Author: Biz India

Author: Jonathan P. Van Kleunen Publisher:  Wolters Kluwer-Lippincott, Williams & Williams – 372 pages Book Review by:  Nano Khilnani This book on preparing to take the third and final examination to qualify for gaining a medical license in the United States is focused more on decision-making in medical cases than on testing your knowledge of medicine and surgery, and its specialties. “It is the final hurdle in the transition from medical school to graduate medical education,” the author Dr. Jonathan P. Van Kleunen describes it. The other two exams prior to this third and final one – the Step 1 and Step 2 – are focused relatively more on testing your knowledge of subject matter, and less so on your ability to choose a course of action, given the details of a medical case. The contents in this book are organized in a much different way than the test-prep books for the Step 1 and Step 2 of the U.S. medical licensing exam. Dr. Van Kleunen has written this book on the basis that you already have a sufficient body of knowledge on the various medical specialties, some experience treating patients with different types of conditions, and the ability to choose the correct course of action should you encounter a case that is new and unfamiliar to you. The basic purpose of this exam is to test the ability...

Authors: Kenneth H. Ibsen, PhD and Nandan Bhatt, MD Publisher: Wolters Kluer-Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins   – 365 pages Book Review by:  Nano Khilnani This book helps you prepare to take the step 2 (clinical knowledge) portion of the medical licensing exam in the United States. We urge you, the exam taker, to carefully read the “Using this Book” section provided in the Preface. To emphasize its importance, we would urge you to read it a second time, and take notes on how to best prepare for it. Studies of successful test-takers have shown that it is not just the level of knowledge of various subjects (in this case, medical and surgical specialties) that leads to test-takers’ high scores in exams, but also their close knowledge and developed skills of exam-taking that are critical to successful outcomes. The authors state at the outset that they have simulated the practice tests in this book as closely as possible to the real tests in the actual exam you will be taking. That is certainly a plus for this book. The contents of the tests and the nature of the questions asked therein, relate to these six disciplines: medicine (and specialties therein); obstetrics; pediatrics; preventive medicine and public health; psychiatry; and surgery. Some 1,000 questions are organized into 20 packets of 50 questions each. Of these, 600 questions are provided to you in...