Should I use the Kaplan Lecture series?

[Captopril]

Here's another thread regarding Step 1 study materials (I recently posted about what Path book to study from):

I have ready access to the Kaplan Lecture Notes series (the set of ~8 books separated by subject) and qBanks. Alot of the alumni from my school have used these books with FA and done well. However, after lurking on these pages for the past few days, I've noticed that other sources are much much more popular (like RR Path & Biochem, HY Anatomy & Embryo, BRS Patho, MRS Micro, Lange Micro for Immunology, etc etc). Would any of you guys recommend I take the advice of SDNers and use this smorgasbord of material, or should I follow in the footsteps of my school's grads and use the Kaplan series + FA exclusively. Basically I just wanted to know if people don't use the Kaplan series because of their uselessness, because of their cost, or a mix of both.

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[doc20]

If you have the kaplan material and the videos do them, they are board relevant and specially if you dont have time its easier to go through them. either ways focus more on qbanks then getting though the books

 

[Captopril]

Thanks doc20. Actually I do have the videos as well, but I also have a lot of time on my hands to study (~6 months). With that much time, would you (or anyone else) recommend I still stick with Kaplan, or are the other books preferred?

 

[tfom08]

I think people advise other books because Kaplan is more expensive (the home set costs $500) and perhaps not perfectly tailored to a 5-6 week study period because of the length of some of the books. For instance, Levinson immuno = 90 pp, while Kaplan immuno = 200 pp. I don't think Kaplan is less effective, it just depends if you have time to read through 200+ pages of immuno. That said, since you have 6 months and the books and videos already, I think it would be a good idea to do Kaplan with RR path on the side. I'm no expert, but I am going through the Kaplan mol. bio, biochem, genetics book right now and I really like it.

 

[RussianJoo]

I think people advise other books because Kaplan is more expensive (the home set costs $500) and perhaps not perfectly tailored to a 5-6 week study period because of the length of some of the books. For instance, Levinson immuno = 90 pp, while Kaplan immuno = 200 pp. I don't think Kaplan is less effective, it just depends if you have time to read through 200+ pages of immuno. That said, since you have 6 months and the books and videos already, I think it would be a good idea to do Kaplan with RR path on the side. I'm no expert, but I am going through the Kaplan mol. bio, biochem, genetics book right now and I really like it.

I agree. Most students on here are US medical students who only have 6-8weeks to study for this test. Also most of those books are already in their library so there's little extra to buy and they're familiar with the books. In addition, most US students have done well in basic science classes and have the confidence that they will do well on the boards, and lastly US grads don't need as high board scores for some less competitive residencies when compared to imgs or fmgs. Compare that to the expensive Kaplan course that is difficult to get through in 6-8 weeks and the choice is clear.

Even though I hate Kaplan simply because they over charge for their material and don't edit their notes, Kaplan has worked for many people including myself. So if you have kaplan and it's fairly new 2006 or earlier i would use kaplan and maybe supplement whatever you feel is missing in kaplan.

 

[Captopril]

Right on, thanks guys.