First Aid 2013 or 2014

[J ROD]

I take Step 1 next year (2014). I planned to buy the 2013 and just use that one to study from. Was going to start going over some 1st yr stuff.

Do most of you buy one and use that one or use multiple years?

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[Textbookversion]

2014 won't come out until december, so buy 2013 and use it for now. I'd buy 2014 when it comes out too but w/e.

 

[Brain Bucket]

It's too early to annotate it anyway. I'd say, have it punched and put in a large binder. Insert loose leaf sheets as and where needed with whatever you feel you need to elaborate on. It'll be a good dry run and give you a pretty good idea exactly how much you'll want to annotate the 2014 edition, or if you decide to stick with this edition, you wouldn't have ruined it. I've found that color coding your annotations based on source is most useful.

 

[JP2740]

I take Step 1 next year (2014). I planned to buy the 2013 and just use that one to study from. Was going to start going over some 1st yr stuff.

Do most of you buy one and use that one or use multiple years?

I don't think there's a point in using first aid before the new one comes out, but if you're compelled to buy 2013, study from it. Then throw it away once 2014 comes out and use that one. Nothing you annotate in 2013 in the meantime is going to be that important. You'll see what I mean towards the end

 

[John Lannister]

It's too early to annotate it anyway. I'd say, have it punched and put in a large binder. Insert loose leaf sheets as and where needed with whatever you feel you need to elaborate on. It'll be a good dry run and give you a pretty good idea exactly how much you'll want to annotate the 2014 edition, or if you decide to stick with this edition, you wouldn't have ruined it. I've found that color coding your annotations based on source is most useful.

I don't think there's a point in using first aid before the new one comes out, but if you're compelled to buy 2013, study from it. Then throw it away once 2014 comes out and use that one. Nothing you annotate in 2013 in the meantime is going to be that important. You'll see what I mean towards the end

+1 to not getting it yet.

Like JP said, if you want the skeleton to study from before 2014 then fine, but you really will begin to use after 2014 comes out - that's all that will matter.

 

[Brain Bucket]

+1 to not getting it yet.

Like JP said, if you want the skeleton to study from before 2014 then fine, but you really will begin to use after 2014 comes out - that's all that will matter.

eh...I have to disagree. Get that FA. It'll really help you focus your studying for the shelves in M1. And while what you annotate now may not be important later...probably because you already know it...learning to annotate well is an art in itself and a huge time saver. Better you master it now and get real comfortable with FA asap. Caveat: I'm still in my first year so I may well be talking out of my behind.

 

[HoboCommander]

I'd say use other resources like Kaplan, Pathoma, DIT instead. Use FA 2014 for rapid review at the very end. Reason FA should be your last resource is because the retention rate is very low, and it doesn't cover conceptual ideas very well. Most of the exam is about reasoning skills, connecting the dots.

FA is great for memorization topics like pharm, embryo, biochem, and has nice tables for the rest. But you're not going to get a renal physiology question right just because FA makes a quick mention about it in passing. For that you want resources with more meat.

A lot of people just do 5+ repetitions of FA, because you have to if you are going to use this book. Your choice, you can read that elevated AFP is associated with yolk sac tumor five times to remember it, or you can just watch pathoma once and understand the pathology, remembering it forever (as well as knowing the picture that they show you on the real exam, which FA doesn't).

 

[John Lannister]

eh...I have to disagree. Get that FA. It'll really help you focus your studying for the shelves in M1. And while what you annotate now may not be important later...probably because you already know it...learning to annotate well is an art in itself and a huge time saver. Better you master it now and get real comfortable with FA asap. Caveat: I'm still in my first year so I may well be talking out of my behind.

Not everyone has shelves. Systems based curriculums I probably would get it.

Anyway, yeah - there will be no consensus.

If I could do M2 all over again, I would just try to dominate classes and use pathoma a lot. Then start 100% on Uworld + FA when 2014 came out. Mixing in all the board study too early doesn't help and pulls away from course work (at least with our curriculum).

 

[J ROD]

Yeah, I am going into my second yr. I wanted to get FA now to review my first year courses and refresh before classes. Then follow it this fall.

I might would switch over to 2014 if it was alot better.

How does that sound?

