Official Usmle Step 1 Booklist

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Chandler

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I have posted Ramoray's USMLE STEP 1 book list below, and I will add my book list when it is completed. For the rest of the SDNers, post your booklist for your upcoming Step 1. This thread will help future SDN medical students be familiar with what books SDNers used to study for Step 1. So, PLEASE POST the books you are planning to use for Step 1 (even if it is just First Aid). The more people that volunteer, the better it will help the future SDNers.

Thanks

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAMORAY'S BOOKLIST

Well i must say thank god for sdn, i remember not finding sdn until after i took my mcat and there were so many things differently i would have done- so many things i found out that i didnt know about so with that said i thank everyone for their criticism and constant tips and advice to everyone on their board. I was origially going to study withalot of big books for the boards and after alot of advice and posts i came to a realization i was going to be setting myself up for failure on the step so i have finalized a set of books and Qs i am going to use for 8 weeks of boards study and i wanted to see if anyone had any comments either yay or nay about them just to make sure i am not wasting my time. I have already went through each along with classes as well so its not like ill be seeing them for the first time. anyway-
BRS Path
Lange micro/immuno review
Lippincott Pharm
Costanzo Stars Physio
Lippincott biochem
BRS Neuro( i know its thick but i used it with class so its all annoted etc.)
HY anatomy, molec bio and embryo
BRS Beh. Sci.

Questions in order of importance which i plan to do all roughly 8000 questions
Robbins path review
Qbank
NMS questions
Qbook
Appleton lange Qs
Rapid Review Qs
Blue Prints Qs

So if i follow that and do all those Qs for 8 weeks, would that be an efficient yet successful plan that is not a waste of time? any suggestions other than incoportaing FA into the routine? thanks for the continued critique and advice from everyone.OFFICIAL USMLE STEP 1 BOOKLIST

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MD999 said:
He pulled an awesome Step 1 score. I think it's to our benefit that he sticks around here. Whatever beef he has with anybody its between them, but he did rock Step 1, so I think till his score gets beat, should stick around and offer advice to us on how to rock the exam.
Agreed, whatever his beef is with pox and p53, I couldn't of gotten my score without his sage advice. I know alot of other people on this board he has helped out too. Thanks again BF. I thinks it's like the big boys who trash talk on the b-ball court, it's just trash talkin on a different playing field not to be taken to seriously. If your panties get all bunched up when someone says you don't have a hook shot then don't play ball with them.
 
"big boys talkin' trash on the basketball court" and talking cyber-trash on more than too many threads are not the same thing. reread my post. i asked him to keep posting advice, but to stop all the self-glorifying trash talking.

no one is denying that he helped some people out, but that doesn't mean big frank isn't geeking out too much over his score.
 
souljah1 said:
"big boys talkin' trash on the basketball court" and talking cyber-trash on more than too many threads are not the same thing. reread my post. i asked him to keep posting advice, but to stop all the self-glorifying trash talking.

no one is denying that he helped some people out, but that doesn't mean big frank isn't geeking out too much over his score.

I dont have a hook-shot, but I got a killer crossover move!!
In all honesty, anybody who gets a killer score like BF or Long Dong or whoever else who tore that exam up...they can geek out all they want... they've earned it...Just keep shooting your advice this way towards us Pre-Step 1ers!
 
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I was wondering if any one was familiar with this book. If so, is it enough for Step1? Its rather small, but seems to be complete. What do you guys think?
 
mpd210 said:
I was wondering if any one was familiar with this book. If so, is it enough for Step1? Its rather small, but seems to be complete. What do you guys think?

Word on the street is that all you need to know for the pharm in Step 1 is the pharm section in First Aid. Memorize it and you'll be okay. G'luck.
 
If you want a little addy to the FA pharm, use "Pharm recall". It's essentially all HY info (maybe a bit more), but in the back there's a whole section of purely HY info. It works for me because I find it hard to just memorize lists of things from the FA pharm, and the recall book gives you better explanations. Then again, my school sucks at teaching us pharm, so this is basically how i'm learning it. Just a thought.
 
Oh my dear. I have not even begun my first year of med school, and I'm like :eek:

:idea:

*waves* I'll see my way OUT of this forum.


