Crush Step 1

[zoombini01]

Anyone have success using this for Step 1 prep? It looks pretty awesome- I'm almost tempted to use it instead of First Aid but part of me thinks that would be a stupid idea. I just can't seem to learn anything from First Aid in the format it's in- Crush is basically First Aid in paragraph form. HALP

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[Slack3r]

Well, First Aid is a review resource, so you really shouldn't be learning anything from it.

 

[zoombini01]

I guess I meant that FA often isn't triggering the deeper understanding I had when going through the material in class many months ago. I'm wondering if I should just count on UWorld to fill in the holes or if it would be worth the time to sit down with something like Crush Step 1 for that "baseline narrative". My dedicated study period is 6 weeks so the amount of actual "reading" time is very limited, since I'd like to spend most of the time doing questions...

 

[Hangry]

I guess I meant that FA often isn't triggering the deeper understanding I had when going through the material in class many months ago. I'm wondering if I should just count on UWorld to fill in the holes or if it would be worth the time to sit down with something like Crush Step 1 for that "baseline narrative". My dedicated study period is 6 weeks so the amount of actual "reading" time is very limited, since I'd like to spend most of the time doing questions...

UWorld will fill in a lot of holes, but I would be hesitant to recommend someone skip FA completely for step 1 studying. It's a great concise (relatively) consolidation of essentially all high yield material for step 1 and at least 1 pass during your dedicated should jog some minutiae back into your memory. That said, it is essentially a bulleted list and definitely counts on your mind to make the necessary deeper understanding and connection rather than spoon feeding it to you (because then it wouldn't be concise). Other resources, particularly UWorld (fantastic diagrams and charts) and pathoma do much more explanation of the deeper understanding behind topics.

That's why the classic UFAP (uworld, FA, pathoma) study plan works so well. Unfortunately I know nothing about crush step 1, so I can't comment on that, but the above is my take on the other resources.

 

[patriot6]

Don't do it. FA is gold standard for a reason. FA, Uworld, + Pathoma are required reading; anything else you want to add is lagniappe.

 

[Psai]

I went through the entire step 1 thread and I can only recall one person who scored high without using fa. It was pretty universally used.

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

I went through the entire step 1 thread and I can only recall one person who scored high without using fa. It was pretty universally used.

I beat the avg for all specialties without it, but I also did >8000 qbank qs. My attention span is nil, so questions were good.

Having said that, I think if you can use it you absolutely should. The info is golden. I tried so many times but I just hated that book.

 

[PhillyMed777]

I beat the avg for all specialties without it, but I also did >8000 qbank qs. My attention span is nil, so questions were good.

Having said that, I think if you can use it you absolutely should. The info is golden. I tried so many times but I just hated that book.

which q banks did you use and did you use 8000 unique questions (or does it include repeats)?

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

which q banks did you use and did you use 8000 unique questions (or does it include repeats)?

I'm counting Uworld x2, Kaplan, usmle rx and 4 nbmes. I only did about half of Kaplan, didn't like it as much

 

[bashwell]

I went through the entire step 1 thread and I can only recall one person who scored high without using fa. It was pretty universally used.

I wouldn't recommend not using FA for most people. But I do personally know of two people who didn't use FA and did very well. But again they did very well in med school and also did tons and tons of questions in various qbanks. If you go over to reddit (/r/medicalschool I think) there were also a couple of people who mentioned they didn't use FA and scored above average.

By the way, Goljan has mentioned Crush Step 1 positively. I'll try to find the video.

Edit: Here's the video:

 

[Psai]

I beat the avg for all specialties without it, but I also did >8000 qbank qs. My attention span is nil, so questions were good.

Having said that, I think if you can use it you absolutely should. The info is golden. I tried so many times but I just hated that book.

I think you might be the guy that I'm remembering if you're a 4th year med student or intern now. I remember that guy did a ton of questions

 

[asdf123g]

Does doing Step practice Q's take as long to do as MCAT ones? It'd take me a good hour to do and review maybe 15-20 questions (read prompt, read q's, read answer choices, answer, then review).

 

[tantacles]

Does doing Step practice Q's take as long to do as MCAT ones? It'd take me a good hour to do and review maybe 15-20 questions (read prompt, read q's, read answer choices, answer, then review).

