Kaplan 2006/07 vs new 2008/09 STEP 2 CK Lecture Notes ..!

[beefy]

anyone have an opinion whether it is worth paying double price for the newer edition? .. thanks

[NobleWork]

I have marked up and underlined the notes from 06-07. If somebody has the new edition and has seen the old one then let us know if the new is worth paying for.

[OslerNode]

I myself was frustrated with this dilemma until I received its step 2 ck 2008-2009 PDF when I had actually read half of its 2006 edition. I compared them for one day. it's over 500 Mb. Overall the most significant changes are reorganisation of materials. Some parts are rewritten such as acute coronary syndrome to clarify ambiguities in its previous edition. Rarely some new drugs or studies (e.g. uselessness of self exam of breast - a study done in China) are reflected in the text. In a word, it has improved to convey intended messages better.

Does it worth reading it? In my view
-If you are going to take Step 2 ck in three months -> definitely not
-If you've not started yet or you've got plenty of time and money to re-read -> definitely yes
-If you are in the middle of your studies
a. but you are obsessive and perfectionist (You are the kind of researchers that prefer over 10000 people in their sample-size instead of 200 people) -> yes
b. if you are practical and your resources -time and money - are limited like me, then answer these questions:
1- How much do you think medicine has changed from 2005-2008? I say 10%
2- How much do you think this changes are reflected in Kaplan's? I say 70% at most
3- How much is likely that these medical advances reflected in Kaplan's are actually tested in your test? I say one question so 1/(8*46)
4- How much is the share of your knowledge base in your success in this exam? I say 50%, the other half is dependent on your test-taking capabilities
5- How much is one question important in your final Match? I say almost nothing

If you take account all these probabilities, you see that it's worthless even to think about it!

Final word: read on your old Kaplan's. If you answer questions so badly that you need to re-read your Kaplan's throughly, then you may consider getting the new ones.