Chandler said:
I have posted Ramoray's USMLE STEP 1 book list below, and I will add my book list when it is completed. For the rest of the SDNers, post your booklist for your upcoming Step 1. This thread will help future SDN medical students be familiar with what books SDNers used to study for Step 1. So, PLEASE POST the books you are planning to use for Step 1 (even if it is just First Aid). The more people that volunteer, the better it will help the future SDNers.

Thanks

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAMORAY'S BOOKLIST

Well i must say thank god for sdn, i remember not finding sdn until after i took my mcat and there were so many things differently i would have done- so many things i found out that i didnt know about so with that said i thank everyone for their criticism and constant tips and advice to everyone on their board. I was origially going to study withalot of big books for the boards and after alot of advice and posts i came to a realization i was going to be setting myself up for failure on the step so i have finalized a set of books and Qs i am going to use for 8 weeks of boards study and i wanted to see if anyone had any comments either yay or nay about them just to make sure i am not wasting my time. I have already went through each along with classes as well so its not like ill be seeing them for the first time. anyway-
BRS Path
Lange micro/immuno review
Lippincott Pharm
Costanzo Stars Physio
Lippincott biochem
BRS Neuro( i know its thick but i used it with class so its all annoted etc.)
HY anatomy, molec bio and embryo
BRS Beh. Sci.

Questions in order of importance which i plan to do all roughly 8000 questions
Robbins path review
Qbank
NMS questions
Qbook
Appleton lange Qs
Rapid Review Qs
Blue Prints Qs

So if i follow that and do all those Qs for 8 weeks, would that be an efficient yet successful plan that is not a waste of time? any suggestions other than incoportaing FA into the routine? thanks for the continued critique and advice from everyone.OFFICIAL USMLE STEP 1 BOOKLIST
 
I'm the most nervous about Neuro. I have HY Neuro, but Neuro was taught so poorly in my school that I'm afraid I'm going to have to spend a week just to understand and memorize it all. I think I may have to learn Neuro over Christmas break just so I can stop stressing over it.
 
regarding HY neuro, I have the first edition, anyone know how much different the second edition is? worth getting the newer one?

Also, anyone have advice regarding Roadmap Neuroscience by James White? He taught our class and it was a great text but I noticed HY is about 100 pages shorter.

thanks
 
DOctorJay said:
regarding HY neuro, I have the first edition, anyone know how much different the second edition is? worth getting the newer one?

Also, anyone have advice regarding Roadmap Neuroscience by James White? He taught our class and it was a great text but I noticed HY is about 100 pages shorter.

thanks

I love Dr. White!! He taught us Head and Neck in Anatomy at RWJ. I have Road Map and it looks pretty good. I'm thinking I'm going to use Road Map over Christmas break to actually learn Neuro (since our neuro class wasn't taught very well) and then I'm going to use HY right before the boards. I'm so jealous that you guys had Dr. White for neuro!! :(

I don't really know how different the editions are, sorry. I have the 3rd edition.
 
Has anyone used or heard any information about the "COMLEX Secrets" book by Morrison Media. It sounds like a good idea, but I would rather hear a review about the book before ordering.

Thanks,

Jared
 
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Hi..can anyone comment on using Blackwell's Clinica Vignettes Series .. I figure some of thema re probably worth using, and maybe some are not...

From what I've gathered by reading, the ones for Biochema nd Behavorial Science are worth getting?

Thanks!

Bonnie
 
When it comes to BRS vs HY books, which one works best for each of the individual subjects (i.e. behavioral science, neuro, anatomy). For Path and Physio, I know everyone swears by BRS, but for the rest, what do you guys think? Thanks!
 
omarsaleh66 said:
This is the plan so far:

Books:

First Aid
Underground Clinical Vignettes
Platinum Vignettes
USMLE Secrets
HY Neuro (maybe)
HY Molecular Bio
BRS phys (maybe)
BRS path (maybe)

Questions I plan on doing:

-Bootleg Qbank (2000 q in word format seperated by organ systems) - doing these right now for path and pharm for the shelf, Ive done the questions for micro and beh. science already.
-Robbins path Review (Ive done a quite a bit of these)
- real qbank
-Webpath (I do these along with path class so Ive done these all year long)

