Question about Step 1 Kaplan review books

[futuromd]

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Does anybody know with certainty whether the 2000 edition for Kaplan USMLE Step 1 review books is the same as the 2003 edition?

I am looking to purchase a set online, and the 2000 edition is much cheaper. However, I don't know if it is outdated or if the USMLE has changed at all since then. (For example, I know the MCAT changed slightly this past year.)

Thanks for your help!!

 

[doc05]

kaplan revises their books every year, so a 2000 edition will definintely be lacking.

also, they now package the set in 7 volumes, rather than 3. it's the same total number of pages (~2600), but each text is much easier to carry around and read from.

since you are entering in the fall, though, a cheap set might help for review during ms1 and ms2. just remember that review books don't provide the detail that most medical schools test on.

good luck

 

[Bananahammock]

I own the 2003 step 1 lecture notes and to me they seem very good. I use them for course review as I am currently an MS2. For anyone in the know, would it be safe to say that everything that could possibly be asked in the USMLE is contained in these books?

 

[ajl102]

I am currently reading the Kaplan texts cover to cover in about 3 weeks. Seems like this is the plan of a lot of my classmates. Most of the class, myself included, is taking the in class lecture series, which really amounts to a high intensity highlighting session - an anotation of the already anotated Kaplan medical texts.
I was thinking that a good way to check whether the Kap texts are universal would be to just take practice test by other board prep sources, like BRS... Even going through Kaplan's own Qbank I've come across some details and concepts not spelled out in the texts. Sometimes this is extra info that isn't %100 necessary to answer the questions, but could help if you were chosing between two similar answers (associative clues, etc.).
So I guess my feeling is that the Kap texts are a good skeleton. If you MASTERED them you could probably pull out a monster score. If you just read them carefully, then look to fill in the holes answering questions and reading the explanations.

My question: am I reading too much, instead of just doing questions? Anyone have an opinion on the Kaplan texts' end-of-chapter practice questions? Are they a waste of time?