Adding stuff to First Aid

[automaton]

I hear over and over from people that you should add materials to First Aid as you go through classes and other review books. What exactly is the rationale for this? If the stuff you're adding to the margins or whatnot were really high yield, they would already be included in First Aid, right? Conversely, if those high yield facts really are missing, why are they?

So why doesn't First Aid include more high yield material

or

Why don't we just memorize the stuff First Aid mentions and not worry about the other stuff?

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[daisygirl]

I hear over and over from people that you should add materials to First Aid as you go through classes and other review books. What exactly is the rationale for this? If the stuff you're adding to the margins or whatnot were really high yield, they would already be included in First Aid, right? Conversely, if those high yield facts really are missing, why are they?

So why doesn't First Aid include more high yield material

or

Why don't we just memorize the stuff First Aid mentions and not worry about the other stuff?

First aid is presented in an outline format (not exactly, but close enough). It really throws together a bunch of disjointed facts. Making matters worse is that these facts tend to be all over first aid too .

It is VERY IMPORTANT to annotate first aid as you go along in your classes. If you do so, then you'll find that your first aid is 'ready to go' when you start your step one studies. If you don't annotate as you go along, you'll be like me- I've just wasted about 4-5 days reading micro made ridiculously simple while annotating the micro (ONLY micro) section. I'll now need about another three days to memorize what I've written in first aid. I also know that all of this wasted time will hurt me in the long run since I will not be able to spend as much time on other subjects as my test date draws near.

With regards to why first aid doesn't include more high-yield stuff- well I would venture a guess and say that if first aid did, it would bear a striking resemblence to whatever micro text you used during your micro class. You can only add so much before the book looks like a text. Also, try re-reading your text before step one and see how much of it you'll remember (probably not as much as you'd like).

Do yourself a favor, annotate first aid during second year. I was told this, and I didn't listen. I am now suffering immensely since I'm wasting a crapload of time annotating instead of memorizing (micro has some understanding, but more of it is really just memorizing). If you are wondering why I'm spending so much time annotating, it is because I forgot so much of the minutae that I learned at the beginning of my second year- and I honored micro and I still forgot much of that crap.

I know one thing though- I'm just memorizing the biochem section of first aid. I mean word for word. I just don't give a crap about biochem and it will probably hurt me, but I'm shooting for the mean

 

[Brian Pavlovitz]

First aid is presented in an outline format (not exactly, but close enough). It really throws together a bunch of disjointed facts. Making matters worse is that these facts tend to be all over first aid too .

It is VERY IMPORTANT to annotate first aid as you go along in your classes. If you do so, then you'll find that your first aid is 'ready to go' when you start your step one studies. If you don't annotate as you go along, you'll be like me- I've just wasted about 4-5 days reading micro made ridiculously simple while annotating the micro (ONLY micro) section. I'll now need about another three days to memorize what I've written in first aid. I also know that all of this wasted time will hurt me in the long run since I will not be able to spend as much time on other subjects as my test date draws near.

With regards to why first aid doesn't include more high-yield stuff- well I would venture a guess and say that if first aid did, it would bear a striking resemblence to whatever micro text you used during your micro class. You can only add so much before the book looks like a text. Also, try re-reading your text before step one and see how much of it you'll remember (probably not as much as you'd like).

Do yourself a favor, annotate first aid during second year. I was told this, and I didn't listen. I am now suffering immensely since I'm wasting a crapload of time annotating instead of memorizing (micro has some understanding, but more of it is really just memorizing). If you are wondering why I'm spending so much time annotating, it is because I forgot so much of the minutae that I learned at the beginning of my second year- and I honored micro and I still forgot much of that crap.

I know one thing though- I'm just memorizing the biochem section of first aid. I mean word for word. I just don't give a crap about biochem and it will probably hurt me, but I'm shooting for the mean

I hear ya, Daisygirl! For my test, there was VERY little stright biochemistry. FA should be just fine for you. Good Luck!!

 

[JohnnyVegas]

I disagree. I just try to memorize the review books well and then go back and look at First Aid and pick up extra detail that I missed in that topic. Writing in all that stuff doesn't seem all that helpful to me as you can just go back and look it up if there is something you don't remember or want to know by looking in the index of one of your review books or just looking it up in Stedman's. If I really want to make sure I remember somthing sometimes I just write it down even though I will never read it again just because the act of writing things down is another way to make it stick.

 

[Idiopathic]

For people who are going to use FA as a primary study tool, it is woefully weak in that regard. Therefore, you should fill in the many gaps that are there with details from class and whatnot. It would be very difficult to just study FA and not go to class, for instance, and expect to be able to get the type of question that the boards asks correct.

Remember also that the writers of FA rely on student input. Something they dont test on this year may not be in the book, but may show up next year. I think the test writers know this and sometimes write questions that are specifically not answered easily from FA...I guiarantee the COMLEX does this.

 

[bigfrank]

This is an interesting thread. For most students, I think annotating in FA is an excellent idea for a variety of reasons:

1. It forces you to re-write (and reenforce the material!)
2. It consolidates high-yield facts into one source for later reviewing
3. First Aid is in NO way a complete resource for the Step I. It at least touches on most subjects that are on the Step I, but it does so it in an abbreviated manner. Specifically, I recall my 2003 (and the '04) version had the mnemonic SItS for the 4 rotator cuff muscles, which is nice, but what are they functions? It fails to mention this key point. In the current format, the Step I will NEVER ask you, "what are the 4 rotator cuff muscles?"; rather, it will ask that you apply the knowledge. (Patient cannot adduct shoulder...what muscle is most likely involved --> teres minor).
4. There is even room to add subjects that are NOT in the book anywhere (like the embryology of the kidney and collecting system).

Best,