FA in first year

[MDpride]

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How many of u r using FA( First-Aid) in ur first year studies?

How helpful y'll find it?

 

[Blackbrim]

I do. Its very good but not a standalone learning resource. FA highlights what is most important and is good review of basics.

 

[kryptik]

Used it for quick review right before tests and it helped a lot...

 

[Captain Fantastic]

I use when studying for end-of-block exams first year. It's basically a set of crib notes from lecture. It's a great resource for M1s. 👍

 

[phospho]

sorry if this is a stupid question, but i thought that "FA" only covered USMLE 1, and i thought that the stuff that USMLE 1 tested was covered only in M2 ? So why would you need/use FA in M1?

 

[amidoinitrite]

sorry if this is a stupid question, but i thought that "FA" only covered USMLE 1, and i thought that the stuff that USMLE 1 tested was covered only in M2 ? So why would you need/use FA in M1?

To my understanding there is some biochemistry/anatomy on USMLE 1 which is covered in the first-aid book, which can be used to study for the biochem/anatomy shelf exams(NBME) when you finish the course--or even regular final exams if you don't take the NBME ones.

 

[kryptik]

sorry if this is a stupid question, but i thought that "FA" only covered USMLE 1, and i thought that the stuff that USMLE 1 tested was covered only in M2 ? So why would you need/use FA in M1?

there is also physio which is covered in M1 in my school so FA is very handy for final review and it has good mnemonics and memory aids.

 

[phospho]

To my understanding there is some biochemistry/anatomy on USMLE 1 which is covered in the first-aid book, which can be used to study for the biochem/anatomy shelf exams(NBME) when you finish the course--or even regular final exams if you don't take the NBME ones.

there is also physio which is covered in M1 in my school so FA is very handy for final review and it has good mnemonics and memory aids.

Thank you for the replies, that makes a lot of sense... 🙂

 

[coldweatherblue]

FA is too sparse for reviewing for in-house exams, so I usually use BRS + syllabus for those.

I took FA home over break and read a few hours in the plane (haven't touched it since though...). We use a systems-based curriculum and reviewing the CV and respiratory chapters in FA was a good review. The biochem section was good reading as well. I was pretty surprised at how much stuff in FA I recognized from class after only 1 semester of med school. I know in MSII we'll get all that again from a different perspective, but it reassured me that the stuff they're teaching us is, in fact, stuff that will be on boards. 😎