Level of specificity for Step 1?

[Anonymous1991]

First year here. Wondering if the level of specificity outlined in review books such as BRS Cell Biology / Histology is what will be expected of us on Step 1. It seems that there is far more minutiae in these resources than First Aid. Would it be a waste of time to focus on this type of stuff, or is it necessary in ADDITION to the general FA outline?

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[operaman]

Everything is fair game, but how much to learn depends on what kind of score you want and what you're capable of doing. Obviously you want to make sure you know the big picture high yield stuff absolutely cold, but if you want to score 250+ then you should make sure you learn as much as you possibly can.

The big things about Step 1 that you won't find in First Aid is that Step 1 questions are being written now so you can't answer them with direct recall from FA. FA generally covers the material you need to know, but the level at which you need to know it in order to perform well is higher than most people realize. It used to be said that you could memorize FA and be assured of a high score, but that is no longer the case. In fact, you could probably take Step 1 open book with a FA and not improve your score that much over taking it without it.

 

[Slack3r]

As a first year with less than a month of school under your belt, I don't think you know what is and isn't "minutiae".

 

[mcloaf]

First year here. Wondering if the level of specificity outlined in review books such as BRS Cell Biology / Histology is what will be expected of us on Step 1. It seems that there is far more minutiae in these resources than First Aid. Would it be a waste of time to focus on this type of stuff, or is it necessary in ADDITION to the general FA outline?

As an M1, the best "boards-relevant" prep you're going to be doing is trying to do well in your classes. Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security by looking at bare-bones review books meant for people who put in the effort the first time around.

 

[DermViser]

The big things about Step 1 that you won't find in First Aid is that Step 1 questions are being written now so you can't answer them with direct recall from FA. FA generally covers the material you need to know, but the level at which you need to know it in order to perform well is higher than most people realize. It used to be said that you could memorize FA and be assured of a high score, but that is no longer the case. In fact, you could probably take Step 1 open book with a FA and not improve your score that much over taking it without it.

THIS. The cat is long out of the bag. First Aid is an outline and is a good recall tool to get your mind jogging. It is not everything you need to know for Step 1 by far. Hence why good review books are necessary.

 

[WaylonS]

Learn as much as you can because as others have said, you'll never know what will be tested.

The NBME has a handout of what percentage of an exam will cover specific topics (it's very broad and not very helpful), but in general, as you go through UWorld during your second year, you'll notice certain topics are covered more than others, while the level of detail in certain subjects tends to be greater than in others. In general, in terms or first year material, you will need to know very specific details from physio, biochem, and embryology. Histo questions are gimmes, and anatomy--despite being a long and intensive course in medical school--is minimally tested, and the questions that are asked tend to be fairly straightforward.

Edit: here's the info http://www.usmle.org/step-1/#content-description

 

[Anonymous1991]

So are there well recommended "full blown" (non-review) reference texts for cell bio, genetics, etc? I have Lipincott for biochem but I'm a big textbook learner so would prefer some good references aside from lecture.

As an M1, the best "boards-relevant" prep you're going to be doing is trying to do well in your classes. Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security by looking at bare-bones review books meant for people who put in the effort the first time around.

well recommended

 

[Pons Asinorum]

So are there well recommended "full blown" (non-review) reference texts for cell bio, genetics, etc? I have Lipincott for biochem but I'm a big textbook learner so would prefer some good references aside from lecture.

well recommended

What do the people running your courses/blocks say? Other than that, the only people who can tell you what's best to prep for your MS1 exams are the people in the classes ahead of you at your program who took the exams. That kind of info tends to flow downhill to you. If not, ask around.

 

[Anonymous1991]

What do the people running your courses/blocks say? Other than that, the only people who can tell you what's best to prep for your MS1 exams are the people in the classes ahead of you at your program who took the exams. That kind of info tends to flow downhill to you. If not, ask around.

