Annotating Review Books Through 1st and 2nd Year for USMLE Prep

[baconshrimps]

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I will be starting medical school this fall, and a good number of friends who have already taken Step I have encouraged me to annotate whatever review books I plan on using for Step I as the material is covered in classes through the first and second year. Aside from the Board Review Series, Pathoma and First Aid for USMLE (the latter of which I will probably get the newest edition during my 2nd year) can some current students make their recommendations on what review books I should look into getting?

 

[JJMrK]

JMO, but I'd actually advise against this. The material that will seem second-nature to you when reviewing for step 1 will initially take some effort to learn. When you go back later, you'll find that most of the annotations you made are either irrelevant, too basic, or things you know cold, and really just distract from your ability to read the text. Annotate if it helps you learn, but don't think that you're going to use your notes later.

 

[JP2740]

People are so strange with their opinions. For some reason, people feel that studying for their classes does not equal studying for Step 1. Focus on your classwork, study the notes, then restudy them, then study them again and again and do well in your classes. It's so much simpler to just have the mindset that you're going to do well on your school exams using your school notes. It's not like step 1 will ask about myocardial infarction and your school will skip it over.

 

[JJMrK]

People are so strange with their opinions. For some reason, people feel that studying for their classes does not equal studying for Step 1. Focus on your classwork, study the notes, then restudy them, then study them again and again and do well in your classes. It's so much simpler to just have the mindset that you're going to do well on your school exams using your school notes. It's not like step 1 will ask about myocardial infarction and your school will skip it over.

There's a pretty stark difference between the two at my school, and it was definitely necessary to study for each one semi-independently in order to do well on step 1 and honor courses.

 

[ulikedaggers]

People are so strange with their opinions. For some reason, people feel that studying for their classes does not equal studying for Step 1. Focus on your classwork, study the notes, then restudy them, then study them again and again and do well in your classes. It's so much simpler to just have the mindset that you're going to do well on your school exams using your school notes. It's not like step 1 will ask about myocardial infarction and your school will skip it over.

There's usually quite a bit of stuff that is in FA/Kaplan/HY that doesn't get taught in class at my school. My grades have actually gotten better since I started devoting more time to Step 1 stuff and less time to lecture notes.

 

[MilkIsGood]

I wouldnt annotate the review books. That is low yield and a waste of time. Just use the review books as you move along with your coursework. I use review books exclusively to study and dont touch my school's lecture notes at all. There are definitely things my school doesnt even cover or spends too much time on a particular topic instead

 

[SouthernSurgeon]

The people that I knew who annotated their review books as they went inevitably ended up with a review book bogged down with microscopically printed notes full of minutiae that they at one point thought might be relevant. They then bought fresh new books when it actually came time to study for Step I

 

[J ROD]

I dont think it is worth it. My school does a decent job with some areas and not so decent job in others. Overall, I am just reviewing what I can and learning what I dont know. But, my school loves the crap that doesnt matter. I feel they stress that more than stuff on Step 1. They definitely do not teach to Step 1. And we only get about 5 weeks at most dedicated time before clinicals. That's if you wait until the last day before clinicals start and dont take a break.

 

[KinasePro]

Aim to get >95th percentile on all of your exams, and save the review books for your dedicated step 1 study.
If you kick ass during M1/M2, the relatively small amount of minutae that your school never taught you will be picked up very easily during your dedicated study time. You'll have a strong foundation to build on during your study time if you can dominate your coursework early.

The most important thing for you to achieve during M1/M2 is a deep understanding of pathology and physiology. If you're going to supplement your coursework with anything, I would suggest Goljan RR and audio, only because he focuses so heavily on the mechanism of disease.

 

[notbobtrustme]

m1 stuff is pretty worthless in the grand scheme of things. Know physiology cold; other than that, just enjoy the first year.

 

[Cmaster]

m1 stuff is pretty worthless in the grand scheme of things. Know physiology cold; other than that, just enjoy the first year.

👍

I think its best to start studying for the board at the beginning of your second year. The material you learn first year, is disjointed and you need the info from second year to under the full picture.

I had friend that started studying for boards first year, and i dont think it helped them that much. They did well, like 240+ but for the amount of work and time they invested into Step 1 studying they were expecting much higher scores. I started hard core step 1 studying the week before the start of my 2nd year, and I did just as well, if not better than most of my counterparts.

Everyone is different, who really knows if studying now for the board will or will not be beneficial. I say focus on you school work first year, and start looking preparing for the board all second year.