I want to do these but dont know if i will get to them:
-Appleton and Lange
-Qbook
-NMS
I have some bootleg Qbank, but it isn't separated by organ system. Where could I get it divided up?
 
how different is qbank you can buy right now from the bootleg version? lots of repeat questions or highly updated?

thanks!
 
hi. where do i get these books to buy! is posssible that i could pay you to fowad yous to me, thanks

Chandler said:
I have posted Ramoray's USMLE STEP 1 book list below, and I will add my book list when it is completed. For the rest of the SDNers, post your booklist for your upcoming Step 1. This thread will help future SDN medical students be familiar with what books SDNers used to study for Step 1. So, PLEASE POST the books you are planning to use for Step 1 (even if it is just First Aid). The more people that volunteer, the better it will help the future SDNers.

Thanks

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
RAMORAY'S BOOKLIST

Well i must say thank god for sdn, i remember not finding sdn until after i took my mcat and there were so many things differently i would have done- so many things i found out that i didnt know about so with that said i thank everyone for their criticism and constant tips and advice to everyone on their board. I was origially going to study withalot of big books for the boards and after alot of advice and posts i came to a realization i was going to be setting myself up for failure on the step so i have finalized a set of books and Qs i am going to use for 8 weeks of boards study and i wanted to see if anyone had any comments either yay or nay about them just to make sure i am not wasting my time. I have already went through each along with classes as well so its not like ill be seeing them for the first time. anyway-
BRS Path
Lange micro/immuno review
Lippincott Pharm
Costanzo Stars Physio
Lippincott biochem
BRS Neuro( i know its thick but i used it with class so its all annoted etc.)
HY anatomy, molec bio and embryo
BRS Beh. Sci.

Questions in order of importance which i plan to do all roughly 8000 questions
Robbins path review
Qbank
NMS questions
Qbook
Appleton lange Qs
Rapid Review Qs
Blue Prints Qs

So if i follow that and do all those Qs for 8 weeks, would that be an efficient yet successful plan that is not a waste of time? any suggestions other than incoportaing FA into the routine? thanks for the continued critique and advice from everyone.OFFICIAL USMLE STEP 1 BOOKLIST
 
Dr. Goljan provided us with the following list of recommended study materials for Step I of USMLE/COMLEX:

1. First Aid for Boards (newest edition)
2. Kaplan USMLE Step I Books & Q Bank
3. Student Consult (with online Q Bank)
4. Rapid Review Pathology
5. Rapid Review Biochem

Other suggestions:

Rapid Review Microbiology/Immunology
Rapid Review Pharmacology
Rapid Review Gross & Developmental Anatomy
Rapid Review Behavioral Science
High Yield Neuroanatomy
High Yield Anatomy
Board Review Series Physiology
OMT Review (Savarese)

(These are his suggestions, not mine. Use them or not, as desired.)
 
OSUdoc08 said:
Dr. Goljan provided us with the following list of recommended study materials for Step I of USMLE/COMLEX:

1. First Aid for Boards (newest edition)
2. Kaplan USMLE Step I Books & Q Bank
3. Student Consult (with online Q Bank)
4. Rapid Review Pathology
5. Rapid Review Biochem

Other suggestions:

Rapid Review Microbiology/Immunology
Rapid Review Pharmacology
Rapid Review Gross & Developmental Anatomy
Rapid Review Behavioral Science
High Yield Neuroanatomy
High Yield Anatomy
Board Review Series Physiology
OMT Review (Savarese)

(These are his suggestions, not mine. Use them or not, as desired.)

Tell Dr. Goljan he forgot to recommend Rapid Review Behavioral Science. Since he is the the editor for that book too.
 
OSUdoc08 said:
Dr. Goljan provided us with the following list of recommended study materials for Step I of USMLE/COMLEX:

1. First Aid for Boards (newest edition)
2. Kaplan USMLE Step I Books & Q Bank
3. Student Consult (with online Q Bank)
4. Rapid Review Pathology
5. Rapid Review Biochem

Other suggestions:

Rapid Review Microbiology/Immunology
Rapid Review Pharmacology
Rapid Review Gross & Developmental Anatomy
Rapid Review Behavioral Science
High Yield Neuroanatomy
High Yield Anatomy
Board Review Series Physiology
OMT Review (Savarese)

(These are his suggestions, not mine. Use them or not, as desired.)

