Best Path review book in the last 2 months: BRS or Rapid Review Goljan?

[MDapp06]

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Hi All,

I haven't used Rapid Review Path (Goljan) or BRS Pathology during school, but I need to use a review book for Step 1 and I am having a hard time deciding which one to use. Can someone please tell me which book I should use, given that I only have about 2 months left before I have to take Step 1? Also, if I used Rapid Review (Goljan), do I have to use his audio lectures too to get the most out of the book?

I am really panicking, so if anyone can help me, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

mdapp06

 

[nectarine]

only two months

 

[pseudoknot]

I expect every post in this thread will advocate for RR, so let me just say a few things in favor of BRS. I find it a lot more readable because it is mostly written in complete sentences. The format also highlights and bolds key points, which breaks up the monotony. It's also a lot shorter.

Especially if you haven't been using RR already, you might want to consider something more streamlined--I don't know how you could pick up RR for the first time and read it in a week or less.

The drawback of BRS, of course, is that it has less info on biochem and pathophysiology. I think some of this is duplicated in other sources, but maybe not all. Nevertheless, people have been doing well on Step I for years using BRS Path so I don't think it's somehow fundamentally inferior as folks on SDN will claim.

I think the best thing to do is go to your bookstore and sit down with both books and try to read a chapter from each, just to see which you like better.

Disclaimer: I haven't taken Step I yet. Maybe I'll end up getting 191 and having to do FM in Nebraska because I didn't use RR!

 

[igottaquestion]

I don't know how you could pick up RR for the first time and read it in a week or less.

easy, just read robbins first.

 

[logical44]

Hi All,

I haven't used Rapid Review Path (Goljan) or BRS Pathology during school, but I need to use a review book for Step 1 and I am having a hard time deciding which one to use. Can someone please tell me which book I should use, given that I only have about 2 months left before I have to take Step 1? Also, if I used Rapid Review (Goljan), do I have to use his audio lectures too to get the most out of the book?

I am really panicking, so if anyone can help me, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

mdapp06

go with BRS path and do kaplan qbank before you do UW

 

[MDapp06]

Thank you all for the replies. Do you think it is impossible to start Goljan at this point? If I start it, do I have to use his lectures to make sense of the Goljan Rapid Review book?

If I use BRS Path, which other sources should I supplement it with to get the Biochemistry and Pathophysiology that BRS lacks as compared to Rapid Review Goljan?

Please let me know you advice.

Thank you!

 

[silas2642]

Hi All,

I haven't used Rapid Review Path (Goljan) or BRS Pathology during school, but I need to use a review book for Step 1 and I am having a hard time deciding which one to use. Can someone please tell me which book I should use, given that I only have about 2 months left before I have to take Step 1? Also, if I used Rapid Review (Goljan), do I have to use his audio lectures too to get the most out of the book?

I am really panicking, so if anyone can help me, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

mdapp06

People who use BRS do just fine-- I think that the key is to pick a source and stick with it. I've gone through BRS and I'm going through Golgan now as I go through my coursework and I'm going to use Golgan for the boards (8 weeks left for board prep as well). I like the the way that Golgan is formatted, but for others it drives them crazy. It depends on your preference. I also think that it's more in depth (possibly too in-depth?) and the pictures are nice.

If you use BRS and know the damned thing well, I'm not sure if you would really need to supplement it with anything-- I've had friends who have used it in the past and done perfectly well on the boards.

 

[lankysudanese]

Maybe I'll end up getting 191 and having to do FM in Nebraska because I didn't use RR!

let's keep such comments to a minimum. if u assume that everybody who matches into FM did so because of subpar credentials, you will end up being humbled during one of your encounters with an FM resident/attending. 2 of our AOA graduates from my school matched in FM last year.

 

[Instatewaiter]

I expect every post in this thread will advocate for RR, so let me just say a few things in favor of BRS. I find it a lot more readable because it is mostly written in complete sentences. The format also highlights and bolds key points, which breaks up the monotony. It's also a lot shorter.

I don't know how you could pick up RR for the first time and read it in a week or less.

The drawback of BRS, of course, is that it has less info on biochem and pathophysiology. I think some of this is duplicated in other sources, but maybe not all. Nevertheless, people have been doing well on Step I for years using BRS Path so I don't think it's somehow fundamentally inferior as folks on SDN will claim.

