Step-Up to USMLE Step 2

A perfect addition to USMLE World. Throughout medical school I've developed a tendency to hoard books before actually sitting down to prepare for tests. It's clearly a way to feel mentally well-armed, and is somewhat ridiculous. I bought several books for Step 2 - Crush, Secrets, First Aid, and Step Up to Step 2. I read a few chapters in Crush but it seemed way too simplistic. Secrets is just a list of questions that corresponds to the material covered in Crush. I bought First Aid because I used it for Step 1 - like everyone else - but the book gave me a headache. It reads more like a pastiche of trivia than an organized review book. Despite the scarcity of reviews out there on Step Up to Step 2 I bought it because I LOVED Step Up to Medicine - hands down the most helpful book I used in all of med school. Step Up to Step 2 isn't nearly as thorough as Step Up to Medicine. At first, it seemed too pared down, but when I started answering USMLE World questions I realized that there was so much that was covered in Step Up to Step 2. It somehow manages to strike the perfect balance. It's digestible yet comprehensive. For such a thin book, it's pretty amazing. Seriously, the book is far superior to the others out there.

I was told by interns that they used "Crush." Others used First Aid (which is what I used for Step 1). I looked at all 3 to study cardiology and found that Step-Up covered the most detail in the fewest words. There weren't paragraphs to read about topics, just the high-yield facts. I ended up doing the "Doctors in Training" review course for Step 2, (just as I had done for Step 1) and this was the book Dr. Jenkins uses in the course. Having him walk through the book and discuss the high-yield stuff was sufficient for Step 2 for me.

I used Dr. Van Kleunen's "Step-Up to USMLE Step 2" book intensively last year. I love the approach and the amount of material covered. The fact that all the pediatric conditions are covered within the system chapters is appealing to me, since basically once you are through the Internal Medicine chapters, you only need to go over a few pages of Pediatrics, dealing with developmental milestones, vaccinations, etc. and you are ready for Peds questions as well. He did the same thing with the Infectious Diseases -- there is no separate chapter for it, but all IDs are included in the systems. Dr. Van Kleunen uses very practical charts and diagnostic/treatment pathways. There were a few mistakes in the first edition, which were corrected in the second (I did go to the store and compared). There are a few pages with colored pictures, which appear on the actual exam and are very useful. One thing I did not like is the fact that the Color Plates are in the middle of the Dermatology chapter (don't know why, maybe publisher's slip-up). I personally think it would be better if the color picture followed the condition or if Color Plates had been at the very end of the book. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly NOT enough to just read through this book. I penciled-in aplenty of additional info/explanations to go over and used it in conjunction with "First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK (First Aid USMLE)." However, I love the style; even though information is succinct, this book covers enough material for a thorough review. If you feel completely lost on the topic you would have to do more reading from a text of your choice, but as a review book, it is excellent. The last, but certainly the most important is that you need to do at least 1000 questions after this or any other review.

this seller is excellent with respectable behavior as the book is very clean and arrived in a reasonable time . thanks a lot and i recommend everyone to buy from him

i've been a big fan of step up series since the day i studied for step 1. so when comes to step 2 preparation, i have no doubt that this is one of the books that i decide to purchase off the local bookstore. i found out the information presented in this book is okay for broad knowledge and general understanding. when comes to specfic disease management, the book lists many tests under that disease and u have no idea what would be the best initial diagnostic step/or even best management for that particular disease. the book also contains numerous typos and careless mistakes that could be lethal had this book been your only primary study resource. overall, i strongly recommend this book to be used only when u have read blueprint series and decided to gain an overall perspective of what the common dzs are portrayed.