USMLE Why the FA Step 2 CK Hate?

[NWwildcat2013]

I searched some threads to read about this but many of them were fairly old, and I thought I'd ask again now that the 9th edition is out.

I just started third year. I have been doing UW and I notice that basically 75% of the questions could be answered from Step 1 knowledge but 25% of the questions are management/next step questions that I always miss. I didn't feel like I knew where to go for that information, but I took a look at FA and loved the layout. They have a dedicated section for management/treatment under each disease and it matches perfectly with what my residents and attendings do.

I'm only a few weeks in, so I haven't taken a shelf yet. Maybe I'm making a big mistake, but I plan to use FA a ton (along with UW/Pretest/Case Files). I don't see why it is so despised. The format seems perfect to guide you through the clinical diagnosis and management of something. Sometimes I think people hold it to the standard for FA for Step 1 which is impossible for any Step 2 review book to live up to.

Love it or hate it, I'd be curious to hear others' experiences using it.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[1badvette]

I bought the 8th edition few years back and hated the layout .. Have not taken seen the 9th edition but few of my friends that are half way into 3rd year use as a main Shelf/CK book and they think it's much better than older edition.

 

[Nabin]

I think its down to what kind of a layout people get most out of. I personally prefer to study algorithms and flowcharts. I retain more that way than reading management for individual disease because many times the treatment is similar for a bunch of diseases. I find it particularly effective to concentrate on why something is different in one vs another and have a basic theme or a pattern. Its really impossible to know everything. Step 2 CK is more of an analytical and instinctive exam where having a basic outline helps a lot. I solely relied on UWORLD which more than covered everything for CK. And why not chip in some of UpToDate. It also has really good algorithms in approaching and managing diseases.

 

[pd1112]

I searched some threads to read about this but many of them were fairly old, and I thought I'd ask again now that the 9th edition is out.

I just started third year. I have been doing UW and I notice that basically 75% of the questions could be answered from Step 1 knowledge but 25% of the questions are management/next step questions that I always miss. I didn't feel like I knew where to go for that information, but I took a look at FA and loved the layout. They have a dedicated section for management/treatment under each disease and it matches perfectly with what my residents and attendings do.

I'm only a few weeks in, so I haven't taken a shelf yet. Maybe I'm making a big mistake, but I plan to use FA a ton (along with UW/Pretest/Case Files). I don't see why it is so despised. The format seems perfect to guide you through the clinical diagnosis and management of something. Sometimes I think people hold it to the standard for FA for Step 1 which is impossible for any Step 2 review book to live up to.

Love it or hate it, I'd be curious to hear others' experiences using it.

The older were more error prone, new versions didn't come out each year & he expectations were that it would be similar in value to FA Step 1.