At least at my school, I'm confident in passing the exams with the lecture material alone. I guess what I'm wondering is if there are a select few textbooks that cover all the details that will be required for step 1. Ideally I'd like to read along with my lectures (i.e. read the section on the UPR before the UPR lecture, etc.) during my preclinical curriculum, so that I have learned it all very well prior to coming back for step 1 review.

My tentative list, after looking at the USMLE content outlines, and searching around here would be:

Biochemistry: Lipincott's Illustrated Review
Histology: Histology- A Text and Atlas
Cell/Molecular Biology: Essential Cell Biology
Genetics: ???

Any thoughts on genetics?

 

[ChEMD]

At least at my school, I'm confident in passing the exams with the lecture material alone. I guess what I'm wondering is if there are a select few textbooks that cover all the details that will be required for step 1. Ideally I'd like to read along with my lectures (i.e. read the section on the UPR before the UPR lecture, etc.) during my preclinical curriculum, so that I have learned it all very well prior to coming back for step 1 review.

My tentative list, after looking at the USMLE content outlines, and searching around here would be:

Biochemistry: Lipincott's Illustrated Review
Histology: Histology- A Text and Atlas
Cell/Molecular Biology: Essential Cell Biology
Genetics: ???

Any thoughts on genetics?

Textbooks are really going to be a waste of time. Too much detail, which often makes it more complicated than it needs to be.

 

[Anonymous1991]

Textbooks are really going to be a waste of time. Too much detail, which often makes it more complicated than it needs to be.

I feel like this is said 50% of the time, and the other 50% I hear that lecture content alone is not sufficient for the best step 1 prep. Feeling a little frustrated.

 

[ChEMD]

I feel like this is said 50% of the time, and the other 50% I hear that lecture content alone is not sufficient for the best step 1 prep. Feeling a little frustrated.

Lecture content + review texts is what you need, not full blown textbooks. You should look at things like Pathoma, first aid, the BRS books, rapid review books, etc...

 

[Anonymous1991]

Lecture content + review texts is what you need, not full blown textbooks. You should look at things like Pathoma, first aid, the BRS books, rapid review books, etc...

Quoting an earlier poster here:

"Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security by looking at bare-bones review books meant for people who put in the effort the first time around."

 

[mcloaf]

Quoting an earlier poster here:

"Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security by looking at bare-bones review books meant for people who put in the effort the first time around."

Yes, which I thought was pretty clearly addressed to your initial question of whether or not you can blow off anything that you don't see in First Aid.

 

[ChEMD]

Quoting an earlier poster here:

"Don't lull yourself into a false sense of security by looking at bare-bones review books meant for people who put in the effort the first time around."

Yeah, meaning don't expect to learn the material for the first time from review books. Ideally, you learn the material well from your lectures and supplement that with easy to understand review books, both as a review when you get closer to your exam date and possibly during the course of the year to help you focus on the most important details and get a general overview of the material.

 

[Anonymous1991]

Yes, which I thought was pretty clearly addressed to your initial question of whether or not you can blow off anything that you don't see in First Aid.

Ah, I took it as also addressing other "review" books such as BRS.

 

[madchemist89]

Should you use textbooks? Yes. Should you use review books? Yes. Should you use lecture notes? Yes. Should you use wikipedia? Yes. Should you learn the material as best you can? Yes.

 

[ChEMD]

Should you use textbooks? Yes. Should you use review books? Yes. Should you use lecture notes? Yes. Should you use wikipedia? Yes. Should you learn the material as best you can? Yes.

Textbooks are a good reference source when you want to look stuff up, but he was saying to use them as a primary source to learn the material, which I think is not time well spent.

 

[PL198]

yeah I don't really get using textbooks. I could maybe see using a review book that is pretty illustrative, like I use lange micro and immuno which I find is pretty textbooky for a review book. those 1000 page books, if we have 6 lectures in a day, that's like 70+ pages of reading to do for those lectures. yeah not doable.

 

[madchemist89]

I just took step 1 in June. Learn as much as you can. Don't dismiss things as being low yield. You need a rich depth of knowledge and understanding to do well on step 1. Review books are best for review.

