Buying books in bulk for Step 1 . . . what to get?

[browniegirl86]

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My friend won a coupon for 25% off an entire order from Borders, so we are gonna stock up on board prep books for next year (we'll be taking Step 1 in 2008). I'm pretty sure we can use the coupon to preorder books from Borders.com; hopefully so since the 2008 First Aid won't come out until December and we need to use the coupon by July 15th.

So, aside from First Aid 2008 and a bunch of BRS subject books, any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[lord_jeebus]

First Aid hardly changes from year to year, they just make a new edition so paranoid med students don't buy a used copy. If you can't preorder, just get 2007.

Excellent books without good alternatives:

Robbins Review of Pathology (an awesome question book)
Rapid Review Pathology (BRS Path is not bad, some prefer it)
High Yield Neuroanatomy
Kaplan QBook (maybe not essential but a lot of good questions at a good price)
The old edition of High Yield Cell & Molecular Biology, which you'll probably have to get used.

Consider (maybe take a look at a brick & mortar store before committing; your choice may also depend on how much you can tolerate to read):

HY Embryology
Clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple vs. Levinson Micro & Immuno review
BRS vs HY Behavioral Science
HY Gross Anatomy (I hated this one but some like it)
HY Histology (ditto)

Buying used might save you more than 25%.

 

[Law2Doc]

First Aid hardly changes from year to year, they just make a new edition so paranoid med students don't buy a used copy. If you can't preorder, just get 2007.

Excellent books without good alternatives:

Robbins Review of Pathology (an awesome question book)
Rapid Review Pathology (BRS Path is not bad, some prefer it)
High Yield Neuroanatomy
Kaplan QBook (maybe not essential but a lot of good questions at a good price)
The old edition of High Yield Cell & Molecular Biology, which you'll probably have to get used.

Consider (maybe take a look at a brick & mortar store before committing; your choice may also depend on how much you can tolerate to read):

HY Embryology
Clinical microbiology made ridiculously simple vs. Levinson Micro & Immuno review
BRS vs HY Behavioral Science
HY Gross Anatomy (I hated this one but some like it)
HY Histology (ditto)

Buying used might save you more than 25%.

All good choices, but most folks are unlikely to get through all of these. OP you might want to consider skipping some of the HY's and doubling up the question banks. (Depends how you learn best).

Lots of people like the PharmCards as well.

 

[Twitch]

My friend won a coupon for 25% off an entire order from Borders, so we are gonna stock up on board prep books for next year (we'll be taking Step 1 in 2008). I'm pretty sure we can use the coupon to preorder books from Borders.com; hopefully so since the 2008 First Aid won't come out until December and we need to use the coupon by July 15th.

So, aside from First Aid 2008 and a bunch of BRS subject books, any suggestions?

Thanks.

25% off at Borders is not a great deal. Those and 20% are rather commonly found. Now once in a while they email you the 40% off (if borders reward member which is free to sign up for). These 40% are awesome. The 20% and such are found all over the place.

Also before you order always double check with amazon just to make sure. Sometimes new books are sold at a discount by amazon which may exceed the stock 20% off at Borders.

 

[ginger60]

I second the suggestion to look at your books on amazon first. Also, buy the HY books used--its cheaper, and definitely not necessary to have them new (and in some cases the older versions are more high yield).

 

[njbmd]

Moving to USMLE Step I thread for comment by people who have taken the test.

 

[anesthesiarocks]

My friend won a coupon for 25% off an entire order from Borders, so we are gonna stock up on board prep books for next year (we'll be taking Step 1 in 2008). I'm pretty sure we can use the coupon to preorder books from Borders.com; hopefully so since the 2008 First Aid won't come out until December and we need to use the coupon by July 15th.

So, aside from First Aid 2008 and a bunch of BRS subject books, any suggestions?

Thanks.

"a bunch of BRS subject books"?

If I were going to study for step1 again, here are the sources I would use:

1) FA
2) Goljan RR pathology
3) BRS physiology(and I wouldn't even do all of it)

That's it. If there was something in FA I didn't understand completely, I'd consult other sources(the internet, class textbooks, etc) to see what the particular diagram or word meant.

And I would know FA *cold*. Knowing one or two general review sources really well is >>>>>>>> than having 13 different review books from various subjects that you just run over a few times each without ever really knowing it to the core.

 

[domer621]

1) FA
2) Goljan RR pathology
3) BRS physiology(and I wouldn't even do all of it)

That's it. If there was something in FA I didn't understand completely, I'd consult other sources(the internet, class textbooks, etc) to see what the particular diagram or word meant.

👍

Those books + UWorld is honestly all I would have needed on my test. Those are the only 3 books I read cover to cover, although I had a book for every subject (Lange Micro Review, HY BS, HY biostats, Lippincott's biochem, HY neuro) that I went through using FA as a guide.

 

[Old_Mil]

My friend won a coupon for 25% off an entire order from Borders, so we are gonna stock up on board prep books for next year (we'll be taking Step 1 in 2008). I'm pretty sure we can use the coupon to preorder books from Borders.com; hopefully so since the 2008 First Aid won't come out until December and we need to use the coupon by July 15th.

So, aside from First Aid 2008 and a bunch of BRS subject books, any suggestions?

Thanks.

Rapid Review Pathology
Rapid Review Biochemistry
BRS Physiology
Pharm Recall
Clinically Oriented Micro Made Ridiculously Simple

First Aid (for Pharm, Biochem, Anatomy, Embryo)
Step Up (for everything else)
Step Up to the Bedside (Step Up's case companion)