Yes.

 

[Dr Tony T. Chopper]

I have heard a bit about people starting FA as a first year and going through the book as it correlates with lecture material. Can anyone comment if CS series is a just as good or better resource for this?

 

[asdf123g]

I have heard a bit about people starting FA as a first year and going through the book as it correlates with lecture material. Can anyone comment if CS series is a just as good or better resource for this?

Ive heard people do this too. How is it possible to memorize 200 slides a day along with reading associated chapters of FA?!

 

[midwestm2]

I'm counting Uworld x2, Kaplan, usmle rx and 4 nbmes. I only did about half of Kaplan, didn't like it as much

USMLE Rx is basically the First Aid book in question form, but actually gives even more explanation of concepts than the charts/bullet points in the book itself. I would almost consider doing USMLE Rx (or Qmax as some people call it) as reading FA - it's like reading it without even realizing you are.

 

[dadaddadaBATMAN]

I think you might be the guy that I'm remembering if you're a 4th year med student or intern now. I remember that guy did a ton of questions

halfway through 3rd.

I only commented because I remember getting freaked out by these threads when I was studying. I think most people benefit a ton from fa, I just don't think it's for everyone

USMLE Rx is basically the First Aid book in question form, but actually gives even more explanation of concepts than the charts/bullet points in the book itself. I would almost consider doing USMLE Rx (or Qmax as some people call it) as reading FA - it's like reading it without even realizing you are.

Fair enough, although I'd argue fa has a lot more info than is contained in the bank.

 

[NYCdude]

Do people recommend reading First Aid alongside our regular course lectures?

(I'm an MS1 heading into my second semester.)

 

[Hangry]

Do people recommend reading First Aid alongside our regular course lectures?

(I'm an MS1 heading into my second semester.)

Yes, but IMO only for review the week of finals. It's a good summary but won't teach you anything new. The ideal resource to truly use alongside classes is Pathoma.

 

[Low Flow]

Ive heard people do this too. How is it possible to memorize 200 slides a day along with reading associated chapters of FA?!

Because it should contain the same material. I agree with Hangry. I had FA first semester, but really only looked at it right before a test as a sort of study guide. Every once in a while there would be a handy mnemonic or a piece of information that wasn't mentioned in class, but overall I only looked at it a handful of times. Pathoma, on the other hand, was a god send. You must use this alongside classes once you start systems. It will be the best $100 you ever spend.

 

[asdf123g]

Because it should contain the same material. I agree with Hangry. I had FA first semester, but really only looked at it right before a test as a sort of study guide. Every once in a while there would be a handy mnemonic or a piece of information that wasn't mentioned in class, but overall I only looked at it a handful of times. Pathoma, on the other hand, was a god send. You must use this alongside classes once you start systems. It will be the best $100 you ever spend.

excuse my ignorance, why not before systems?

 

[Low Flow]

excuse my ignorance, why not before systems?

It's mostly laid out in a systems-based manner. There are like 2-3 intro chapters that cover general immunology/inflammation/wound repair, but the rest of the chapters are systems. We started systems with musculoskeletal toward the end of 1st semester, so that's why I was using it.

 

[asdf123g]

It's mostly laid out in a systems-based manner. There are like 2-3 intro chapters that cover general immunology/inflammation/wound repair, but the rest of the chapters are systems. We started systems with musculoskeletal toward the end of 1st semester, so that's why I was using it.

Ok, im worried because I am a really slow reader. Been working on it, but it hasnt gotten much better. It sounds like you read FA closer to your exam date, is it unwise to read it everyday alongside lecture on what is covered for the day (or does that sound unreasonable)?

 

[NYCdude]

It's mostly laid out in a systems-based manner. There are like 2-3 intro chapters that cover general immunology/inflammation/wound repair, but the rest of the chapters are systems. We started systems with musculoskeletal toward the end of 1st semester, so that's why I was using it.

Wait, are you saying to use Pathoma in first year (alongside first year courses)?

 

[Low Flow]

Wait, are you saying to use Pathoma in first year (alongside first year courses)?

Only if you're doing systems.