Step I brs phys vs. Big costanza

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HiddenTruth

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I was wondering if there was a difference btwn these two books? I have the blue brs phys by linda costanza--is that any difft than the "big" costanza that people refer to? If you have any links to the books, please cite them--thanks a lot.

HT
 
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HiddenTruth said:
I was wondering if there was a difference btwn these two books? I have the blue brs phys by linda costanza--is that any difft than the "big" costanza that people refer to? If you have any links to the books, please cite them--thanks a lot.

HT
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BRS phsyio is outline style- it is a board review book. The purple Costanzo book is more like a text- more information. I loved the purple book and I used it like crazy second year. I'm too lazy to post a link, but you can easily find these books by doing a search on amazon/barnes and noble (type in Physiology since that is literally the title of the book).
 
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BIG COSTANZO KICKS ASS!
I have both books but reading the text in the purple book just sticks with me a lot better than reading the outline in the BRS book. She has a great way of explaining the difficult concepts and reinforces and integrates information among the different organ systems through repitition. Fabulous book, wish I used it more first year.
 
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The big Costanzo is an incredible book. The material is pretty much the same but I learn better from elaboration and integration than I do just an outline. I wouldn't really call it a textbook or a review book, it's kind of a happy medium between the two. I highly reccommend it.
 
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it is a MUCH longer read than BRS. But I believe it would take me reading BRS 3 times to understand the material as well as reading the big costanzo once. I plan on reading it once then using BRS to review, however, when the boards come around. Going through big costanzo once, makes going through the BRS book super fast and easy. But IMO, if you are going to just get one, get big costanzo, unless your physio background is already strong.
 
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Big Constanzo is a really good book. I used it during my first-year physiology class.

However, BRS (little) Constanzo is the one that's manageable reading for your last month of studying before the USMLE. I wouldn't recommend trying to read the big book in three to six days. On the other hand, I also wouldn't recommend reading the little book for the very first time when you study for the boards.

My compromise: I used big Constanzo during M-1. Then during M2, as we learned the pathophysiology of each organ system, I read the corresponding chapter of BRS in order to get a good grasp of it. Consequently, when I was down to the last month of hard-core studying for Step 1, I'd already read BRS once during the year and read it again over the course of a few days.
 
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Do both books follow the same organization? In other words, can I read big Costanzo as I am going through little Costanzo or are they totally different?
 
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