You also forgot Most Commons in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Most Commons in Medicine, Usmle Step 1 (Rapid Review Series), Pathology Review (Saunders Text and Review Series) aka "STARS," Most Commons in Surgery, all of the Board Simulator Series set, and for all those South American USMLE takers: Resumo de Patologia.
 
p53 said:
Tell Dr. Goljan he forgot to recommend Rapid Review Behavioral Science. Since he is the the editor for that book too.

It's on there. Take a look.
 
Pox in a box said:
You also forgot Most Commons in Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Most Commons in Medicine, Usmle Step 1 (Rapid Review Series), Pathology Review (Saunders Text and Review Series) aka "STARS," Most Commons in Surgery, all of the Board Simulator Series set, and for all those South American USMLE takers: Resumo de Patologia.

STARS is not needed if you have Rapid Review (it is the same material.)
 
This thread has been so helpful. I just had a few questions about somethings

- Pharm: there aren't alot of examples for pharm sources and this is one of my weakest subjects
- Roadmap: I was planning on using it for neuro, anatomy, histo. what are some of the views about it as opposed to hy
- definetly getting the hy for b/ch

This site rocks!!!
 
This thread has been so helpful. I just had a few questions about somethings

- Pharm: there aren't alot of examples for pharm sources and this is one of my weakest subjects
- Roadmap: I was planning on using it for neuro, anatomy, histo. what are some of the views about it as opposed to hy
- definetly getting the hy for b/ch

other books i plan on using
- BRS for path and physio
- HY or BRS for behavorial science
- HY for immuno/ Clinically Made Simple for micro
- First Aid and maybe kaplan

Good luck to everyone!!!

This site rocks!!!
 
then I'm screwed.

The "FA pharm is enough..." probably doesn't apply to me or the OP above if pharm is our weakpoint. Any advice out there? Long dong mentioned Kaplan pharm book was good as have others -- can anyone explain why?

As for micro, FA + Ridiculously Simple, or something more substantial??

thanks
 
Dr. James White wrote Roadmap Neuro and Gross Anatomy and they are great, he taught my class neuroscience and that's the text we used for class. We asked him specifically what we needed for Step 1 (regarding neuro and gross) and he said his books plus FA and you should do great (I know, kind of sounds biased but he was a GREAT teacher and the books are good).

Hope this helps.
 
hi,nice to read ur message ..it was good i need ur help.. please send me the mp3s on my id [email protected]
Long Dong said:
Yeah it's kaplan web prep. Some guy recorded all the lectures onto MP3 I'm listening to them now because I've already gone threw goljan a few times. I spend about 2 hours in the gym 6 days a week so I figured I'd try to learn stuff while there and listen to lectures.

No I'm not out of school yet. I spend about 3 hours a day studying for school go workout and then study for boards for about 2 hours and then do about 50 questions. Been doing this since Jan. and yeah it's hard to keep up with school at the same time but my school is pass/fail, no internal rankings at all. So instead of getting like 80 something % on exams like I was before Jan, I'm getting 70 somethings instead. Alot of the boards stuff and class stuff overlap, the things that are covered in class that I feel aren't board worthy I just don't bother learning, e.g. community acquired pneumonias in ICU patients vs CAPs in inpatient non-ICU.
 
Does anyone have more feedback about:
-HY histo
-HY embryo
-underground vignettes
Is FA enough for histo & embryo?
 
dreds said:
Does anyone have more feedback about:
-HY histo
-HY embryo
-underground vignettes
Is FA enough for histo & embryo?


HY histo is a great run-through of major topics and the correlates to pharm, phys, and micro are really great. It's not exclusively a review of histology and they keep LMs and EMs to a minimum. There are no color photos. I haven't taken the boards yet so it's tough for me to put the book in perspective with everything else I have / will be studying. However, if I was running out of time, I probably would stick with more traditional resources. If you DO HAVE time, at least read through a few chapters at the bookstore and see if you like it. I enjoy Dudek's writing more than the other board prep authors, maybe with the exception of Goljan. Keeps it short and sweet.

