recommended MKSAP 3 (by far the most liked)
#2 Step Up for Medicine
#3 Pre-test medicine
#4 Harrisons/Cecils/uptodate.com (which I dont know if my hospital had a subscription to) for cases Im assigned to

Step 2 Boards (they dont overlap)

#1 USMLE Wolrd (By far the #1)
#2 Boards and Wards
#3 FA for CK

I havent heards anything about Goljan for step 2 except that I found it on sale for like 6 bucks on ebay, I loved it for step 1 (fill me in on this if you know anything)

So my question is, with the book lists I have created, are they everyones favorite, and would it be worth while to use the B and W and FA for CK though out my thrid year with questions from USMLE World? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

THANK YOU! Lafferty

I agree that MKSAP is the single best source for medicine shelf, and I also liked Step-Up although I didn't have time to finish it. I have heard that First Aid for step 2 sucks, and my understanding is that most people use a book called Crush Step 2 instead, and +/- Boards and Wards.

 

[46&2]

As far as Internal Med, I found the following helpful:

1. MKSAP II and III (they're actually substantially different)
2. First Aid for Medicine (suprisingly thorough while brief)
3. Pocket Medicine (memorize this and you're the bomb... enough for most patients you have to cover... only use Harrison's and the like when you have to present a specific topic or a zebra)

As far as Step II, you want to do USMLEworld, but I don't think it's cost effective to get a whole year subscription. Save it for the end. It would be better to buy/check-out Kaplan QBook for shelf exams.

To read throughout the year for Step II:

1. Boards and Wards (good for shelfs, but maybe too dense just before Step II... really does help on the Wards as well...)
2. USMLE Step 2 Secrets (does the basics, but you need a little more, good just before Step)
3. First Aid for Step 2 CK (the latest edition seems more thorough than Secrets)