Should I read big Robbins cover to cover during M2 year?

Deuce 007 MD · Jul 10, 2004

I've read some post where some people have read it and others haven't. At my school you can pass the course by lecture notes alone so reading it for the course is not a necessity since it is p/f at my school. I wanted to get peoples opinion on this matter and how they did regarding step 1. Did you do fine without reading this beast, or do you regret not reading it? Those that did read it did it help or did it just take up a lot of your time that could of been better spent memorizing brs or goljan? Thanks in advance for your input.

Jalby · Jul 10, 2004

I read it while studying for the boards and thought it didn't really help me. I got two questions that I wouldn't have otherwise. I'd think it would be a decent idea to read it during class, but it might be a better idea to read BRS Path 5 times instead.

Blade28 · Jul 11, 2004

We had a path class where we'd go over an organ system every lecture (two lectures a week). So we just read the appropriate chapter before class...several weeks later, a lot of the book was read! 🙂

I ended up reading the entire thing by the end of second year, but it didn't help that much for Step 1. As Jalby said, BRS Path was more helpful.

WatchingWaiting · Jul 11, 2004

Alternate form of the question-- would reading Robbin's Basic Pathology during the course (say, two or three times, given its shorter length) be a good policy?

IlianaSedai · Jul 11, 2004

I used Big Robbins as an atlas (looked at all the pictures), memorized morphology of important diseases, and to clarify my lecture notes. And I think it is very much worth looking at the important slides and reading the boxes describing the morphology of important diseases or disease processes, and memorizing the classic descriptions.

But of course, Big Robbins is over a thousand pages and there's no way you could reasonably read it from cover to cover. Oftentimes I found I didn't even have the time to read the assigned sections, let alone the entire book. You can survive without spending too much time reading the entire text, as long as you pay attention to the pictures and classic descriptions of morphology.

I too would do it almost the same way as Jalby. I would become VERY familiar with BRS Pathology and use Robbins Review of Pathology (a multiple choice question review) to check my knowledge throughout second year. BRS was not enough for many of my course exams, but it is a pretty thick book and well worth looking at before you start really studying for the boards. Otherwise, you'll open it for the first time during the last month and realize you'll never finish reading it.

Brian Pavlovitz · Jul 11, 2004

Our School used Basic Pathology as a textbook, and I ended up reading pretty much the entire thing during the course. It's obviously less time-consuming to get through than the "big" Robbins, and I thought it was well worth it. It was one of the only textbooks I can say that I actually read (like I was going to read Kandel's Principles of Neural Science ??)

I would agree with Iliana about the Robbins Review of Pathology as well--the questions are excellent. Same for BRS Path: it probably isn't enough detail for course exams, but for the USMLE, it's golden.

scootad. · Jul 11, 2004

I never opened Robbins - got a 246.

My sister never opened Robbins -- got a 252.

We both used lecture notes and annotated BRS Path. And memorized BRS. This strategy is totally sufficient for boards as well as class exams.

tega · Jul 11, 2004

i raad little robbins multiple times during my path course.....and i honestly believe BRS path (during path shelf or board review) would have been useless to me without this. But then again....I only attended 2 path lectures and ignored most lecture notes .Although my path class grades suffered (relatively) because of this...i had a pretty solid shelf score...and ill see how step one goes hopefully by Wednesday....
moreover little robbins is not a very big book??.

b&ierstiefel · Jul 11, 2004

Go go BRS! Great for the boards. Didn't use Robbins for the boards and read about a fourth of it during M2 year.

PACtoDOC · Jul 11, 2004

In my opinion, we as future physicians separate ourselves from other "providers" like PA's and NP's with our knowledge of Path more than anything. Having been through both, I can tell you that the one distinguishing point that is really all that unique to medical education is the pathophys. Sure you can get by without it, as do the PA's and NP's who take a watered down version of it. At our school though, you simply cannot do well without reading Robbins the big text. I read the whole book, read baby Robbins, and then did the Robbins practice questions. When it came time for board review, I felt that I was overprepared for path. I think to get comfy in path you have to put in a set number of hours, and to me it was better to frontload that during the year. It also paid off in how well I did in my courses.

Stinger86 · Jul 11, 2004

I read Basic Pathology cover to cover second year for two reasons: I have an interest in path, and it's a very well-written book. You just don't see that many well-written textbooks, so I took advantage of the opportunity. I highly recommend reading it, but if you don't enjoy path, or don't care, then don't read it and just stick with BRS. Step 1 path isn't that bad anyway.

kc361 · Jul 18, 2004

Hi Deuce,
I know I'm in the minority with this opinion, but I actually wish that I had relied more heavily upon Robbins (Basic Pathology, not big Robbins) for my 2nd year studying + boards prep. I think it largely depends upon how you best learn - BRS Path is essential, but I had trouble retaining the in's and out's of the pathophys just reading through line after line of text in BRS Path. When it came down to D-Day for Step 1, I found myself feeling most comfortable with questions on topics for which I'd used both Robbins and BRS Path in conjunction - i.e., do a quick once-over read of the BRS section, then read the appropriate section of Robbins, and refer back to BRS Path again. The color photos in Robbins really stuck, and I found myself better able to understand and recall details by thinking about the images.
BRS Path is terrific for condensing the material into a high-yield format, but for solid understanding, the Robbins' books are great. If you feel comfortable w/ the mechanisms & the pathophys from class, though, then Robbins might not be necessary. I'd just recommend gauging how comfortable you feel with the material as you begin classes.
Good luck! 🙂

Rod Farva · Jul 18, 2004

Never used Robbins, got 243. Robbins question book is really good though... I just ran out of time and didn't get through it all. Agree with above posters that really knowing BRS Path is a much more reasonable and worthwhile activity (I made flash cards out of BRS Path, and in addition probably read it 4-5 times total when all was said and done).

djipopo · Jul 18, 2004

i read most of robbins during my second year, not in one whole sitting 🙄 but chapter to chapter corresponding to the organ system that we were covering.

i'm a book reader, so using outlines and review books don't help me much when i'm going over the material for the first time. some chapters i just didn't have the time to get to but i felt like my understanding for those sections was lacking by the time it came to take the test and later on when i was reviewing for the boards. i used the question book too during the year, but i didn't get to it or to robbins while studying for the boards.

so to make a long story short, i think it's a good investment. it's a good read and is very comprehensive. sometimes it's a bit much (especially when it gets into the nitty gritty biochem and molecular bio of a particular disease) but you can just scan thru those paragraphs, depending on what your professors want you to focus on.

good luck second year.

Should I read big Robbins cover to cover during M2 year?

Deuce 007 MD

license to ill

Jalby

I fight crime at day when Batman are sleeping.

Blade28

WatchingWaiting

Full Member

IlianaSedai

Senior Member

Brian Pavlovitz

give me that marrow!

scootad.

Senior Member

tega

Senior Member

b&ierstiefel

PACtoDOC

1K Member

Stinger86

Intern year? Ha!

kc361

Member

Rod Farva

Senior Member

djipopo

SDN Angel

Similar threads