There's another thread devoted exclusively to this book that many of us have recently contributed to. The author himself (or someone using his name) has contributed to the discussion.


Good luck!
 
Hey guys

I am thinking about what books to use for the USMLE step 1 and I was hoping I could get some help and feedback. I know this topic has been beaten to death but I was hoping I could still get some comments about my pics.

After thinking about it for a long while and checking out a bunch of the review books I have came up with the following list:

OVERALL: First Aid
ANAT: BRS
EMBRYOLOGY: BRS or HY
NEUROANATOMY: USMLE Road map
HISTOLOGY: BRS or HY
PHYS: Costanzo’s review book (not her BRS book but her larger one)
PATH: BRS using medium Robbins for stuff I don’t understand and pictures
PHARM: Lippincott’s illustrated reviews (maybe Katzung but it seems to long)
BIOCHEM: Lippincott’s illustrated reviews
BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES: BRS
MICRO AND IMMUNO: Medical Microbiology and Immunology: Examination and Board
Review

I’m an IMG that is currently attending an Irish med school so eventhough I feel like Im getting a good education over here I really want to make sure Im well prepared for the boards. I have alloted several months of study and Im starting early (8-12 months) to be sure I do OK. Also, I have being doing only mediocre in my classes here in med school. I am taking a year off before my clinical years to relax a bit (I havent taken any time off since high school and I need a break for a couple months) and then start studying for step 1. I’m going to write the USMLE 1 at the end of my year off.

I am planning on reviewing First Aid as I am reviewing the other review books to make sure I cover all the important concepts in First Aid. I am also going to do as many questions as I can as well.

So with this in mind do you think Im taking on too much? Would I be better off going over shorter books more often than using these longer books? I know its no good to take on too much or your mark can sometimes suffer. Good choices? Bad Choices?

I am also thinking about using “Kaplan’s Organ-Based Review Books – USMLE step 1 Home Study Program” instead of using separate review books. Anyone heard about this? Which way do you think is better – separate review books or this home study program?
 
Hey guys

Just recently I was browsing First Aid and I noticed it mentions “Kaplan’s Organ-Based Review Books – USMLE step 1 Home Study Program” under the recommended review sources section. It got a good rating. I checked it out on Kaplan’s website and I am questioning if maybe this package would be better than studying from separate popular review books (ie. BRS, Lipincott, HY, Rad map). It only shows the cover of the Organ-Based Review books on the website so Im not sure what they are like. I would be doing questions like Q-bank and other popular question ressources either way. I would also be using First Aid either way.
- Anyone heard of this package or used this package?
- Any comments about it?
- Do you think the Organ-Based Review Books are better than using separate review books?

Also, I hear a lot about people are using Kaplan notes for particular subjects but I called Kaplan and they said they don’t offer these notes to students not taking their review courses. Apparently the Home Study Program is the only product they offer to people not taking their review courses (besides Qbank and stuff of course). How are people getting these notes? Are they bootlegged? Are they better than the Organ-based review books in the home study program?

Thanks
 
For pharm -"FA is enough"-well I once questioned that statement and questioned how people said Fa is enough in general. Well it really depends on how you are able to store info. The bottom line-the only things you need to answer every pharm and microbio question on step 1 is in the words of FA. Now there are a lot a lot of random words listed for each drug/bug and unless you have a background-a lot of those words wont make much sense or stick very well-so just reading FA a bunch of times with no background-the info probably wont stick or make much sense-but all the details are found there-its just a matter of if you can memorize them or not. If you want a background-buy Katzung and Trever review of pharm and use it chapter by chapter along with the corresponding drugs in FA_and honesty it is perfect.
Same with FA in general-I am a third year and almost done with this year and I still look back to FA a lot and use it with other review books this year and FA step 1 still has more info packed in then any other step 2 book, or other comprehensive medicine/step 2 book out there. Other than workup/treatment but straight diseases and stuff-FA step 1 is just pakced ful and I didnt realize it until this year as my knowledge base increased and I had mroe time to go through FA-I still pick up something new when I read something in FA and it is like the 30th time I have read through it-so it depends on your backgroudn ina subject and your ability to purely memorize something straight out but please do a favor and MEMORIZE pharm and microsections of FA-youll do very vedry well in those sections.
 
