Customer Reviews

Step-Up to USMLE Step 2 (Step-Up Series)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me preface by saying that I prefer the First Aid series in general over the Step Up books especially for the USMLE Step 1. However, this book is superior to that of First Aid for Step 2. The information presented in this book is not obvious and straightforward as in the First Aid book. The authors did a better job screening topics and clarifying areas while still maintaining as much detail as the First Aid for Step 2 book. They also do a better job discussing treatment and diagnosis.

BUT...the page numbers are misleading. There might only be 300 pages but each page is fairly dense and offers smaller print than the First Aid Step 2 book so while it may contain 300 pages, it truly reads like a 500 to 600 page book. Don't purchase this book if you think it's a fast read because it isn't and you will spend just as much time (if not more time) reading this book than the First Aid for Step 2 book.

A perfect addition to USMLE World.

Throughout medical school I've developed a tendency to hoard books before actually sitting down to prepare for tests. It's clearly a way to feel mentally well-armed, and is somewhat ridiculous. I bought several books for Step 2 - Crush, Secrets, First Aid, and Step Up to Step 2. I read a few chapters in Crush but it seemed way too simplistic. Secrets is just a list of questions that corresponds to the material covered in Crush. I bought First Aid because I used it for Step 1 - like everyone else - but the book gave me a headache. It reads more like a pastiche of trivia than an organized review book. Despite the scarcity of reviews out there on Step Up to Step 2 I bought it because I LOVED Step Up to Medicine - hands down the most helpful book I used in all of med school. Step Up to Step 2 isn't nearly as thorough as Step Up to Medicine. At first, it seemed too pared down, but when I started answering USMLE World questions I realized that there was so much that was covered in Step Up to Step 2. It somehow manages to strike the perfect balance. It's digestible yet comprehensive. For such a thin book, it's pretty amazing.

Seriously, the book is far superior to the others out there.

I chose this book initially because it was very concise (only 322 pages including index, etc etc) and with only a month to study for Step 2, I wanted concentrate on doing questions. The pros for this book: it is very concise and to the point. It explains each syndrome, basic pathyophys, h&p, and management. It also has some good algorithms and mneumonics. The bad: Many errors and typos. I've been careful not to completely rely on this book for factual data, but write notes in it according to my other references. Also, many syndromes that I thought should have been included are left out (i.e. not a word about hereditary spherocytosis that I could find). Furthermore, outside of the ones we already know about, most of the mneumonics are kind of random, long, and not very useful (i.e. there's a mneumonic to remember what symptoms occur for the flu)

So, if you plan to use this book as a primary study tool, I would not advise it. But, I've found it useful for myself to write notes while doing study questions. Just be careful about the errors/typos.

After using First Aid for Step 1 to ace that exam, I was hesitant to switch gears and use the Step-Up series for CK. However, the review course I was taking for CK used this book...so I had no choice. Before I get into the reasons for docking 2 stars, let me say this: Step-Up to USMLE Step 2 is a GOOD BOOK. It presents key facts in its "Quick Hit" and "Next Step" notes that are very high yield. They author's selection of what items to bold is very good and represents information that will be particularly useful. The entire book is short in length, so reviewing it multiple times is a breeze too.

After all of that praise, why did I dock 2 stars? Because there are blatant errors in the book that desperately need to be corrected. These are not just small typos...they affect how you learn and understand the diseases. Examples include the text saying HYPOthyroidism when it should say HYPERthyroidism, or stating a certain drug is INDICATED when in reality it is CONTRAINDICATED. Luckily, the review course I took cleared up all errata as we went through the text, so this was not a problem.

Bottom line: conceptually, it is a terrific book. There is a need for an updated edition, though, where all the terrible errors are fixed. Only purchase this if you are sure you have a good list of these errors, or you may end up getting questions wrong!

