internal medicine

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.

Save your money and read something else. Although this review book is designed to be high yield, the information contained is TOO BASIC to be helpful. I learned almost nothing new from reading this book. The USMLE will test a deeper level of experience and knowledge than is contained in this book. Anyone who has had an adequate medical education will find the information in this book almost trivial. There are few decent Step 2 review books out there; this isn't one of them. BIG disappointment compared to First Aid for Step 1.

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 books (about four 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.