I think the best thing to do is go to your bookstore and sit down with both books and try to read a chapter from each, just to see which you like better.

Disclaimer: I haven't taken Step I yet. Maybe I'll end up getting 191 and having to do FM in Nebraska because I didn't use RR!

I used BRS during the courses of 2nd year and didnt really like it. I had heard about Rapid Review so I decided to pick it up and glance through it.

What I really liked about RR is that it includes pictures of the disease states, it includes a lot of the physiology, the lab data you will find with disease states and I thought it engaged me more than BRS.

For the boards I actually used a bit of a combo of RR and BRS. I used RR for everything but heme/onc because the Heme section of RR is like 130 pages vs like 30 in BRS. Goljian has a hardon for some heme and that section is a bit overkill IMHO.

I got through RR in about 5.5 days which included 1 full go through and a day to review key parts.

Both things have similar information but RR includes some micro, some pharm and some phys that BRS doesnt. You will find all this stuff in other sources but I thought it was nice to have another review before reading all the path.

I recommend looking at both books and sitting down in your bookstore and spending and hour or so picking out which book is the best. BRS is better for some and RR is better for others. Personally I like RR much better.

 

[pseudoknot]

let's keep such comments to a minimum. if u assume that everybody who matches into FM did so because of subpar credentials, you will end up being humbled during one of your encounters with an FM resident/attending. 2 of our AOA graduates from my school matched in FM last year.

I didn't make that assumption in my statement. Rather, I made the implication that if you do very poorly on Step I, one of your only options will be Family Medicine. This is beyond dispute, as it is currently one of the least competitive specialties.

However, the converse of a true statement is not necessarily true. Note that I didn't say that everyone who goes into FM does so unwillingly or that everyone who does FM is an idiot, because I don't believe these things.

Anyway, I thought it would be clear that I was joking in that sentence, so I don't see the need to go to the mat over it. I actually thought if I was going to get flak over that it would be from Nebraska defenders!

 

[DoctaJay]

If you are going to go with BRS, go with the 4th edition. It has color pictures and its a better read (although not all that much more content than the 3rd ed.). I'm using BRS Path (4th ed.) and between that book and USMLEWorld and what I learned in class I feel like I will be fine. The biggest thing is to do what works for you. I would rather go through BRS Path twice than barely get through RR once. Just my .02

 

[12loser12]

Don't be too worried about the time. I just cracked RR for the first time to cram for my NBME path shelf. I went through it cover to cover in 2.5 hard days. I'm a very slow reader, and I'm sure I won't retain a lot of it, but it's a start. If you have 2 months, go with the better book, not the faster one.

However, there were a few concepts that I didn't know already or didn't remember from class, and it's had to get a good conceptual understanding from RR's bulletpoint style. I think on pass 2 (for boards studying) I'm going to go through it in the library with robbins or something else handy so if I don't understand a point I can refer to something that explains it a little better.

 

[pseudoknot]

Don't be too worried about the time. I just cracked RR for the first time to cram for my NBME path shelf. I went through it cover to cover in 2.5 hard days. I'm a very slow reader, and I'm sure I won't retain a lot of it, but it's a start.

I'd say you're an incredibly fast reader. Even if you did this in one continuous 60 hour meth binge, that's still 10 pages per hour, which is pretty quick for a dense review book.

 

[12loser12]

It was NOS energy drink 😛, and like I said, 10 pages doesn't take that much time when you're not getting great comprehension. Also, we just had Heme Onc test like 5 days ago so those sections went very fast.

Anyway, my point isn't you can expect to get the book done in 2.5 days, cause you can't do it well. My point is with 2 months, choose the one that fits your style, the time shouldn't be an issue

 

[Slide]

Funny I'm trying to cram RR path for my test tomorrow. I started Saturday evening and right now I'm on page 437. Info's pretty good, but it's so much. I've looked at all of these chapters at some point in the past year, but it's still hard to get through it all.

 

[Knicks]

The end of the RR book has 3 practice exams if I'm not mistaken, plus the loads of pictures, plus the big margins....... so even though RR may look like a big book (which, relatively speaking, it is), I believe it's not as big as one may think.

The bottom line is: choose whichever book you like best.

Nobody can tell you that book X will suit YOUR study style/preference than book Y.

