15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Pharmacology for the Boards and Wards, May 14, 2005
I have always been a fan of condensed information. I liked this book because it fits my study style perfectly. The information is presented in outline format. The key words that you need to know for the boards are set out in bold-lettering, and all the drugs are summarized in tables. I have Pharmcards, but I like studying off of tables for memorizing drugs better because it keeps the class of drugs together in my mind, and I can quickly go back to the text if I need information that is not presented in the table.
This book is by no means comprehensive. For example, it doesn't give trade names or dosing schedules that you would need for third year while out on the wards, but it is great for learning all of the drugs for second year--and there are a heck of a lot of drugs to learn. You can buy this book at the beginning of the year and study from it to learn the drugs for each class that you have, and then you can use it again at the end of the year as a quick review when studying for the boards. Pharm is tough--I highly recommend this book.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Above average, April 12, 2007
This review is from: Pharmacology for the Boards and Wards (Boards and Wards Series) (Paperback)
This book rocks out. Pharm was my weakest subject going into the shelf exams and I wasn't sure of how to study for it. An older classmate told me to read this book. I read the book cover-to-cover then reviewed it as much as possible within three days and took my test. My raw score was a 100 points ahead of the class average! I am usually a little (i.e. a few points) ahead of the class average but this was unreal. When all was said and done I got a 93% on my Pharm-shelf. Besides Micro, it turned out to be my best grade!
Trust this book. It has really good organization, it's concise, and it covers everything. Great book for shelf. I will lean more on First Aid for Step 1 and use this book as a general reference. God bless you all!
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not for USMLE Step 1!, October 9, 2006
This review is from: Pharmacology for the Boards and Wards (Boards and Wards Series) (Paperback)
'Pharmacology for the Boards and Wards' has one big problem - it couldn't decide, what should it be - more basic or more clinical. I guess it's more useful for wards than for boards.
This book isn't very high yield for USMLE step 1 - it lacks important details on mechanisms of action (basic pharmacology), which is heavily tested on step 1 - for example, it doesn't mention that thiazolidinediones bind to the PPAR-gamma (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma); USMLE step 1 will not be satisfied by the superficial knowledge on this subject, like 'thiazolidinediones increase tissue sensitivity to insulin via genetic transcriptional changes' (the only information you can find about the mechanism of action of these drugs in this book); no, this answer will not be provided in step 1's MCQ - instead, there will be 'pioglitazone acts on the PPAR-gamma', as one of the answer choices.
On the other hand, 'Pharmacology for the Boards and Wards' provides many details about clinical pharmacology, which may be helpful for the USMLE step 2 CK (though, I guess, not too many people are reading pharmacology for this exam), but it's highly unlikely that this information will be tested on USMLE step 1; for example, you don't need to know that 'metformin should be held in patients undergoing imaging studies with contrast' - step 1 will not inquire about this.
If you are preparing for USMLE step 1 and need very concise review of pharmacology, instead of this book I recommend Katzung's 'USMLE Road Map: Pharmacology' - it's even slimmer - 178 pages - and cheaper than 'Pharmacology for the Boards and Wards', but much more step 1 -oriented, i.e. high-yield, and also much better illustrated (by the illustrations about mechanisms of action).
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