It would be nice to see all of these study tips. It would be nicer to know the scores that resulted from these study plans
 
I didn`t know there to post it, so I did it here:
maybe I missed the answer of this common question:

what is is the difference between these Kaplan books:
home study programm vs. normal lecturs notes vs. review series?

I need a set for USMLE step 1, without mistakes and enough to score high, additionaly I am going to get Goljan`s notes too or books which are recommended before.

Thanks in advance!
 
Pewl said:
What is "HY?" Can someone please tell me?

HY = the "High Yield" series of books, eg. High Yield Neuroanatomy, High Yield Embryology...

Lippincott Williams & Wilkins puts them out. They're like mini versions of corresponding BRS series books.
 
Would it be pointless for me to get the 2006 First Aid book right now if I'm about to start my first year? Should I wait for the next edition?
 
Pewl said:
Would it be pointless for me to get the 2006 First Aid book right now if I'm about to start my first year? Should I wait for the next edition?

Yes. You won't even need it until spring of your second year.
 
I'm taking mine on June 19th. Here's what I've been using so far:

Path: BRS, Big Robbins for pics
Physio:BRS
Pharm: Lippincott's and Katzung Board Review
Biochem: Lippincott's, BRS
I/M: Lippincott's
Neuro: BRS
Overall: Step-Up and FA
Questions: Robbins Path Q-book, Kaplan Q-book, Q-bank

I've found the Step-Up to be very helpful during my system-based review days. The Robbins Q-book is awesome and also a great source for path pics.
 
katrinadams9 said:
I'm taking mine on June 19th. Here's what I've been using so far:

Path: BRS, Big Robbins for pics
Physio:BRS
Pharm: Lippincott's and Katzung Board Review
Biochem: Lippincott's, BRS
I/M: Lippincott's
Neuro: BRS
Overall: Step-Up and FA
Questions: Robbins Path Q-book, Kaplan Q-book, Q-bank

I've found the Step-Up to be very helpful during my system-based review days. The Robbins Q-book is awesome and also a great source for path pics.

I'm also taking the USMLE on June 19th. Here is what I'm using:

Path: Goljan Notes
Biochem: Goljan Notes
Histology: RR
Anatomy: BRS
Neuro: BRS
Behavioral Sciences: RR
Pharm: Lange
Overall: Goljan HY, FA
Questions: QBook & Exam Master
 
omarsaleh66 said:
This is the plan so far:

Books:

First Aid
Underground Clinical Vignettes
Platinum Vignettes
USMLE Secrets
HY Neuro (maybe)
HY Molecular Bio
BRS phys (maybe)
BRS path (maybe)

Questions I plan on doing:

-Bootleg Qbank (2000 q in word format seperated by organ systems) - doing these right now for path and pharm for the shelf, Ive done the questions for micro and beh. science already.
-Robbins path Review (Ive done a quite a bit of these)
- real qbank
-Webpath (I do these along with path class so Ive done these all year long)

I want to do these but dont know if i will get to them:
-Appleton and Lange
-Qbook
-NMS


what's webpath?
 
hello all...can someone help me...where can i purchase the webprep --i believe they are audio files right? Are they available at ebay? I tried searching it there...just typing in webprep but I am not getting any hits.

Thanks for any help :)





Long Dong said:
 
jp2009 said:
hello all...can someone help me...where can i purchase the webprep --i believe they are audio files right? Are they available at ebay? I tried searching it there...just typing in webprep but I am not getting any hits.

Thanks for any help :)
Open up your Private Message box and I'll PM you, or you can go to the web prep thread and post and I'm sure the person selling it would PM you.
 
Hey you guys, I hope the studying is going well. Does anyone think that using only FA for behavioral science is a bad idea? I've flipped through it and I think that it is ok but I don't want to play myself. I have kaplan and brs for it, but I really think that they are completely too much.
 
I'll be starting M2 in August and have a few questions.

1. Is the Stars Pathology Review by Goljan worth buying if I already buy Robbins?
2. Is there a way that I can get a hold of just the Kaplan Pharmacology notes?
3. How do I get a hold of the Goljan audio lectures and the lecture notes?

Thanks!
 
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