Just took Step 1 last week and 99% of my questions could be answered from FA. Beware however that you need to understand each section and that, if there are terms or concepts you recognize but can't definitively restate in your own words, you need to read more about them. I distinctly remember *ONE* question that contained references to things I had not seen mentioned in FA. This is a truly amazing book.
My approach was to first read through FA once, looking up important terms (eponyms) and concepts that I didn't remember or didn't remember well enough to say in my own words. Then I did a second pass in which I used a 3x5 card to cover up the content of the section and see if I could remember the important points it stated. For example, the first few pages in the anatomy section list the important cell types (RBC, neutrophils, etc.). I would cover up everything except the cell type name in bold and see if I remembered everything they said. I did this front to back for FA, going over the things I didn't retain several times and skipping over the things I had down cold. I used BRS Path/Physio as a backup.
People say that you can score a 240 if you just "memorize" FA which is probably true. But you can do even better if you memorized it and understand the implications and how to apply the facts in it.
I didn't believe in FA when I was using it to study because QBank was so detailed. The exact opposite is true on the real thing. USMLE will hound you on certain high yield topics from several different approaches to test your ability to use your knowledge to synthesize a solution that may not be immediately apparent. Depending on the type of student you are this may or may not be a good thing.
