Books For Fourth Year Medical Students

You see the title and think "Books for fourth years? Do MS4s even show up to class?" Haha, well depending on where you are for med school, there may still be significant rotations to take during the fourth year. Books for those rotations are addressed in the books for MS3s post. However, there are two types of books fourth years should consider: board exam prep books and residency planning books.

Confused again about why board exam prep is listed here? Step 1 is in the rearview mirror, and maybe Step 2 CS/CK as well. However, all US medical graduates will have to take Step 3 at some point and trust me: sooner is much, much better than later. USMLE Step 3 is a comprehensive exam that covers all the same topics as Step 1 and 2, but with more clinical applications. Additionally, the exam is longer, requiring two separate days to complete.

To be honest, any Step 3 prep book should be fine. If you liked the style of First Aid for USMLE Step 1, then stick with First Aid for Step 3. The real key to success here is to do questions from a qbank, like Kaplan's USMLE Qbank. As they say, practice makes perfect. However, do not fall into the trap of "Two months, two weeks, two pencils (or two days)" as a schedule for Step 3 prep: the exam is as tough as Step 1 and Step 2. If you do not take it seriously and do not study, you will fail. I repeat: you will fail. While the test is not as critical as Step 1, it is *not* a blow-off exam.

Okay, that got intense - on a lighter note, the second topic is of more interest to your future career. As you prepare for interviews, you should have a good idea of what your field is about and what you need to do to prepare. If you are still figuring out what to apply for, Iverson will help narrow that down as well.

   

While the Iserson book is somewhat dated, it is still an excellent resource to refer to as you go through the process, as Iserson provides a good system for comparing programs to each other on the interview trail. Additionally, this site had a series of posts in the past dealing with residency interviews: Residency Interviews Tips, Parts 1 - 5. The posts are quick easy reads with the intent of providing high-yield information for interviewees.

 Enjoy fourth year! Good luck with residency applications!


Updated 2015-12-25