I used Dr. Van Kleunen's "Step-Up to USMLE Step 2" book intensively last year. I love the approach and the amount of material covered. The fact that all the pediatric conditions are covered within the system chapters is appealing to me, since basically once you are through the Internal Medicine chapters, you only need to go over a few pages of Pediatrics, dealing with developmental milestones, vaccinations, etc. and you are ready for Peds questions as well. He did the same thing with the Infectious Diseases -- there is no separate chapter for it, but all IDs are included in the systems.
Dr. Van Kleunen uses very practical charts and diagnostic/treatment pathways. There were a few mistakes in the first edition, which were corrected in the second (I did go to the store and compared). There are a few pages with colored pictures, which appear on the actual exam and are very useful. One thing I did not like is the fact that the Color Plates are in the middle of the Dermatology chapter (don't know why, maybe publisher's slip-up). I personally think it would be better if the color picture followed the condition or if Color Plates had been at the very end of the book.

Don't get me wrong, it's certainly NOT enough to just read through this book. I penciled-in aplenty of additional info/explanations to go over and used it in conjunction with "First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK (First Aid USMLE)." However, I love the style; even though information is succinct, this book covers enough material for a thorough review. If you feel completely lost on the topic you would have to do more reading from a text of your choice, but as a review book, it is excellent. The last, but certainly the most important is that you need to do at least 1000 questions after this or any other review.

I just took Step 2 CK yesterday. I used both this book and First Aid for Step 2 CK and despite the fact that I really liked First Aid for Step 1, I really did not like it for Step 2 and found Step Up to Step 2 to be much more user friendly. With that being said, NO book completely prepares you for Step 2 and I think that regardless of which book you use, you should still do a question bank because a TON of your learning will come from there (I used USMLE World, and the format or USMLE World looked EXACTLY like Step 2 CK did on test day). Some might wonder if First Aid covers more info than Step Up since it is a much longer book, but that seemed to not be the case when I looked at the 2 books. First of all, First Aid has a bunch of info on the front about how to register for the test, etc (much like the step 1 book), and Step Up covers each boards topic much more succinctly than First Aid. If I thought there was some relevant info missing from Step Up to Step 2, I either referenced Step Up to Medicine (which I had used on my medicine rotation) or perused First Aid for Step 2 to see if there was any missing important information.

I was told by interns that they used "Crush." Others used First Aid (which is what I used for Step 1). I looked at all 3 to study cardiology and found that Step-Up covered the most detail in the fewest words. There weren't paragraphs to read about topics, just the high-yield facts. I ended up doing the "Doctors in Training" review course for Step 2, (just as I had done for Step 1) and this was the book Dr. Jenkins uses in the course. Having him walk through the book and discuss the high-yield stuff was sufficient for Step 2 for me.

Well written book that gives a good review for the Step 2. I have been using it in conjunction with First Aid for Step 1 to study for my Step 1 exam, and I love it. It contains really high yield review concepts for those still in their 2nd year of med school, but also helps students to start thinking clinically for the 3rd year and the Step 2 exam.

By the time step 2 comes around, most of us have a solid, yet incomplete understanding of most pathology. Everything seems familiar and we should know it, however, we just are unable to distinguish between what step comes first, which treatment is first vs most effective etc., Accordingly, question banks are obviously the best choice for conquering step 2. That being said, one definitely needs a concise source to refer to and read. This book provides exactly that, and nothing more. This is not a book to be used on rotations to help understand pathology, mechanism of disease, and so on. This is a book to review the basic mechanism, what steps are taken in diagnosis, and the first, and best treatment options. It has many flow charts that I particularly enjoy that help with decision making. Furthermore, don't let the thin size of the book deceive you, it is a dense read. It appears much shorter than Crush Step 2, however, is about the same number of pages and takes much longer to read because of how sparse Crush is and how dense this book is. If we could somehow cross the readability of Crush with the amount of info in Step Up, we'd be in serious business. In the meantime, buy both and have fun.

I used this as a review for Step 2 but truly, USMLE world is the best Qbank for preparing. I dont have ANY ties to USMLE world but Ive used it and the other company's Qbank...World is MUCH better. This book is similar to First Aid, which is what I used for Step 1, but I think it has a better lay out than this book.