2nd year books, planning for step 1

[ButImLETired]

Hey fellow masochists,

so a ton of 4th years at my school are currently selling all of their books for cheap and I'd rather get in on that action than put up with the prices at our bookstore.
I was thinking about what books/notecards/whatever might be useful for next year (my second year). Mainly I was thinking about stuff that I'd want to look at not only through the year but also as a reference when studying for Step 1. I'm guessing that unlike first year (when you basically HAVE to have Netter's and the dissector) there aren't any must-haves. As a little background of sorts, this year I used BRS Physio for a lot of stuff, BRS gross anatomy for some questions, and baby Moore's for the blue boxes (plus the usual anatomy atlases and such). I also have a couple of histo atlases that I found super useful, but we're a really histo-intensive school.

I've heard that having a First Aid around is helpful, so I'll likely have that. But are there any other books like that? BRS path or something? Moore's flashcards? Something for pharm? What about neuro and psych?

Thanks guys!

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[Guile]

Definitely get Goljan's RR Pathology. Great book. If you do get a FA, be ready to buy a brand new one to study for Step 1. You don't want someone else's with all of their markings in the margins and you'll want the latest one. Clinical Microbiology Make Ridiculously Simple is another great book. Try to pick that one up. Beyond that, I don't think I used any other books.

 

[ButImLETired]

Definitely get Goljan's RR Pathology. Great book. If you do get a FA, be ready to buy a brand new one to study for Step 1. You don't want someone else's with all of their markings in the margins and you'll want the latest one. Clinical Microbiology Make Ridiculously Simple is another great book. Try to pick that one up. Beyond that, I don't think I used any other books.

Thanks a lot. I'll definitely get a shiny new FA.

I should probably mention: next year I'll be taking path, pharm, the basic H&P/doctoring class, and then neuro and psych. We actually do micro and immuno first year, so I'm almost done with that (and already own the clinical microbio book).

 

[Guile]

I thought the Lippincott Pharmacology book was great. It was a little expensive but it was by far the best resource I found for learning pharmacology. All of the information is well presented and concise. You can get it on Amazon for a pretty good price. That being said, you will not need any more pharm info than what is in FA for Step 1. Your fourth years may not have it. It wasn't too popular. For neuro, Clinical Neuroanatomy Made Ridiculously Simple was awesome.

Also, wait and get the shiny FA right before you start studying for Step 1. Anything you write in it during second year will be nearly useless. You will want to have room to write from what you are studying for Step 1. The focuses of studying for second year and Step 1 are vastly different.

 

[fantasticdan1]

Goljan, FA (newest, be aware of errors), Micro ridiculously simple.

 

[username456789]

RR Path definitely. As has been said countless times, it's more than just pathology. It's pathophysiology (which is pretty lacking in BRS Path), pharm, micro, etc all in one place.

BRS Path isn't bad to have along too if money isn't an issue. I bought both for some reason, I think I was planning on using BRS for questions mostly. I haven't used it much, but it is nice to have to look something up if it's not clear in Goljan. But Goljan really is great to have to read along as you go for class, as it's much more detailed than BRS. So, not only will it supply more information that you're likely to be tested on in in-house exams, but reading through it will be a much much less daunting task when board review rolls around.

For pharm, I really like Katzung and Trevor's Pharm Review:

http://www.amazon.com/Katzung-Trevors-Pharmacology-Examination-Review/dp/0071488693


I honestly didn't use it a ton until about two months ago (we don't have a separate pharm course, just random lectures that are relevant to the organ system we're studying), but since I have started using it I'm realizing it's a great resource. Concise, yet thorough.

 

[HTxFrog]

For the record, I thought Lippincott pharm was too detailed and in depth and I wished I could have found something shorter, but as far as I can tell there really isn't anything much better. FA and pharm qbanks are enough once you get to step studying imho . Maybe try that katzung and trevor book. Obviously if you even found your way to this forum, you will probably read RR path like it is the Bible, but make sure you listen to the Goljan audio also b/c he highlights what the really important parts of the book are, and I think the audio is easily just as important as the book.

 

[Guile]

I also thought Pharmacology Recall was really good. Forgot to mention that.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I know I've said this to you before, but here it is again for everyone else's benefit: Get a year-long subscription to UWorld, and do the appropriate questions for your unit as you go. Yes, in theory, you'll have done all of UWorld before you even start studying for Step 1 and will have a "used" question bank. So what? If you memorize all of the UWorld questions and their explanations, you'll be in amazing shape. There are also plenty of other solid question banks available if you just want new questions, for whatever reason. As everyone says, there's no better studying for Step 1 than learning everything thoroughly the first time around, and I can't think of a better way to do that than drilling the info into your head with the hardest questions on the planet.

 

[Guile]

I know I've said this to you before, but here it is again for everyone else's benefit: Get a year-long subscription to UWorld, and do the appropriate questions for your unit as you go. Yes, in theory, you'll have done all of UWorld before you even start studying for Step 1 and will have a "used" question bank. So what? If you memorize all of the UWorld questions and their explanations, you'll be in amazing shape. There are also plenty of other solid question banks available if you just want new questions, for whatever reason. As everyone says, there's no better studying for Step 1 than learning everything thoroughly the first time around, and I can't think of a better way to do that than drilling the info into your head with the hardest questions on the planet.

Having gone through second year and not done this, I can say this would be a great idea. It's expensive, sure, but I really think it would be great preparation for Step 1.

 

[abmd]

do you recommend it if we aren't on a block system? we have pathophysiology and pharm and micro all separate organ systems. how would we do the questions?

 

[MilkmanAl]

You can segregate questions by subject and/or system, so your curriculum won't be an issue.