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Crush Step 3: The Ultimate USMLE Step 3 Review (Secrets)
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - never a fan of crush series.
Always went with first aid...not my style...depends on your review style...
Rating:  - Fantabulous
I loved the book and the highlights. I just wish the info was spaced out a little more... there is alot of info, but this is what you need for the boards. a must have
Rating:  - I became a believer.
I was a believer in First Aid and Blue Prints books that I used for steps 1 and 2. There was no Step 3 First Aid at the time and so I tried this book. This turned out to be an excellent book for step 3 review. It covered the topics sufficiently for adequate review. I used this book in conjunction with "Boards and Wards" and worked questions in the NMS step 3 books as well as the kaplan q-bank. That works. Most say that it is not necessary to spend much time studying for step 3. This is true, but you do need to study some. This book reads quickly and the information is high yield. I highly recommend it and hope that new editions are released over the years.
Rating: - Hate the Boards but Love this Book
I don't like saying this, because I'm not a hater. But I hate the boards. I hate the people who write these awful questions, the people who justify the existence of these money-grubbing tests, and the self-perpetuating system of medical education, which somehow convinces people that test-taking skills correlate with good patient care. But it is the people who do well on these tests that end up in medicine, and so, naturally, they are all too ready to believe that the tests must reflect real intelligence or knowledge.
I'm okay with the concept of testing, but lets not delude ourselves into believing these tests reflect anything more than they do. The MCAT's a good test though. It probable effectively measures who is willing to choose their careers over their families, friends, and mental health. Perhaps Step One of the USMLE measures how much of the basic science people have absorbed, but it is a better instrument for measuring test taking skill. By Step Three, it is really just an endurance test. Each question is a paragraph long, and the test lasts up to eight hours on each of two consecutive days. Success on Step Three has to do with how quickly you can read, or how long you can stay focused, and, of course, how well you do on standardized tests.
By the way, what does it say about the earlier screening exams that a certain percentage of test items on Step Three are testing whether or not you can phrase things in a polite way to patients? These are the best questions for those of us who've managed to maintain half a life. When you see five answers with quotation marks around them you can skip the question stem and just eliminate the four choices that only a jerk would actually say to a patient. But these questions keep showing up so somebody must be getting them wrong. It seems surprising, but then again if you've had any experience dealing with doctors from a patient's point of view, it really isn't too shocking.
Crush Step Three is the best review book if you are going to study from just one. I used the First Aid for the Boards books for the first two tests, but this time I checked out different books and found the Crush Step 3 book to be the most straightforward and concise, with an emphasis on those trigger words that help you when you have to resort to robot mode. The First Aid book has the benefit of a section at the end that goes through common scenarios that you might see on the second day in the simulated cases, and it is helpful to get a sense of the kinds of orders you can write. But working through the practice cases is really the most important preparation for the simulated cases, and overall Crush does the best job of reviewing the information.
This may well be my last review. You see, I've discovered sudoku last Friday. I finally sat down and attempted one and I ended up solving two in three hours. The rush I feel right now is indescribable. I suspect I can crush people's bones to dust just with the mathematical powers of my mind. But I will not abuse this, I will use my gifts for solving sudoku puzzles. This will leave me no time to read or write, possibly not even time to eat and drink or other bodily functions. This is okay, because the perfection of each row, column, and 3x3 box will sustain me from now on. Thank you for listening, and bye bye.
Rating: - pair it with a couple of good question books and you are set
This is a very high yield review book, and light to carry around. I took my step 3 during my medicine intern year, and carried it with me between admissions and nightfloats. If you want to do "spectacularly", then you may want to delve more into other resources. Otherwise, if you have like about 6 months of medicine residency training, look up some of the details that you are rusty in, pair it with one or two question books, like NMS or Qbook (a steal currently with the discount at Amazon), that should be a very nice start for your preparation.
I also used First Aid Step 3 for 1. a different perspective; 2. I like the First Aid series; 3. the CCS section in the back. If you are away from general medicine for a while, it will be nice to go through some of the scenarios. But otherwise, I prefer Crush step 3 by far. CCS is really about patient management. The cases are easy to diagnose. Make sure you work through the practice disk though, with the review book and question books, you are all set for a comfortable pass. The toughest part of the exam for me was going back for the second day. But people usually finished very early on their second day as some CCS cases could take just 10 minutes or less to finish. The thing is, if you forget a test or an order, you cannot go back to put it in. So make sure you take your time and think through your steps. But you should have plenty of time to do so. Granted, the above may not apply to the IMGs, as they have more hurdles to overcome. But regardless, this is still a very good book with very high yield materials to review on. Good luck with your step 3, and the many sleepless nights when you are on call. :)
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