I have a hard time learning from lectures, especially when a professor starts talking about some random protein that he researches that is related to x disease. I like to learn from books, and it would be great if I didn't waste my time learning everything in a 600 page hematology book, when I only need to really know maybe 100 of those pages. For example, Microbio made ridiculously simple was great, I read it in a week, knew it cold, and did well on my exam. I would rather do that than spend 3 weeks studying poorly done lectures, hate it, and not do as well on my exams. I also have FA but doesn't really work to learn stuff for the first time. so does anybody know any good books for 1st/2nd yr medical school to learn material for the first time, without all the detailed BS (only stuff I need for step1).
Books to learn material for the first time
- Thread starter mattyice
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i liked BRS physio for Cardio, Resp, GI, and Endocrine from what i remember, pathoma is good too
I prefer pre-study a topic of lecture using usmle oriented review book one day before lecture.
I find it pretty high yield and when it comes to lecture time, the gap of knowledge of particular topic can be easily filled
u guys mind sharing the way u prepare for lecture?
I find it pretty high yield and when it comes to lecture time, the gap of knowledge of particular topic can be easily filled
u guys mind sharing the way u prepare for lecture?
I am a book person myself. There is not a resource out there that tells you ONLY the minimum facts you need to know for the USMLE (except for first aid - which isn't readable when you are trying to learn stuff for the first time), but some resources come pretty close and are worth the read, if only to increase your understanding (and thereby allowing you to brute force memorize less).
For physiology: Costanzo's physiology - this is a fantastic text book; it is extremely well written and has very little superfluous information. Stand out chapters include the Renal/ Acid-Base, Pulmonary, GI, and endocrine chapters. I used part of the CV section as well, but this was one of the few times during my first 2 years where my school's lecture notes were worth using as a primary resource, so can't say too much about it. Some people will recommend BRS physiology instead - the content in BRS physio and Costanzo's physio have the exact same content! They are just delivered diferrently- BRS is purely in outline format and Costanzo's phys is entirely prose. I prefer prose, but choose whatever works for you.
For microbiology: MicroCards + Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple; this is really all you need for Micro. However, they have changed the format of MicroCards recently so I can only vouch for the previous (I think 2nd?) edition.
For pathology: Robbins Basic Pathology; I know a lot of people avoid reading Robbins, but this text was pretty great. There is definitely some extra (that is, unnecessary) information, though - after using it a little while, you can quickly figure out which sections to skip/ skim/ thoroughly read.
For pharm: My weakest subject - I used different resources for different pharm sections. For some, I used lippincotts, others pharm recall, and still others the Trevor and Katzung. I would advise you to take a look at a couple of these sources and see what works best for you.
For the other course (biochem, genetics, epi, psych, I used a combo of lecture notes and selected sections of various texts - I really have no specific recs for these subjects).
Hope that helps!
For physiology: Costanzo's physiology - this is a fantastic text book; it is extremely well written and has very little superfluous information. Stand out chapters include the Renal/ Acid-Base, Pulmonary, GI, and endocrine chapters. I used part of the CV section as well, but this was one of the few times during my first 2 years where my school's lecture notes were worth using as a primary resource, so can't say too much about it. Some people will recommend BRS physiology instead - the content in BRS physio and Costanzo's physio have the exact same content! They are just delivered diferrently- BRS is purely in outline format and Costanzo's phys is entirely prose. I prefer prose, but choose whatever works for you.
For microbiology: MicroCards + Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple; this is really all you need for Micro. However, they have changed the format of MicroCards recently so I can only vouch for the previous (I think 2nd?) edition.
For pathology: Robbins Basic Pathology; I know a lot of people avoid reading Robbins, but this text was pretty great. There is definitely some extra (that is, unnecessary) information, though - after using it a little while, you can quickly figure out which sections to skip/ skim/ thoroughly read.
For pharm: My weakest subject - I used different resources for different pharm sections. For some, I used lippincotts, others pharm recall, and still others the Trevor and Katzung. I would advise you to take a look at a couple of these sources and see what works best for you.
For the other course (biochem, genetics, epi, psych, I used a combo of lecture notes and selected sections of various texts - I really have no specific recs for these subjects).
Hope that helps!
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Do you like Microcards + CMMRS? Currently just using Microcards/FA and about 6 weeks out of my step 1s, you think CMMRS is a good adjunct for Micro?
that was a huge help. I agree with micro made simple and costanzo, so I'll have to check out some of the other books/cards u recommended
If you haven't been through CMMRS once when you first learned micro, it might not be the best idea to try and get through it during your dedicated Step 1 time. If you used microcards before, I would say to stick with that and use CMMRS as more of a reference text. To look stuff up as needed
