First Aid and Step1 Score

[hrtsurgeon2b]

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For those of you who took step 1 already, if someone memorizes and UNDERSTANDS all the info in First Aid (every single line in the book), what do you think they would get without using any other source?

 

[sherpagyrl]

SKREWD. There is a lot missing. Granted there is A LOT in FA but there is still tons of path that is missing.

 

[hrtsurgeon2b]

I am not saying thats what I am doing( I have read BRS phys, path , and the HY series many times) but I want to know what someone would get just using FA.

 

[sherpagyrl]

No intention to imply that you were going to do that. There are plenty of people who have claimed to 'just use' FA, but my own theory is that there was still a lot of info in their noggins' and FA was not what helped them get the score they got. It seems that the score all depends on the person's ability to remember a tome of facts....... 🙄 I would certainly be curious if someone were to try it........

 

[Idiopathic]

182.

 

[DrIng]

I used First Aid and not much else, very little knowledge in my head beforehand- had suppressed most of it- had 6 weeks to prepare for both Step 1 and Step 2 together- got 182 and 189 respectively.

 

[sherpagyrl]

Idio, you deserve a medal....

 

[coop528]

For those of you who took step 1 already, if someone memorizes and UNDERSTANDS all the info in First Aid (every single line in the book), what do you think they would get without using any other source?

Disagree with everyone here so far...my answer is a 215.

 

[sherpagyrl]

Someone looked up the answers in FA while taking the practice NBME (waste of money!) and scored a comparable Step 1 score of 200. 215 is pushing it.

 

[bigfrank]

If you truly memorize all of FA and understand it, I'm thinking 220.

 

[Cristagali]

Was that a plain FA or an annotated one with lots of high yield notes on the margins? If a plain FA gets you 200, then a marked up one will get you 225 or better!! Big Franks FA will get you 269! 😀

 

[bigfrank]

good point, but it's still not for sale. 😉

 

[lotanna]

good point, but it's still not for sale. 😉

😀 yeah we know

@sherpagyrl, how are the NBME practice a waste of money??? That $45 or $90 seems to be the best indicator, and best believe I'll take it when my time rolls around!!

 

[sherpagyrl]

It's a waste of money when someone decides to take the test while looking up answers in the FA. You will not get a valid score.

It is well worth your money when you take it like you're supposed to. 😉

 

[lotanna]

It's a waste of money when someone decides to take the test while looking up answers in the FA. You will not get a valid score.

It is well worth your money when you take it like you're supposed to. 😉

aaaaah ok i get it 😀

 

[MD2b06]

It's really tough to say b/c everyone has a different exam. First Aid is awesome, but if I had to guess, I'd say that your average med student (~30 MCAT) w/ average grades during the 1st 2 years of med school would pass but have a difficult time breaking 200 if they only memorized FA and used nothing else. Honestly, so much of the exam is just trivia. There were many questions on topics that I never reviewed during my 4 weeks of studying despite using many different resources. There were definitely numerous topics on the exam that were not even covered in FA or just not covered in nearly enough detail. (molecular bio comes to mind) Hell, some of them weren't even in the BRS books that I used, although I'd say most were. This is where the lack of detail in FA would hurt ppl who used it and nothing else. And then of course there were the 2-3 questions per block where I'd probably have to dig up my old syllabi in order to find the correct answers. Just random facts from the basic science years that you either knew or didn't. Some I was surprised that I remembered, others I had no clue on and just had to guess. Bottom line: If you want to do well on this exam, cover all your bases, b/c anything is fair game. Use FA but definitely supplement it w/ the proper BRS books, (Phys, Path, etc) and any other resources. Qbank is a good learning tool, but the questions are not indicative of the type of questions you'll find on Step 1. If you do all of the above, you'll be fine. 👍

 

[Idiopathic]

It's really tough to say b/c everyone has a different exam.

I dont agree with this. I think there are 2-3 main exams, with subtle differences between the two. Overall, the concepts tested are extremely similar.

I have stressed that if you absolutely own Path, then you will rock this test, regardless of what other sources you use.

 

[MD2b06]

I dont agree with this. I think there are 2-3 main exams, with subtle differences between the two. Overall, the concepts tested are extremely similar.

I have stressed that if you absolutely own Path, then you will rock this test, regardless of what other sources you use.

Doesn't the question bank consist of over 10,000 questions? And aren't the questions randomly selected? Obviously, the main subjects tested are very similar. Everyone will have a heavy dose of path, pharm, and phys. It's the other subjects where there's great variation. For example, my exam had a lot of molecular bio, whereas some of my friends had very little. I had minimal immuno, whereas some friends had a lot. If you only studied FA, it could potentially screw you over. And path is so broad. Absolutely owning it is damn near impossible for your average med student w/ a 1 month study period. Hell, I thought I owned phys, which is much less daunting than path in terms of volume of material, and I still had to think A LOT on some of the questions.

 

[Legion560]

There is no question that FA has the right info to get you a 220 at least BUT FA is so fragmented. It doesnt teach you to think, it only teaches you to memorize which is pretty much what people tend to do with FA. If you want to use FA as a sole source you have to memorize it and have enough peripheral knowledge to connect the dots on the real exam. If you memorize FA without being able to connect the dots, your success will be limited to getting all the first order questions right (in other words, you will be screwed).
That said, it wouldnt hurt to go over FA as much as possible if you are using external sources to back yourself up.
Personally, I like bigfranks idea of having a copy of FA in the bathroom. This may sound disgusting, but if you think about all the time you spend doing nothing intellectually stimulating (like taking a king sized dump) you might as well learn something.

Legion.

 

[IlianaSedai]

Well, let's look at these two options.

Option A.
1. First Aid
2. questions (qbank, nbme)

Option B.
1. First Aid
2. BRS Pathology
3. BRS Physiology
4. HY Neuroanatomy
5. Lippincott's Pharmacology
6. Lippincott's Biochemistry
7. HY Gross Anatomy
8. HY Embryology
9. Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple
10. questions (qbank, nbme, Robbins)

I hated FA, so I went for option B. And actually FINISHED only items # 1-4 and #10. As for 5-9, I stressed out way too much about not getting to them during the last 30 days before my test.

So in summary, I'd suggest using VERY FEW books but as a compromise, toss in 2-3 really high yield books. Here's an option C I might suggest.

Option C.
1. First Aid
2. BRS Pathology
3. BRS Physiology
4. judiciously choose another book in weak but high yield subject
5. questions

I probably could have scraped in a few more points on the real test had I just narrowed my books down to 4 instead of attempting to read 10. On the other hand, FA probably wouldn't have been sufficient for my learning style by itself. That said, I'm still satisfied with the score I got.

 

[bigfrank]

I dont agree with this. I think there are 2-3 main exams, with subtle differences between the two. Overall, the concepts tested are extremely similar.

I have stressed that if you absolutely own Path, then you will rock this test, regardless of what other sources you use.

I don't agree with this. No one knows this for sure, but I think questions are taken randomly such that there are waaaay more than a few "main exams."

After talking to my friends, many of whom got 250++, I would say that there are dozens of "main exams."