Studying textbook vs review books

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I am currently taking med surg II and find that the material in my lewis medical surgical textbook is just so much it seems excessive. I have the Davis Med Surg Success Q&A review that i would also study with.

For this first Med Surg II exam i really had a lot going on and did not have time to study so I purchased the Saunders Comprehensive review for the NCLEX-RN exam and studied that instead going of my study guide and i find that the information on there is so much simpler than my textbook. (No grades posted yet, even so i only had the weekend to cram study)

I was also interested in buying the Pearson Reviews and Rationales Medical Surgical book because i heard it condenses the information really nicely. My question is what are you guys views on studying the textbook vs these review books? Is there anyone who has found success by focusing mainly/ or solely on the review books because that is what i am leaning towards doing mainly because i don't think i have the time to study my textbook AND all these review books.

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I found review books to be more useful for day to day study when I was in school and/or involved in test taking. I read the chapters in the texts as an overview but concentrated on the review books unless I knew for a fact that certain information was coming directly from the texts. This worked for me. I am a firm proponent of use all resources available in accordance with the amount of time you have to study.

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I LOVED the Pearson Review and Rational series. They had some fantastic info and I studied from them for a lot of my classes.

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Caliotter3- Did you also make notes? I think this is what is time consuming for me taking notes from the lewis textbook and having a hard time figuring out what is important or not so with the long chapters and note taking a lot of the times i find i don't have time for the review books which i find much simpler and easier to understand.

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springchick1- Did you focus your studies on that book?

How far along in the program are you if you don't mind me asking?

I just wish i had the time to read my textbook, make notes, read review books AND do practice questions but with clinicals and care plans i find it hard to do so especially since we take 16 week courses condensed into 8 weeks. Too much too handle on top of our personal lives.

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Specializes in ICU.

Are you not taking notes in lecture? I study the power point, my notes, and the reading. I don't read word for word, but my instructor does like to pull obscure things from the text. I have never done a rationale book for studying. To me it's the info covered in class and the reading. And I am in medsurg II also.

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@heathermaizey- Yes i take notes during lecture and i read over them as well as the teachers powerpoints. I just am looking for a way to save time reading the long chapters and taking notes takes me so long! I was thinking maybe the review books would condense the information for me. How do you study, do you just read your lecture notes, powerpoint and the textbook or do you also make your own notes over the chapters?

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