First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK (First Aid for the USMLE Step 2: Clinical Knowledge)

Almost all med students know of the importance of "First Aid for the Step 1" in their board preparation; it's almost a rite of passage to buy, read, and annotate in it until it's dog-eared and the spine breaks. So, when I began my Step 2 preparation, I naturally purchased this book as it seemed the intuitive choice. However, for those expecting the ease and terseness of the Step 1 book, you will surely be disappointed. This would make for a two-star review, however, after a review of the other main options, I'd give it three stars, because it certainly isn't much worse than the competitors.For starters, the format is not the mnemonic and diagram-driven format of the Step 1 book, but is written in paragraph and bullet point format. It's something I actually prefer to the outline format of "Step Up to Step 2", but some may find it dense.The second thing--and my main dig on this book--is that it doesn't say much more about diagnosis and treatment than the Step 1 book! I expected it to be more focused on management of disease, but was underwhelmed. Unlike "Step Up to Medicine" and the Kaplan High Yield course, which tell you exactly what the "best initial diagnostic test" or "most accurate test" or "best initial therapy" is, First Aid for the Step 2 really...doesn't tell you that much at all. In many cases, it merely lists a bunch of diagnostic tests that "may be useful" or "may show (insert finding here)" but does not tell you in what order to do them. With treatment, it is equally as vague for many conditions.It also surprisingly omits many conditions I've ran into in my question banks, such as every other type of aphasia except Broca's and Wernicke's. The section on non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is a very diverse group of diseases, is condensed into a 1-2 page section that doesn't distinguish well between say, follicular B cell lymphoma, and Burkitt's.There are some good things about this book; as I previously alluded to, the paragraph form is something I actually prefer. The writing style is very conversational compared to, say, Cecils' Essentials and it is in a very accessible format. This is an OK book if you plan on annotating heavily into it from question banks, reference books, journal articles, etc. However, if you don't plan on doing that (or if you are starting late in your preparation), I would suggest either reading this along with Step Up to Medicine to avoid missing out on the finer points of diagnosis and treatment or using a different book entirely like Step Up or MTB.

Let me begin by saying I seriously struggled about getting this book. I LOVED (and loved to hate) FA Step 1.. FA + Goljan audio + UW for 4.5 weeks got me >230 after being a mediocre student for the first 2 years of medical school. I was 100% set on doing FA for Step 2 after I took step 1 but then all these reviews on Amazon and SDN scared me away so I started panicking and got Step Up to Medicine and got overwhelmed by it during my IM clerkship and then got MTB Step 2 and feel duped (too much obviously missing and I do not believe the reviews for it on Amazon anymore). I also bought Secrets to Step 2 and I really like that one but it's kind of hard to learn from initially but it's definitely a keeper.Anyways, I ended up buying FA Step 2 CK and just started skimming it. I don't know why everyone keeps saying that it is lacking in information but then I remembered people used to say the same about FA Step 1. I'd constantly hear people saying that it NEEDS to be supplemented by RR or Pathoma or BRS or whatever. I ignored them and told myself if I could memorize every line in FA I will fill my little brain to maximum capacity for a single exam.Now that I am looking at FA Step 2 CK, I feel like I can say the same... If I can memorize everything in this book + understand all answers of UW, I will feel confident about taking Step 2. Secrets for Step 2 will be my Goljan audio (mention interesting little high yield factoids). In summary, if you ignored the haters that told you FA Step 1 is not enough only to see for yourself that it was, then at the very least you owe it to yourself to give FA Step 2 CK a shot.

This book is a great resource to be used as a companion but NOT AS A SOLE STUDY AID in preparing for USMLE Step 2.Pros:*It's in color!!!! All of it!!!!*Images are now included right in the chapter so you don't have to keep flipping to the back.*Great organization by subjects with references to other chapters when necessary.*Lots of high yield material; there is not a lot of extraneous low yield stuff so don't be surprised that its not "all inclusive". This is a good thing for boards, wouldn't use it as your primary resource for shelf exams, though.*There are questions in the margins. Fantastic! It keeps you really focused.*Lots of mnemonics for people that like this.*Great super high yield section in the back (as in other First Aid USMLE books) to review the day before your exam.Cons:*Some chapters are better written than others.*Index is pretty awful. Could hardly ever find a term.*As to be expected, there were a few mistakes (hopefully by this time you just pick up on them and move on).*MISSING PICTURES!!! The derm chapter had some pictures not there. There were spaces for the pictures but they were blank. However, it easy enough to look this stuff up online.*Epidemiology chapter is pretty small. If you feel weak in the area of biostats, you really need to get a little bit more help from another resource.Conclusion: Just took Step 2 and felt pretty prepared by using this book and a qbank as my only resources. Good luck!

great review of high yield topics. broad, amount of most common topics, some nice pictures and simple explanations, easy to ready and get through. i did have to supplement with other books if i needed something a little more in depth. however, overall the bang for buck with this book is excellent. you really can cover a lot of information in a very easy to read manner for a great score.

Used as review book for written Mcq exams.

Very useful bookWell writtenBrief, yet descriptiveGood as a quick reference for a topic/diseaseGood tips and pneumonic

Beautifully written ..concise & to the point ..covers all major and minor exam topics..truly First Aid !However at several points throughout the book pictures/diagrams/flowcharts do not immediately follow the relevant text but nothing major..Would definitely recommend this book :)

Like new book, no even a scratch.

As described. Arrived on time.