Customer Reviews

Cracking the Boards: USMLE Step 1

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book covers a lot of information, but it is not complete for a complete review. I used it along with First Aid for the USMLE and some other review books. It is a fantastic place to start.

I found this book extremely frustrating to use. I found an average 1 mistake per page, causing me to question every word written. As examples, according to this book, Vitamin D is 25 hydroxylated in the kidney (should be liver), alzheimer's has equal prevalence in males and females (F=2M), classical C5 convertase is C4b2b3b (should be C4b2a3b), Myesthenia Gravis is a result of desensitization block of Ach receptors by autoreactive antibodies (antibodies do not act at the ligand binding site, but serve to cross link receptors --> increased internalization), and this is just to name a few.
I recommend choosing another book for your studies.

If you ever study for the USMLE and you want to have a single book to give you the confidence that you are covering the basics, pick this one. I recommend it as a starter. There are many tables and high-yield diagrams. If you want to have the "synoptic" and "big picture" companion to the selected high yield topics in First Aid to the USMLE, then do pick this one. Big printed text and relaxed style makes reading a breeze. A confidence builder. Admittedly, not exhaustive but remember the maxim: Less is more.

This is a must have, don't think twice, you can't go wrong with this one...., save me a lot of time passing USMLE 1, don't waste your time reading 800+ pages with NMS review collection... this one and First aid are a killer combination!!

It is clear that this book is not meant for those taking the boards exam seriously. Even if you had full access to this book during the exam, you would likely not fare well as it simply does not cover the material to the level that a medschool student truly needs to pass the boards exam.

This is like Alice in Wonderland meets the boards, only this time you are Mr. Rabbit.

I have read this book cover to cover. This book is for little children who want to learn about medicine. If you have little kids, get them this book as a head start. They will become great doctors after reading it. You-won't! This book is not even close to a reality! How can they even publish this book! Please, if you have little children that are in kindergarten, and they would like to learn about medicine, please buy them this book. But please don't read this book for yourself for the Boards! This book won't even tell you the most common things that occur commonly! This book doesn't even have all syndromes and diseases that are definitely gonna be asked on the Boards! This book says nothing about Takaysu's arteritis, Temporal (Giant cell) Arteritis. This book won't even mention cytoplasmic antinuclear antibodies (c-ANCA)that are present in Wegener's granulomatosis! This book won't even mention ANA Ab against double stranded DNA in SLE for God's sake! How can they even publish this book? This book doesn't have a half what you need to know! This book is for little children who would like to learn very very basic things about little things in medicine.

This is an excellent book to put a baby to sleep.

I do have to agree that the CD-ROM, that comes with the book has a few good vignettes and questions that might be helpful to you, but please don't read this children's book.

OK, nerds don't like this book. It isn't for nerds. If you want to get bogged down in senseless details, go ahead. If you have a life an want some relevent info, get this and/or the First Aid series.

Excelent source of updated information, specialy in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. I liked the well-organized, system-based content of this book, but it's a little wordy and I've found several mistakes. Even though, I would recomend it to any Foreing Medical Graduate prepearing for the STEP 1. ( I scored high with this one and First Aid )

This is a great book to review material, as it explains concepts so well. It also covers strictly all the clinical points of the basic sciences, and not facts that are really not needed. You must learn to use it with your coursework, however, as it is a bit deficient. I am using it side by side with my first aid, and a couple other review books. It's framework, however, makes studying for the boards a lot easier to mentally grasp, as the systems and the most high yield concepts are already there for you. It's length is almost perfect, as you have already covered so much material in your courses. This gives you quite a bit of time to do as many questions for the boards as possible. I would definitely recommend this book as a starter for USMLE study. For the next edition, I recommend making the book atleast 1200 to 1500 pages, to make up for the deficiencies, and so no other review books are needed.

This book is only sufficient for the less weighted items for the USMLE boards. There is just not enough depth for a lot of the things covered by the boards. Also, there are quite a few errors in here, and no errata published by Princeton Review. That means that everything written in it must be checked elsewhere and confirmed before it is useful. On the plus side, for a broad and nonspecific overview of topics like gross anatomy, genetics and immunology, the book did a good job. However, they billed themselves as a comprehensive study guide, and they just fell short of that claim.