Going into first year of med school...Should I use review guides along the way?

[reidmike]

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Hey everyone...I am going into my first year of medical school and was wondering if I should invest in review books for each of the subjects as I go through the 1st and 2nd year courses. I'm not sure if it will be too time consuming to keep up with the textbook readings and the review books for each subject. Does anyone have experience with using subject review books throughout their first two years in order to prepare for the USMLE Step 1? If so, what are the best review books for each of the subjects covered on the USMLE Step 1? So far I have purchased First Aid and the First Aid Q & A. Thanks in advance!

 

[Fiddlergirl]

throughout their first two years in order to prepare for the USMLE Step 1?

If your school has a traditional curriculum, you won't really start board study until second year. First year will not have a clinical emphasis, and the board review books won't be particularly helpful. Still, BRS Physiology is excellent, and certain other books can help. I found HY Neuroanatomy to be helpful during my neuro class first year.
Don't concentrate on Step 1 your first year. Just do the best you can in your classes, because that's the best board prep you can do.

 

[PokerDoc]

For first year, just focus on your classes. Step I shouldnt be on your mind... but like the above poster said, BRS physio will help you tremendously, and a good neuroanatomy book will help a lot too.

I used this book to get through year I neuro http://www.amazon.com/Neuroanatomy-...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277579890&sr=8-1

Our neuro professor sucked ass and this book taught me everything I know and I consider neuro my strongest subject now.

Some people will swear by purves, but i think its too dense.. this book was actually one of a very few that I could read and not be bored to death.

 

[theVster]

Don't worry about Step 1 right now. You have to first build the basis upon which you can learn clinical sciences. I would not advise even looking towards Step 1 as that "looming spectacle" till at least the summer before second year. That being said, First Aid has a lot of good mnemonics and such that could help you even in your first year classes so if you want to spend the money (or get an older copy), I would buy it.

The main review books (assuming your first year classes are Anatomy/Embryology, Biochemistry, Physiology, Cell Biology, Neuroscience, Behavioral Science) you would benefit from having are:

Anatomy: BRS or RR Anatomy, First Aid
Embryology: HY Embryology
Physiology: BRS Physiology by Costanzo (this is one of my personal favorites)
Cell Biology: BRS Cell Bio (this is very low yield in the long run though so don't worry)
Neuroscience: RR Neuroscience and First Aid!! (especially if you take the NBME exams)
Behavioral Science: BRS Behavioral Science by Fadem

 

[aashkab]

i wouldn't worry about step 1 but with that said, i wish i had used way more review books during first year.

it helps put all the crappy lectures that are piece mealed into a big picture. I only used BRS physio, i wish i had used brs anatomy, embryo, HY neuroanatomy, etc.

it really would have helped during first year, so i'd definitely do that

 

[knuckles]

Kaplan's Biochem is pretty great for biochem.

Anatomy: http://anatomy.med.umich.edu/courseinfo/mich_quiz_index.html

BRS Physiology is a nobel prize deserving book. You'd be doing yourself a tremendous disservice if you didn't use it.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I think you should. Don't use them as a primary learning source, but after you have studied a subject, browse through the corresponding review book and see if there are any important-seeming facts that your lecturers have left out. It is also advantageous to find review books you like and familiarize yourself with them at an early stage.

Year 1 topics are higher yield than many med students (and even SDNers) believe.

If your goal is 270+, I would recommend putting all medium to high yield MS1 facts in a Supermemo database. If you are this ambitious, do a search.

 

[drizzt3117]

I think you should. Don't use them as a primary learning source, but after you have studied a subject, browse through the corresponding review book and see if there are any important-seeming facts that your lecturers have left out. It is also advantageous to find review books you like and familiarize yourself with them at an early stage.

Year 1 topics are higher yield than many med students (and even SDNers) believe.

If your goal is 270+, I would recommend putting all medium to high yield MS1 facts in a Supermemo database. If you are this ambitious, do a search.

I bet 75% of the questions I got wrong were on year 1 things.

 

[knuckles]

Also, I highly recommend starting USMLERx or QBank and doing a subject specific set of questions throughout your courses to facilitate learning and retention

 

[C5toC9]

Start as early as possible

 

[littlealex]

Start as early as possible

Totally agree. Tons of people will tell you not to worry about it. I'd have told you that 3 months ago, but now I know better.

It's never too early to start. Use review books to supplement your studying during the years because you're not going to have time to read everything that you want to when it comes time to study for the Steps.

Read the review books, take notes, spend a few hours every weekend trying to commit some parts to memory. You'll forget, for sure, but it's still better to have learned it at some point.