Customer Reviews

First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CS (Clinical Skills Exam)

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I recently passed the Step 2 CS using this book and I must say that this was not the only reference source I used. The truth is though that it was the only source worth turning to. I bought the Kaplan book along with the FIRST AID but I soon found myself using only the FIRST AID. . It turns out that the Kaplan people have no idea what it takes to help students pass this test( I have known several people who have taken their week long prep course and failed the Step 2 CS exam)......yet the authors of the First Aid do!!! The First Aid has complete and reliable Patient NOTES for almost every scenario you could find on the test....Kaplan's book does not. The scenarios in this book are perfectly made so that you can practice with a friend or loved one.....Kaplan's book was not organized well for this purpose (if at all). In addition, after doing much research (hint, hint), I came to know I was better off using the First Aid to pass. On exam day, it was the book I saw most often in students hands (More so in the hands of American Medical Students than in the hands of IMG's!!). If you are a smart test taker......then you like to pass, to pass you would want to have the tools that the winners are using. For this reason I recommend the FIRST AID as a reliable source for USMLE Step 2 CS preparation.

This book does a great job of describing the exam format, rules and content. You can easily pass the exam using this book alone. In fact, a few days with this little gem before CS is what most of my friends and I have done for preparation. The consensus is that we ALL felt very comfortable with the simulated patient format based on what we learned in First Aid alone. Of all the cases I had on the exam, only ONE was not specifically covered in First Aid for CS. Don't waste time with other books/resources. I was somewhat disappointed with First Aid for CK, but for CS...it's right on the money!

This book was excellent for the exam. It told me exactly what to expect and what I needed for the exam day. The cases in the back of the book where almost verbatim of what I saw on the exam. Reviewing specifc physical exams and specific questions for a particular chief complaint was very benefical. I highly recommend this book.

Great help for the USMLE CS. Has a wide variety of cases with differential diagnosis and work up plan for almost every possible case that will be on the test. Definately worth it!

A great review for step 2cs, great h/o section and PN notes. Also a great source for differential diagnosis; the only drawback-not too many cases; but they are well done!!! A masterpiece!

The world of USMLE exams and books is quite expansive and most of the time you don't know how to navigate your way around. To begin with what anyone gets out of any book is usually subjective, and more apparent when an author gives you more opinion and less fact as we are all swayed by how we practice and think. It is difficult to think that science books would be motivated by by personal beliefs rather than scientific facts but an easy way for that to happen is for someone to give you extraneous details and obsolete material that has no bearing on what you'll actually encounter on test day.
For the step II CS, I purchased two books and USMLE world (which I recommend for everything else but this), the other books whose name I won't mention is really fit for CS in the seventies, except such an exam wasn't given then but the author needs to be abreast modern medicine.. You can't for instance expect someone to treat hysteria with a hysterectomy, or Syphilis by introducing malaria or more realistically administer 20 shots for rabies anymore.. there is a good reason we have continuing education and seminars so we are not stuck practicing some archaic form of medicine

Now to get to the beef. All you need is this book, and a friend a sibling, a well trained pet, and the 'actor' doesn't need to be trained in medicine, since they'll have the book to score you, what you have missed and what you've done correctly.. little things like draping the patient and washing your hands may seem trivial but honestly it all adds up and equally so. Maybe you didn't write in your differential for hearing loss: alport syndrome, but wrote Osteosclerosis and Meniere's disease, well each one will count for something, draping the patient might makeup for the third differential you've missed.. I am obviously pulling things out of the hat here but giving you a realistic picture. You'll be scored on a number of things, and the more you amass and do correctly the better your chances of passing... out of all the other USMLE exams, I can't imagine anyone failing this one.. These exams are alot about stamina it is true, but this is one where you don't have to wrack your brain for the correct answer.. since there is more than one correct answer.

All the cases on the actual test are quite similar to this book, you know you'll get chest pain, and hearing loss, and abdominal pain, the usual teenager, the depressed etc... if you follow this recipe to a T you can't lose!

a good advise for test date.. forget that they are actors and honestly treat every patient no matter how taxing as if they were a family member.. this is cousin Ed the annoying but I love him anyway.. this is aunt mona the histrionic but I love her anyway, that is uncle Zacharia the schizoid but I love him anyway and in general it is a good practice for life.. even if you go into pathology!

good luck on your test!

Of all the First Aid books I've used (Step 1, Step 2 CK, Wards), this is the only one that I'd use as stand-alone prep for the exam. I finally coughed up $45 for this book after trying unsuccessfully to figure out the basics of the exam from the info provided by USMLE (i.e. structure, timing, scoring, topics). It was completely worth it. Every case I had on the real exam was very, very familiar, after studying for only 3 days. Most important, I knew what I needed to do to earn points. Don't waste time or money with anything else.

this book was helpful in order to get a quick run-down of the test format and commonly tested patient scenarios in the Step 2 CS exam. i didn't use any other review books so i can't directly compare with other resources, but it seemed comparable to other books based on what i have heard.

This review book was very helpful in taking Step 2 CS. It contains more info than you need, but is organized in a manner where you can easily skip what you don't need. The "minicases" were tremendously helpful, if for no other reason than just brushing up on diagnoses I hadn't thought about in months... If you have time, you can look over the practice cases, but those are skippable if you're crunched for time. I started reviewing 1 week prior to the exam & I think I did just fine.

THIS IS A BASIC FOR PASSING STEP 2 CS, FOR DIAGNOSIS AND WORK UP, THE MINICASES ARE VERY HELPFULL, BUY IT WITH CONFIDENCE, IT IS A GREAT BOOK