Reading Johns Hopkins board review now - should I read Mayo or Harrison's next?

[Phloston]

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I never check this page so please quote me if you respond. I'd be very grateful for your time and input.

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I'm reading the Johns Hopkins IM board review book now. Love it. But I'm thinking about next buying the Mayo board review book and/or Harrison's Principles of IM volumes 1 and 2 (over 3000 pages).

Any thoughts? I wouldn't be using these as references and would literally be reading them cover to cover.

 

[bashwell]

I never check this page so please quote me if you respond. I'd be very grateful for your time and input.

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I'm reading the Johns Hopkins IM board review book now. Love it. But I'm thinking about next buying the Mayo board review book and/or Harrison's Principles of IM volumes 1 and 2 (over 3000 pages).

Any thoughts? I wouldn't be using these as references and would literally be reading them cover to cover.

I have the Johns Hopkins IM Board Review (4th edition), and really like it too, although it's a bit too condensed for me. I personally like to have a little more context. Also, I wish they had longer chapters on one or two fields which they otherwise relegated to Section Eleven (e.g. allergy and immunology). But these are probably minor points, especially since it's meant to be a "review" book after all.

I suppose if you're going to read IM residency level books, then maybe MedStudy (or MKSAP) would be the way to go?

 

[Phloston]

I have the Johns Hopkins IM Board Review (4th edition), and really like it too, although it's a bit too condensed for me. I personally like to have a little more context. Also, I wish they had longer chapters on one or two fields which they otherwise relegated to Section Eleven (e.g. allergy and immunology). But these are probably minor points, especially since it's meant to be a "review" book after all.

I suppose if you're going to read IM residency level books, then maybe MedStudy (or MKSAP) would be the way to go?

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I have a friend in IM residency who also mentioned MKSAP. So you'd recommend buying the MKSAP 16 package?

 

[WonderBoy]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I have a friend in IM residency who also mentioned MKSAP. So you'd recommend buying the MKSAP 16 package?

MSKAP 17 is coming out end of july. Are you using these sources to study for CK? We used MSKAP in our program, I like the uworld questions more but across the country I know majority of programs use mskap and some use medstudy.

 

[Phloston]

MSKAP 17 is coming out end of july. Are you using these sources to study for CK? We used MSKAP in our program, I like the uworld questions more but across the country I know majority of programs use mskap and some use medstudy.

That really helps. Thanks a lot for taking the time to give your input. I took 2CK already and am in final year of med. I'm just bored with USMLE material and want stuff more in depth. I plan to eventually apply IM since I don't think anything else is as close to as interesting. I'll be sure to wait out for MSKAP17, as per your input.

 

[Profe10P]

Phloston. Have you taken a look at IM Essentials Text? What can you say about it? Is it only for Internal Medicine Knowledge or is it suitable fo USMLE Step 2 CK?

Thanks in advance.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Not really qualified to post an opinion here, but on our hospital classifieds I once saw an ad along these lines,"Mayo Internal Medicine board review book. $x. Excellent review. Never used."

😕

 

[Instatewaiter]

I never check this page so please quote me if you respond. I'd be very grateful for your time and input.

----------

I'm reading the Johns Hopkins IM board review book now. Love it. But I'm thinking about next buying the Mayo board review book and/or Harrison's Principles of IM volumes 1 and 2 (over 3000 pages).

Any thoughts? I wouldn't be using these as references and would literally be reading them cover to cover.

If you really want something in depth, go with Harrison's. You have already read one review book, do you really want another? I will tell you that it is very dense and reads like it is 6000 pages.

Other options are subspecialty books. Are you more interested in one subspecialty in medicine? There's one that's awesome that deals with the area above the diaphragm and between the lungs and rhymes with bardiology that I can recommend a good book for.

 

[bashwell]

If you really want something in depth, go with Harrison's. You have already read one review book, do you really want another? I will tell you that it is very dense and reads like it is 6000 pages.

Other options are subspecialty books. Are you more interested in one subspecialty in medicine? There's one that's awesome that deals with the area above the diaphragm and between the lungs and rhymes with bardiology that I can recommend a good book for.

Please do!

 

[Instatewaiter]

Manual of Cardiovascular Medicine (author is Brian Griffin)- it tends to be more clinically useful than most books. There should be a new edition coming out but the blue cover would be just fine and about 20 bucks on amazon

 

[Instatewaiter]

So there is no such thing as a good comprehensive review book. There are review books and there are comprehensive books. There's nothing in between. Realize that almost no one actually reads all of Harrisons. I wasn't joking when I said it reads like it is 6000 pages. If you sat down every day and read an hour (unlikely during residency), unless you are a very fast reader or weren't reading for retention, you probably would only be able to get through Harrisons once during residency.

MKSAP is too superficial for IM residency. It is basically a review for IM boards. Plus, you probably should get the most recent edition before you take boards. These come out every 2 or so years so you'd likely be best off waiting until 2nd or 3rd year before buying these.

I used MKSAP and First Aid for the IM boards. Honestly First Aid was reasonable for the BS memorization stuff for boards and might serve as a reasonable frame work to fill stuff in and is only a few hundred pages so could be useful. I don't know much about the Johns Hopkins IM review but I wouldn't trust any book that came from a small community hospital.

The question is, do you need Harrisons with what you can find on uptodate? If you are diligent and look at uptodate and all the guidelines, you will learn most of what is in Harrisons without wasting much of your time.

 

[bashwell]

So there is no such thing as a good comprehensive review book. There are review books and there are comprehensive books. There's nothing in between. Realize that almost no one actually reads all of Harrisons. I wasn't joking when I said it reads like it is 6000 pages. If you sat down every day and read an hour (unlikely during residency), unless you are a very fast reader or weren't reading for retention, you probably would only be able to get through Harrisons once during residency.

MKSAP is too superficial for IM residency. It is basically a review for IM boards. Plus, you probably should get the most recent edition before you take boards. These come out every 2 or so years so you'd likely be best off waiting until 2nd or 3rd year before buying these.

I used MKSAP and First Aid for the IM boards. Honestly First Aid was reasonable for the BS memorization stuff for boards and might serve as a reasonable frame work to fill stuff in and is only a few hundred pages so could be useful. I don't know much about the Johns Hopkins IM review but I wouldn't trust any book that came from a small community hospital.

The question is, do you need Harrisons with what you can find on uptodate? If you are diligent and look at uptodate and all the guidelines, you will learn most of what is in Harrisons without wasting much of your time.

I can't tell if this is serious or if it's meant as a jab at Johns Hopkins? If the latter, hilarious. 😉

If I'm reading this right, in order for an IM resident to pass the boards, you'd recommend reading UpToDate on your patients + FA for the IM Boards for a rough outline or guide + buying the latest edition of MKSAP (in PGY2 or PGY3) to fill in the details?

 

[Instatewaiter]

I can't tell if this is serious or if it's meant as a jab at Johns Hopkins? If the latter, hilarious. 😉

If I'm reading this right, in order for an IM resident to pass the boards, you'd recommend reading UpToDate on your patients + FA for the IM Boards for a rough outline or guide + buying the latest edition of MKSAP (in PGY2 or PGY3) to fill in the details?

Obviously I am being serious...

You don't necessarily need any of those books to pass the boards. I thought UTD was quick and easy to look things up while on the wards. I though FA for IM boards was a nice outline and helpful for the boards but definitely not necessary. MKSAP is unquestionably the most common thing used to study (mainly for the questions). The MKSAP books are so-so.