Step I Biochem and Micro STEP 1

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troopersmama

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hey all!

i have a week off during my second year (spring break) 3 months before i am planning on taking Step 1.

i wanted to brush up on my micro
and cover high yield biochemistry stubjects.

any suggestions on how to attack these?

is rapid review biochemistry a good way to go for biochem?
for micro, i have no idea. many people are saying some books contain too much information, while the flash cards contain too little.

please help!

thanks!!!
 
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Most people seem to think the Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Easy is the way to go for micro. I used it for my class, and it is a good book that presents info in a way that help retention (at least for me). It also has lots of charts if you like those for learning.

I have the RR biochem book and like it a lot. I know some people here recommend Lippincott, but it's pretty dense I think. Maybe it's good if you have the time or don't hate biochem more than life itself. 🙂
 
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tho i have very little micro on mine, everything i had was in FA
lotsa stuff about mechanism of different toxins

very few biochem, and again they were all in FA
 
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wow, fast response. thanks dr. bagel!

i will definitely check out clinical microbiology made simple.

have you heard good things about the kaplan dvd's for biochemistry? or too long and overkill? thanks again 🙂 i appreciate it a lot
 
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i thought RR biochem was great review for someone as rusty as i was (1 year out of basic science, in clinics)

also, for micro i used HY micro and thought it was great. concise and hit all the important stuff. MMRS was a little too wordy for me.
 
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i've been listening to the kaplan biochem lectures the past few days and i really like them so far. i've always hated biochem and thought it was confusing last year when i took it, but kaplan seems to put it together in a way that's clear and logical.
 
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peace84 said:
i've been listening to the kaplan biochem lectures the past few days and i really like them so far. i've always hated biochem and thought it was confusing last year when i took it, but kaplan seems to put it together in a way that's clear and logical.
Click to expand...


Do you by any chance know the name of the instructor giving the biochem lectures?
 
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Cliff Huxtable said:
Is FA enough for Micro or is CMMRS or another book needed?
Click to expand...

Personally I believe the question banks (e.g. USMLEWorld) have the most comprehensive coverage of micro. By doing questions and reading the explanations - to both those you get right and those you get wrong - you will cover a huge portion of micro.

It is also important to memorize cold all of the characteristics of bacteria and viruses (RNA single stranded negative sense, gram negative curve shaped oxidase +, etc).

Clinical Microbio MRS has excellent tables for such a task. Coupled with FA and the banks you're solid.

In terms of Biochem, again the question banks are now providing extremely thorough diagrams and explanations (see USMLEWorld explanations to biochemistry questions).

Rapid Review is useful if you have a lot of time and patience. Lippincott is a nice reference. Lange Flash Cards are also out there from two Yale medical students but I think this is tertiary to the aforementioned.
 
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I just went over my Biochemistry (I was about 2 months out at the time) and used this book that was recommended to me by a friend who didn't like the Kaplan book (my original plan) and didn't want to pick up the giants Lippincotts or RR - it's the Blueprints: Biochemistry, Genetics, Embryology. Good book, when used with FA flushing out a lot of points and puts it into clinical context. It also is only 3$ on amazon and is only about 200 pages long (also used the Pharm book in the same series, pretty good books).
 
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