Help with my USMLE step 1 studies

[circepix]

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Hey guys! I looked through some other threads but I couldn't find any on this exact topic, not with the information i needed anyway. So here goes nothing:

I am actually not studying medicine in the US or Canada. I am from Europe, Romania to be exact. I have researched the USMLE because it is my intention to leave after i finish med-school here and do my residency in the US. For that purpose, i read that I can start taking the steps as soon as i get into my 3rd year(or graduate from my 3rd year i'm a little foggy on that one). Anyway, I have noticed that the USMLE-dedicated books actually require students to use the information they've been taught in class to basically do a review of the subjects. Well, this would be particularly difficult for me because in romania our textbooks are printed in 1980, so that information doesn't really coincide with the current USMLE information 🙂

Now, that being said, i have one small question: could you guys tell me if there is something like an official textbook list or something for the USMLE? Aside from the review books, what are the textbook that I should study from? I hope i've put it clearly enough, I've thought long and hard about how to ask this.So again: I don't want a list of review books, I would like a list of books that people study from in actual US Med-school( example: gray's anatomy, Guyton's physiology etc), so I can have the same information you guys learn in your schools. 🙂 Thank you very much in advance!!

 

[Y0DA]

Here is a list of the content covered on the USMLE. I recommend going over the list to see if you know this material. If not, you should probably find textbooks or research on the internet, to learn the material. It might be night to have a copy of First Aid to make sure you can stay focused on the high yield material, then you can supplement with other things.

http://www.usmle.org/step-1/#content-outlines

 

[circepix]

Thank you for the link, i don't remember finding it when i researched the USMLE. But maybe you didn't understand my question.

You said: " I recommend going over the list to see if you know this material"

That's actually my problem. Of course i know the material, but I know it according to my very old decrepit textbooks. I need to know what textbooks you study from in the US so I can read those before i take the exam. Anatomy hasn't changed that much in 20 years, perhaps, but physiology sure has, for example.

Let me give you another example: in my school we study anatomy off a no-name book(local Romanian author). but for the USMLE, no one is gonna ask me questions from that book, they're all going to ask from Gray's anatomy, for example, i dont know if that's the case but let's say it is. So now i have to go online and ask around until someone tells me "you should read from here" or "people at harvard med(again, just an example) study from this book" etc. I would like to know if and how i can find a list of recommended textbooks from which to study the material in the first place, not review an already studied material.

You said " If not, you should probably find textbooks or research on the internet, to learn the material". I did find many books, but I would like to know if there's a list out there of the best books. 🙂

sorry for how misinformed i am 😛 🙂

 

[Y0DA]

No problem, I'm sorry I misunderstood your question.

From what you are saying, you seem to have a solid background in the information, you just don't know if that is the information is current/correct is that right? If that is the case I would actually move on to review materials to see if that lines up with what you have learned. Honestly I could throw out a hundred different textbooks and say this is what you need to know, but that wouldn't help you. So in general these are the resources that I have found are highly recommended on SDN

First Aid for USMLE (Bread and butter)
BRS Physiology
Pathoma (or Goljan RR Pathology)
Lippencott's Biochem (or BRS Biochem)
Clinical Microbiology made ridiculously simple
HY Neuroanatomy

After you have the material, Qbanks (UWorld) will help to reinforce. So start with first aid, if that doesn't make sense to you work your way back so you can understand the mechanisms behind what they are teaching. This is just my opinion, I haven't even taken the USMLE yet but am in the study process. So take what you read with a grain of salt. Also I don't know what you have learned so it's hard to tell you what will help. Either way I wish you luck in your journey and I do hope you are able to do well enough on the USMLE to bring you to the US.

 

[An0MalY]

My medachool tends to use notes prepared by the professors not necessarily following any text although we do have recommended reading, that I never had time to do. Robbins Pathological Basis of Disease is the gold standard but it'll take u a year to read and Costanzo Physiology is good but the BRS Physio is basically the HY info u need to know. I would concentrate on Micro made ridiculously simple since it has the uptodate micro and pharm drugs and correlate that with FA. But you should be fine with review books. Again I am still studying for steps so I am not the authority.

 

[circepix]

thank you guys so much!

Yoda, that's what i meant exactly. I don't know if the information is current or not 🙂

as for the list of textbooks, yeah, i know there are a lot of books out there and it would probbaly be a very long list, i just wish there was like a "best books" list somewhere so i could look them up if i needed them. like when you said "work your way back" it would be nice to have a book to go to that explains more than just the basics 🙂.

but thank you, your answers helped me move on a little bit more.

 

[Aclamity]

bro, check out Robbins Basic Pathology (medium Robbins). I thought it was an excellent, manageable textbook that was very USMLE-relevant. You can tell Drs. Goljan and Sattar were looking at it when they made their material. It teaches everything very clearly, and in a somewhat conversational style--not like the textbookish/Pubmedish style that other books use. I can't recommend it highly enough.

For bonus points you can check out robbins & Cotran pathologic basis of disease (big robbins.. yes, a different book), but I believe this one is much too over-the-top for your needs.