I, personally, am using RR because my pathology background from my school is shaky, and so I need that extra bit of info to augment my understanding.

 

[cgscribe]

I know a couple people who had BRS and regretted it. I think the majority here will agree RR is an awesome text (use it with the audio, even better). The quiz's in back are money too.

 

[emcee1109]

For those of you reading through Goljan Rapid Review Pathology cover to cover, how many hours a day are you spending reading it? I have never read a textbook cover to cover, but I think I'll have to because our Pathology and Pharmacology finals are cumulative...🙁

 

[kryptik]

For those of you reading through Goljan Rapid Review Pathology cover to cover, how many hours a day are you spending reading it? I have never read a textbook cover to cover, but I think I'll have to because our Pathology and Pharmacology finals are cumulative...🙁

on average i spend about an hour per chapter

 

[bola]

Originally Posted by emcee1109 View Post
For those of you reading through Goljan Rapid Review Pathology cover to cover, how many hours a day are you spending reading it? I have never read a textbook cover to cover, but I think I'll have to because our Pathology and Pharmacology finals are cumulative...

I have never set out to read a textbook cover to cover in the span of a few days - the concept is frankly a very intimidating one esp with a book as thick as RR Path and I'm not sure how high yield it is.

Try reading the chapters that correlate with whatever you're doing with class during that time period and if it is during board studying time - read the chapters that correlate with the section of FA you are currently covering. Using this system you will eventually find out that you have covered most (if not all) of the textbook over whatever time period you have. Flipping through page by page like a novel does not work well for me and I found the piecemeal approach with the context of class or FA very helpful with retention. I wish I could brag about finishing RR Path in a day but I probably did it over the course of a whole year and then again in the month leading up to the boards.

 

[go lakers]

If you use BRS and know the damned thing well, I'm not sure if you would really need to supplement it with anything-- I've had friends who have used it in the past and done perfectly well on the boards.

cosign

 

[wAyRadikull]

Agree with Bola. Reading RR with FA is a great idea and very doable. Dedicate a FA system a day along with RR, and its much more doable. Throw in some questions and you'll be solid for that day. Overall it should take you about 15 days max.

1st time read through for me was during class. Second time was before our shelf exam where I took about 8-10 days to read the book cover to cover alongside FA.

Hopefully, I can redo the whole book with FA starting with general path tomorrow.

 

[footcloud]

I'm reading the 2nd edition of RR Goljan right now...and getting kind of bored. Not because I know everything, but just because reading textbooks isn't exactly fun. But I figure the once-through should help. Robbins is 10x worse than Rapid Review imo, way more dense and boring.

 

[Nellyakgo]

Hi all,
Where do I get the Goljan audio (mp3s)? It's not on amazon and web sites "claiming" to sell it don't seem 100% official to me. I did buy the book tha has a PIn to activate the online student consult (whuch I haven't done yet) but as I understand that's only written content and Qs.

 

[kryptik]

Hi All,

I haven't used Rapid Review Path (Goljan) or BRS Pathology during school, but I need to use a review book for Step 1 and I am having a hard time deciding which one to use. Can someone please tell me which book I should use, given that I only have about 2 months left before I have to take Step 1? Also, if I used Rapid Review (Goljan), do I have to use his audio lectures too to get the most out of the book?

I am really panicking, so if anyone can help me, I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

mdapp06

I prefer rapid review to brs path, and you dont need the audios to get the most out of rapid review, especially the 3rd edition which has more images and a few extra notes.

 

[drmekhi]

FA and Crush which one is better....?

 

[drmekhi]

i totally agree with you on the difficulty in reading a book as intimidating as RR path but hey Robbins is 20x worse.. you choose.. the devil or the deep blue sea!

 

[drmekhi]

same with me.. i spend about an hour per chapter.. can one really be faster??

 

[medsend]

I feel like BRS is much easier to read than Goljan, but Goljan (in the newest edition) has a lot of colored photos, tips on the side of the pages that give you the high yield points which is aewesome..but its a long read.

 

[vicinihil]

Compared to the 2nd ed Goljan which I own, is it worth getting the 3rd one? I'm taking the Step 1's in April and I've read the old Goljan about twice now but haven't really written in it. I plan on going through it twice more before the actual boards.

I know the new one has more photos and more high yield facts but money aside, is it worth to read a new version? How different is it?