First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 (First Aid Series)

Rating:
Summary: Check out the 4th Edition
Review: According to some friends who graduated over the past couple years, the previous editions of First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 were not worth the money; so I almost bypassed this new edition while browsing in the bookstore, but I'm glad I glanced through it and then decided to buy it. I used this book in conjunction with the Underground Clinical Vignettes by the same authors (kind of pricey at about $200 for the set, but surprisingly worth it; the cases are--usually--keyed to the main text). After spending a total of approximately 120 hours with these two books (about three hours a night for the month prior to the exam), I raised my score from 194/79 on Step I to 228/92 on Step II. To me, that was well worth the +/- $250 it cost to purchase the package.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding, concise preparation for the USMLE Step II
Review: Excellent conglomeration of high-yield review of diseases and diagnoses relevant to clinical medicine and the USMLE Step II exam. The format of the information is superior with sections describing signs/symptoms, physical exam/lab findings, and treatment strategies. Essential for USMLE Step II preparation.

Rating:
Summary: Better than the previous
Review: First Aid for the USMLE Step 2, on its new edition brings readers preparing for the Step 2 of the American Boards a better book than previous issues. Content has been revised and expanded, and, although worse than the Step 1 equivalent, it is still the best book available to prepare for Step 2. It is excelent for last minute review, and also contains a very helpful analysis of other available board review books. Major problem is the abusive use of abbreviations that are not explained in the appendix.

Rating:
Summary: One that you get to feel "keeping up to the peers"
Review: Frankly, this is not as good as the First Aid for Step1. However, I still recommend my friends to get this book as a "first aid", because this book does cover the basic topics that appear in Step2. Sure, this is not enough, but good enough to start with. It is especially useful in terms of selecting the "secondary" books.

Rating:
Summary: Check out the 4th Edition
Review: Getting close to "First Aid for USMLE STEP 1" quality!

Rating:
Summary: Quite a dissapointement compared to First Aid for Step I
Review: I agree with the first reviewer that this book was a dissapointment, but I disagree that there are better books out there. The USMLE step II review books are all terrible. They all fall in the shadow of First Aid for Step I and nothing can even come close to being as useful as that was. Again, this book had a lot to say about nothing. It's too basic to really be of use for the exam. The USMLE exams test a deep understanding of the material, and you'd better know the stuff in this book at the VERY LEAST. I'd still like a lot more detail.

Rating:
Summary: Huge Disappointment from First Aid Step 1!
Review: I agree with the other reviewers. Does not hold a candle to the Step 1 book. Even though this is Step 2, I would advise using some of the new Step 3 review books. In particular you might wish to check out a new review book that was recently written for the Step 3: Strong Med Step 3.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely worth the money
Review: I found this book to be very helpful in my studying for step 2. I felt like the book did a good job of breaking down the presentation, differential dx, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. As always with the first aid series, the mnemonics are helpful. I really liked the rapid review section that allowed one to quickly review all key concepts from each section. The emergency medicine section was also extremely helpful. One drawback would be the lack of a surgery section as surgery is one of the subjects tested on the boards. Overall, I think this is definitely worth the money. Another book I found to be helpful was Boards and Wards.

Rating:
Summary: Not recommended to study, just a bathroom read.
Review: I have not taken step 1 exam yet, but this book is not a good source. It contains too little information considered high yield in the exam. Definetly not to be used by itself. Good pictures to look at, but i definetly recommend another review book for the actual exam, while this one can be skimmed through.

Rating:
Summary: a good comprehensive review
Review: If you don't have the time to read all of the blueprints or the NMS series then this is a good alternative. I have compared the info in this book with others & found that it covers quite a lot. You should pick up whatever details that it lack from Q&A books, such as the NMSR & others. This book alone is not enough, but with supplemental Q&A, it's great.