Best way to annotate First Aid?

[Frogger27]

Any tips on the best way to annotate first aid to make Step prep in the future go more efficiently? What sources do you add? USMLERx, Kaplan Q bank, Uworld, Pathoma, Sketchy, etc?

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[sliceofbread136]

I wrote uworld tidbits at the beginning of each pertinent organ system chapter. I only wrote stuff that was not in first aid

 

[68PGunner]

You don't annotate First Aid. Honestly, you use FA as a reference (screenshots) for answers to quests from Kaplan or World. That's how I use it.

 

[mehc012]

I have the PDF and I comment in anything I think is worth knowing...sometimes it helps me understand a topic better, sometimes it's a Qbank question explanation with a good point, or a mnemonic I made up (ask me about bloody diarrhea!) I also comment in the errata, highlighted in a different color so I know when I'm reading if I should disregard something.

 

[Jojos]

So there are different school of thoughts about how to go about FA. one says to annotate it and the other says to use it only as a reference and only really to make up for information that one doesn't know and/or needs to review. the diagnostic of what information is missing is obtained via Qbanks.

Now as for annotation you just add the info you think is important and isn't there or isn't explained clearly in FA. As for resources i used Uworld, pathoma and lecturio. ocasionally when i really needed extensive information on a topic i used najeeb but for the most part lecturio rocked it for me. Be aware, everybody is going to tell you that their source is the end all be all. you are better off seeing some videos from each source and making your own educated decision.

 

[akinetopsia]

I agree with the other poster about annotating things that AREN'T in FA. Before you write in FA, make sure it's not actually in FA. I know some people that color-coded resources, e.g. orange for Pathoma, blue for UWorld, etc. You do you, whatever works best.

 

[Save a life]

Everyone will have a different opinion on this. Some say as a reference but that’s why I have Google.

Personally, I’ve been using FA for everything. I’ve been making Anki cards out of it and annotating it with my class notes. And I’m only an M1. It’s working particularly well with biochemistry because my biochem classes covers about 90% of the biochem in FA and its what we are most tested on. I literally have like the entire metabolism part of FA memorized with Anki. I think I’m probably going to honor the class.

 

[Redpancreas]

Any tips on the best way to annotate first aid to make Step prep in the future go more efficiently? What sources do you add? USMLERx, Kaplan Q bank, Uworld, Pathoma, Sketchy, etc?

Hey I know a lot of stock is put into annotating first aid and we all do it, but I really feel that it's a fairly low-yield process. On one hand, it tricks you into making yourself feel like you've made progress (pages full of annotations) but in reality, my annotations did not do much to help me while studying. Most often, if what I had annotated was important enough, it was in a different place of FA I hadn't seen yet.

As for adding U__ P contents to FA the process was just too time intensive. It was enjoyable to color code everything, add little details here and there, but all you've created is a scrap-book and it wasn't really a learning process. I think some people associate the process with success because often the product of highlighting and having FA open is you'll be reading parts of it in a spatially repetitious manner which is all you really need to do.

Instead what I recommend is you do is have FA open while doing UWorld and refer to it. If the question refers to Polyarteritis Nodosa, take time to read about all the Vasculitides (Churg-Strauss, Kawasaki's, etc) on that page of First Aid. That way, you do the spatial repetition without the wasted time I feel comes with annotation/highlighting. Then, the information will stick in the most important place which is not your FA, but your head.

 

[mehc012]

Not gonna lie, 90% of my FA 'annotation' is comments on the pdf like "skipped this page; not relevant for block 3, review later" or "no Anki b/c I understand this part well" or "redundant to p252" to make sure that when I go over things in the future, I slow down and focus on what I skimmed over in interest of prepping for my school exams, and that I know what's in my flashcards vs what's not.

 

[Vain Brother]

seems like people are overthinking this. if there is something in another resource that is relevant (i.e., tested on in UWorld), annotate it into that FA section so that when you review that section another time, it is there for you