 

[PL198]

I don't get the hate on the review books. All they are really missing is the minutiae, which you retain little amounts of after the class is over. If someone completely understood the material in a review book, I'm guessing they'd do very well on step 1 in that section.

 

[ChEMD]

Review books sometimes don't have good "why" or "how" explanations, which is why it's important to learn it well in class first.

 

[DermViser]

yeah I don't really get using textbooks. I could maybe see using a review book that is pretty illustrative, like I use lange micro and immuno which I find is pretty textbooky for a review book. those 1000 page books, if we have 6 lectures in a day, that's like 70+ pages of reading to do for those lectures. yeah not doable.

Depends on the subject. Even review books aren't perfect. For example for Physiology - High Yield Physiology is probably not appropriate. http://www.amazon.com/High-Yield-TM...d_sim_b_6?ie=UTF8&refRID=0Z38JMXN3WCPFCK9VPXT

On the other hand for Neuroanatomy - High Yield Neuroanatomy is perfectly fine http://www.amazon.com/High-Yield-TM...d_sim_b_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=0Z38JMXN3WCPFCK9VPXT, vs. BRS Neuroanatomy which is more appropriate for coursework.

 

[DermViser]

Review books sometimes don't have good "why" or "how" explanations, which is why it's important to learn it well in class first.

The problem is then you're dependent on having a great professor - which you may or may not have.

 

[DermViser]

I don't get the hate on the review books. All they are really missing is the minutiae, which you retain little amounts of after the class is over. If someone completely understood the material in a review book, I'm guessing they'd do very well on step 1 in that section.

I think it depends. Many people (more the people who score in the 260+ range which is like 2 standard deviations above the mean) will say that review books alone aren't enough to score that well. That's not really surprising considering what their goal was. There will be questions on Step 1 that don't come from any line in a review book and were things that I knew from studying hard in class. I think this is becoming more and more he case bc of such easy availability of good resources now.

For example - Pathology -- RR Path w/Goljan Audios or Pathoma. vs. say back in 1999 when the only review source available was BRS Pathology and was the gold standard. I'm sure back then the 260+ers either read Robbins or Medium Robbins.

I think the NBME test writers try to stay one step ahead of the test prep market, quite honestly. Wouldn't shock me if they had all the review books and/or Kaplan books sitting in their room while they're writing questions, and say, ok, what can we test that ISN'T in these books?

 

[Psai]

The point is that you won't understand what is in the review book without having understood it the first time around in class. They are a guideline only. There are so many things that were tested that weren't in first aid and you're learning for patients, not a test. Also anatomy is not minimally tested, I can remember at least five questions that were direct anatomy.

 

[DermViser]

The point is that you won't understand what is in the review book without having understood it the first time around in class. They are a guideline only. There are so many things that were tested that weren't in first aid and also you're learning for patients, not a test. Also anatomy is not minimally tested, I can remember at least five questions that were direct anatomy.

Or if they were in First Aid they go one or two steps further than the fact in First Aid. I think Anatomy gets routinely blasted but if you're wanting to score 1 standard deviation or higher, then yes, you will have to know Anatomy and can't skip it.

 

[madchemist89]

Blue boxes in Moore clinical anatomy are gold.

 

[Serous Demilune]

OP the reality is you wont remember the details of anything you learn now by the time you take Step 1. Learn the framework (i.e. general principles) now as best as you can. Details will come again next year, you can learn them then once you have the basics down. Anything not covered next year will most likely come up in a review source like UWorld or Goljan. If you still haven't learned it, you'll have to extrapolate through process of elimination just like any other multiple choice test. Step 1 isn't a fill in the blank or write a short paragraph type test. You don't need to know every detail cold to get most questions right.

 

[PL198]

Blue boxes in Moore clinical anatomy are gold.

Ive been thinking about doing that for my step 1 review of anatomy. I think I'll go thru all of them with first aid and annotate anything important.