Customer Reviews

The Johns Hopkins ABSITE Review Manual (American Board of Surgery In-Training Examination)

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

 

 

The question book is very well put together, however the answers to about a fifth of the questions are obviously wrong. For example they state the standard treatment of a pregnant patient with C. Diff is Flagyl, but for the last four years on every ABSITE I have ever taken the answer is Vanco. This is the easiest question on the ABSITE every year and this book gets it wrong. Another question that is wrong deals with ABIs and rest pain. Their answer states that rest pain begins when ABIs are less than 0.4, but that is when ulcers start to form.

You should look at using this book for practice however keep in mind that quite a few questions are wrong. That's why three stars are appropriate.

Found the topics and explanations very apt for ABSITE study. A useful tool for your preparation.

I love to study by doing practice questions. This book was ok. I just wish there was something out there with more absite like questions.

I am really hunting a large question bank, much like Q-bank. But as far as i know that does not exist.

So this book is just ok. If you just have to have questions to study, like i do then is this book is worth the money. Otherwise look else where.

The Hopkins ABSITE review manual is one of the best ABSITE question books I have ever used. The only other book that is comparable is DeVirgilio's question book. The only thing I don't like about this book is that the questions are not separated into different topics (like DeVirgilio's is), but that is intentional, since it's supposed to be a full length practice test. The answers are incredibly thorough, and even provide references! I think I only came across one typo, and it was only that the letter of the correct answer was incorrect (but the answer clearly explained which was correct). I just wish this book had more questions, as it is clear that a tremendous amount of effort was put into it. I have read many other review books, and they are full of typos and outdated answers.

Well organized. Questions are very basic. Explanations are very thourough. PGY1 and 2's may benefit but too shallow for senior year residents.

The QUESTION book has its issues as stated by other reviews, but what do you have to compare with in terms of Questions Books?

I have Johns Hopkins ABSITE Review Manual and Fiser Practice ABSITE Review Manual, and have borrowed Rush Review. The practice ABSITE question book by Fiser is too simple. You could go through this book in 1 day if you have one day off from clinical duties (so not really a good question book).

The Rush Review and Johns Hopkins ABSITE Review Manual are about equal in terms of questions and quality, both not perfect, each missing what the other sometimes has in terms of information, but it seems like the Johns Hopkins one is trying to be more tricky which may help some people to think more in depth at questions, look things up, etc. or may confuse people if they are trying to get through the book fast near exam time and/or expecting word association type memorization last minute.

Scoring:
I found most of the questions to be accurate, but there are a few that seem incorrect, tricky or are not mainstream answers (-1 star)
The index in the back is worthless as the actual page numbers don't match (-1 star).

Explainations below inaccuracy / Not mainstream thinking:
In terms of using Flagyl versus Vancomycin question in this book, the question distinction is PO Metronidazole vs PO Vancomycin in pregnant women in 1st trimester and the answer to this is controversial but most agree to avoid Metronidazole in pregnancy altogether not dependent on trimester (see what mean by tricky). The ABSITE does indeed have this question every year, but is IV Metronidazole vs PO Vancomycin where the answer is very easy and is PO Vanc.

The other question though on ABIs I think is 'wrong' when compared to ABI numbers in texts. (Keep in mind that ABIs actual numbers are probably is somewhat institution dependent and even more variable if done by physician in the office vs lab).

Bottom line: Get this or Rush if you are getting really bored just reading text and need some variety in terms of studying, but don't expect to ace the test just by doing these questions. (you might pass... Raw Score of 70%)

Good questions, but the explanations are organized by category, as opposed to numeric order. The end result is that you have to flip back and forth looking for the explanation.

I didn't read the book, only did the online questions. In general, the questions are good but some answers are wrong. I guess it's the nature of medicine (there are no CORRECT answers to some topics). Overall, very good questions. I got 65% correct, but I don't know how it will correlate with my ABSITE score. Wish me good luck.

All the topics coved are very important and worth going through it once before absite
Has a quality practice test

Many of the topics I missed from previous exams were covered in this book with an explanation. I don't think all the explanations were necessarily the final word. This book should probably be used as a supplement to another study guide b/c it is not very comprehensive. Seems to be worth the price, but I can't say for sure as I don't have my score report back yet.