 

[Brain Bucket]

Oh. i don't see the harm - I actually think it's a good idea. Although, if you've just passed the first year, as I have, FA will seem a little...bare bones and dry. A little too dry for me. I intend on doing Qs from banks that I didn't have time to attempt during the year (other than UW) on my phone while lying on a beach sipping on something...

 

[mybubbles627]

I have heard it is bad to buy the edition the year you are taking the exam because the errata won't be out for it so you won't know what the errors in it are.

 

[SLC]

I take Step 1 next year (2014). I planned to buy the 2013 and just use that one to study from. Was going to start going over some 1st yr stuff.

Do most of you buy one and use that one or use multiple years?

I'd buy 2013 and just stuck with it. It's a good edition without too many errors. Who knows what 2014 will bring, could be good or could be like 2012 was (complete crap).

I have heard it is bad to buy the edition the year you are taking the exam because the errata won't be out for it so you won't know what the errors in it are.

As I said above, if the class of 2015 had followed this advice completely (no doubt some did) they'd be dealing with a FA with an insane amount of errata.

I remember setting down with some classmates early on and trying to go over nephron physiology and being so confused because the book didn't make sense. We had a friend's 2012 copy of FA that we were referencing. I was thinking there was no way I would do well on Renal, despite it being my best class during 1st year.

Soon I decided to look at my 2013 edition only to realize that in 2012 the images and text for the thick ascending loop and the DCT had been accidentally swapped.

Yeah, 2012 is that bad! 2013 was a huge improvement.

 

[JP2740]

eh...I have to disagree. Get that FA. It'll really help you focus your studying for the shelves in M1. And while what you annotate now may not be important later...probably because you already know it...learning to annotate well is an art in itself and a huge time saver. Better you master it now and get real comfortable with FA asap. Caveat: I'm still in my first year so I may well be talking out of my behind.

Learning to annotate well is not an art lol It's not that difficult and not that important that you have to practice doing it for half a year.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Learning to annotate well is not an art lol It's not that difficult and not that important that you have to practice doing it for half a year.

Can't tell whether you're deliberately being obtuse, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Lydian]

Learning to annotate well is not an art lol It's not that difficult and not that important that you have to practice doing it for half a year.

You sir then have not fully understood the utility of annotations.

It had been a year long process for me, to get to where I am now, and see how horrible my annotations were in the beginning. I.e., useless material/confusing, or just plane dirty that makes it hard/distracting to even look at (which then makes FA hard to read when im distracted looking at haphazard annotations)

It is an art, PM me, I can picture text you some of my pages, they look quite beautiful to me now.

I've nearly erased all annotations I had made in the first few months of phys, and now know better, I rarely erase annotations I make now, because I learned from the mistakes, a lesson I don't want to be learning as I am annotating a few months before step... talk about a waste of time and stress....

 

[blaqmamba]

I'm quite curious as to how your artwork looks. Can you post a picture

 

[JP2740]

You don't need to use FA until the new year one comes out unless you have NBME subject exams to study for.

 

[ninjasurgeron]

You sir then have not fully understood the utility of annotations.

It had been a year long process for me, to get to where I am now, and see how horrible my annotations were in the beginning. I.e., useless material/confusing, or just plane dirty that makes it hard/distracting to even look at (which then makes FA hard to read when im distracted looking at haphazard annotations)

It is an art, PM me, I can picture text you some of my pages, they look quite beautiful to me now.

I've nearly erased all annotations I had made in the first few months of phys, and now know better, I rarely erase annotations I make now, because I learned from the mistakes, a lesson I don't want to be learning as I am annotating a few months before step... talk about a waste of time and stress....

I, too, want to see your annotated pages.

 

[Lydian]

I, too, want to see your annotated pages.

I'm trying to upload some pics now.

I'll explain some of the reasoning of each, as I'm sure (it being SDN and all), they will just be met with criticism.

May I remind you though, there is no right answer, its what is right for you. And for my immuno annotations, there isn't atleast a week that goes by where I don't turn back and still look at them. Which is way easier than carrying abbas around...

 

[001100010010011]

Please deliver, Lydian!

 

[PharMed2016]

Interested to see how other people study. I've been using Goljan and Pathoma. Won't buy FA early instead waiting until January when we get one free from the school.