Customer Reviews

NAIL THE BOARDS 2005-2006! The Ultimate Internal Medicine Review for USMLE Steps 2 & 3

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a physician in private practice and have been looking for a solid review of internal medicine for the boards for years. I've been disappointed over and over, and then I ran across this treasure chest!! I learned that the author is also director and continue to be the chief instructor for one of the leading board review establishments in the country, Frontrunners Board Review, Inc., based in New York, so I thought I'd give it a try. It turned out to be one of the smartest career moves I've made since joining my practice! I understand that the book is based on the syllabus for the Frontrunners board review course, so I kind of imagine the course flew to me instead of vice versa, a real convenience! The book is clearly laid out, subject by subject, and its outlined format helped me to see the relationships between key concepts much more clearly than with any other board review book I've had the misfortune of buying. The clever use of mnemonics throughout and appropriate useage of underlining, bolds, italics, boxed-in points, and bullets clearly drew my attention to the most important points for the boards. And when I took my exam, it was all there! No surprises!! Needless to say, I aced my exam, and have since referred it to 2 of my partners who have gone on to "nail" their boards. The book continues to be an important resource in our office. Everything can be found in the Index section so whenever I want to look up some info quickly between patients, it's so simple to use. We use it so often to look up key information on medicine that none of the 3 of us are content to share a single book. Each of us hoards our own copy, and in fact we had to buy a separate copy for the nurses and physician assistants who kept asking for our copies! So, thanks to this educational treasure cove, our entire office is now full of board-certified staff. What's more, our patient volume has increased considerably since we are now listed as "board-certified" in the physician directories, and patients generally would rather choose a boarded physician over a non-boarded physician, all other things being equal. AND (my favorite) all the HMOs are finally off our back, so our day-to-day lives are so much easier. Finally, on a personal level, I know my confidence as a health care provider is so much higher now. I have a greater sense of pride in my work, and--I have to admit--definitely am providing a higher quality of care than I ever had before. I would definitely recommend this book to any health care provider looking for a top-notch review of internal medicine, whether or not they're studying for any of the medical board exams! David Cohen, MD

I'm definitely recommending Nail the Boards for the USMLE Step 3 since this was the only book I used to prepare(along with Frontrunners 2004 Internal Medicine Q&A) and I nailed all the medicine questions. This book was a huge part of my success on the exam. A must-have.

I TRULY want to 'thank my lucky stars'. I went thru all the starred items in the book, which are all the most commonly-asked material on the boards, then went thru everything in detail, and finally reviewed the starred items only 2 days before the exam and scored 98%ile on my USMLE 3. I got TONS of questions just from those starred items. So, truly, I'm thanking my lucky stars. The 2nd & 3rd year residents are using it for ther medicine boards curriculum as part of our in-house board review. I guess I'll be ahead of the game. Anyway, I'm giving it a HUGE RECOMMEND.

I used Nail the Boards 2004 along with the Q&A 2004 and performed very well on all the internal medicine questions on my USMLE Step 3. I was glad to have had it recommended by the class ahead of me. Excellent review reflecting all the medicine on the exam. I was a little shocked to see HOW close to the exam content it actually was, but hey, who am I to complain? :) Make sure you get thru these two at least once before the exam, especially the starred items.

I got this book a couple years back for my STEP 3, did a chapter a night with the Q&A companion, got thru it two or three times, and jammed on my exam. My friends chose it for their self-study group 'curriculum', and attributed their success to it too. Last year, I was surprised to see that it was actually required reading for our in-house prep course for the Internal Medicine Boards at our residency. It was our first year we had a 100% pass rate. Of course, our director loves it the most.

Without a doubt, the best feature of this book is the STARRED items (*) which basically gives you all the commonly asked material on the exam. For me, it was a gold mine. I went thru all of the starred items the day before my exam. I know I got an extra 20-30 points on my STEP 3 from those items alone. Like one of the other reviewers, I also thought the Frontrunners q&a companion was a great way to prepare. It also had alot of stuff right out of the exam.

This was my favorite book both going into and coming out of my step 3. My studying was efficient and I aced all the medicine questions. The starred items are extremely valuable and the book is worth getting just for those alone, if nothing else!

This book had everything I needed--really good diagrams/algorithms/etc; an outlined format; AND fantastic memory aids throughout the book that helped me process the info alot faster and retain it for the exam. It's why I did so well on my step 3, although you really have to have this one before you sit for any of your clinical steps.

My friend and I studied together last year, using Nail the Boards as our primary study aid, and we both did really well. There was a ton of stuff on the exam right from the book, and a well-organized, completely-outlined format saved us a lot of time. The mnemonics were great we got a lot of points on the exam from those alone. Tables and algorithms were equally well-chosen. The index is well-designed too and made it easy for us to look up specific topics where we were weak. She and I would recommend this review book for sure. The 2002 edition is actually even better. I'm recommending it now to my second and third year residents who are preparing for THEIR exam and am very happy I learned about the book before my exam.

This book was a major part of my success on Steps 2 AND 3. I'm enthusiastically supporting it. I like the memory aids and the well-conceived layout. The outlined format allowed me to get through it 2 or 3 times before each exam. Quite thorough.