How do YOU go through FA?

[JustSomePreMed]

Just curious to see what other people's general approach/method is.

Do you just read/highlight/underline? Read a few pages, go back, and reread them? Take notes as you go?

I've spent the past couple days basically reading through first aid, trying to remember what I'm reading obviously, but I just can't seem to "memorize" a lot of it.

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[Pirlo]

I do questions from USMLERx in order to learn FA. I bought a year long subscription to do with my classes. It works pretty well.

 

[greg1184]

At my stage of studying, I usually read through a review book (e.g. Goljan) and then afterwards I switch to FA/Uworld mode. I do Uworld questions and then annotate then into FA. That is how I am going through FA right now for the most part.

 

[badasshairday]

I just read through it and iderline or highlight stuff that I need to come back and memorize. I am not too big of a fan of fa by itself. Need more context, like reading rr or brs first.

 

[username456789]

My method is similar to Mr. Asshair's. For Biochem, I read parts of Kaplan Biochem (for the more conceptual stuff), then hit FA to "review." Kaplan Biochem is great, by the way, and I'm generally not a big Kaplan fan when it comes to review sources.

For Micro, I went through FA, and while I felt like I was learning, it all felt very futile and frustrating. I found that using microcards is really helpful, and they have almost all of what's in FA (and more) on them. The good part is they give a quick summary of how bugs/worms behave so the rest makes sense. Then looking back at FA, the random list of sx's/etc don't seem as random as they used to.

That said, it's still a bitch, at least this early on. I'm not going as fast as I'd like, and I think I need to be more efficient (posting here doesn't help). I still have a lot of micro to tackle (including the abx), and it's a daunting task.

For path (if I ever get there....) I plan on doing RR followed by FA to wrap things up.

 

[Perrotfish]

I read the chapters out loud while writing key points on the white boards as though I'm teaching a class even though I'm alone in an empty room. I will occasionally pause to make flashcards of the facts I reviewed if I think they're worth it, and if something's list like I'll make up truely vile mneumonics until I find one that I think is funny enough to remember and then I'll laugh out loud at my own sick joke. The next day I'll go over the last day's flash cards (again, out loud) and listen to the relevant Goljan while jumping around to stay awake and focused. Then I go to USMLERx and do focused questions (my UWorld is all randomized) and not only talk out loud to teach myself the questions but berate myself for getting them wrong. Oh, and I'm not at home when I do this: I've had several people walk into my study room thinking that there was a group studying there. They all think I'm wierd now.

Not a recommendation, just saying that

1) experiment, because different things work for different people and

2) Step 1 is not compatible with sanity or dignity

 

[1nycdoc8]

Getting through Micro FA is kicking my butt. Any more ideas on how to do really well on micro is greatly appreciated!

 

[username456789]

Getting through Micro FA is kicking my butt. Any more ideas on how to do really well on micro is greatly appreciated!

Same here, man.

Since a lot of it is wrote memorization, my main plan of attack (using FA+microcards) is to make one painful pass in 2-3 days, and then use mostly the microcards little by little each night before bed (maybe just a half hour or so, maybe more). Also, doing some Kaplan micro questions (like Perrot, I keep UW random).

And like Perrot, I enjoy coming up with the filthiest mnemonics I can. And when my brain is fried and I can't think of a good one, I have a friend who's not in med school who's just as filthy as me, and I just email him the list of words/phrases/whatever and say "go" and usually within an hour or two if he's at a computer, he'll shoot back a winner.

 

[Perrotfish]

Getting through Micro FA is kicking my butt. Any more ideas on how to do really well on micro is greatly appreciated!

I took an entire week and went through micro recall rather than using FA. Micro is a huge time sink.

 

[studentologist]

2) Step 1 is not compatible with sanity or dignity

Word.

Also, Deja Review Micro seems pretty darn good.

 

[candid]

I just read through and underline what I seems extremely important. My main way of studying is identifying KEYWORDS within a topic . With the help of them I can memorize almost the whole thing.

 

[blahwhatever]

So far I haven't used First Aid that much compared to a lot of people. When I started my studying I attempted to annotate like everyone else, but it just didn't work for me. Took way too much time and I couldn't make the connections between a lot of what they were saying because I lacked the conceptual understanding. Also when I went back to review, I didn't even use the notes I annotated. So I gave that up. Now I've just been using Kaplan videos mainly and here and there I'll look at First Aid, and it gives me an idea of what I definitely need to know solid, and helps weed out info that I may not need to focus on. I use First Aid as almost a checklist to see whether I've covered everything they mention in my studying with other sources.

 

[metalrex]

I enjoy coming up with the filthiest mnemonics I can. And when my brain is fried and I can't think of a good one, I have a friend who's not in med school who's just as filthy as me, and I just email him the list of words/phrases/whatever and say "go" and usually within an hour or two if he's at a computer, he'll shoot back a winner.

Mind sharing these? I am outta good mnemonics!

 

[KnuxNole]

I'm basically using FA as my main source. So far, that is the only book I've been using, and just read through a set number of pages each day. I was thinking of using RR path after going through a certain organ system(ex. After doing All of Cardio, read Goljan Cardio to supplement).

I dunno if it's the best thing, but there is a LOT to learn, and FA is pretty much the bread and butter, so knowing that cold is my top priority, and filling in the blanks comes next.

 

[coldweatherblue]

first time through I highlighted the stuff I didn't know already and tried to semi-learn it.. this was actually pretty painless..

second time through I tried to memorize/learn/understand all the things I'd highlighted (and reinforce the rest of the stuff that I kind of already knew).. this was not painless and involved some traumatic studying.

third time through I'm going to go through and make sure I know it all.. it'll probably suck but not be as bad as pass #2.

 

[dnslay]

I read RR and refer back to FA tables every time I see a bug. Same thing goes for Bioch, I refer back to the corresponding table with any enzyme/vomiting/hypertonic baby, or whatever clues you into the "oh snap they're missing something" feeling.

I took an entire week and went through micro recall rather than using FA. Micro is a huge time sink.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I refer to it while I do my UW questions. There is a 0% chance that I'm just going to sit my ass down and read that thing from cover to cover. I just bought DIT in hopes that that guy will hold my hand and walk me through it, because there is literally no possible way that I'm going to just read it by itself. I would sooner stab myself in the face with a hot poker.

 

[mq123]

For a particular organ system:
1. Quick read through FA to get a sense of what's there/ general organization (I retain maybe 5-10% from this pass....)
2. Other sources -- BRS Phys, Goljan RR Path, Goljan audio, etc (if applicable)
3. Annotate (everything other than RR Path) into FA
4. Re-read FA as a wrap-up -- this time, if I just read, it's faster than the first time around and I retain about 60-70% of it. If a spend a bit more time and memorize, I remember more

The bulk of my time is 2 and 3 above -- I spend a lot of time understanding, repeating out loud, drawing stuff out. Plus, I listen to Goljan audio while following the text, which takes a while since he jumps around so much, but then I like to go back and 'fill in the gaps' by reading what he didn't talk about...

So, to answer the question, I read FA as an intro and wrap-up to a section

 

[Doctah315]

The flashcards "flash facts" on USMLERx are basically word for word what is in first aid but in question form. The only problem is they are in a crappy order and there is no way to save your progress. I copied and pasted them into another program which allows me to track progress (yes all 14,000 of them). Took me quite awhile but I did it in my down time and so far it has been worth it. Now I read a section of first aid corresponding to a set of flash cards then can immediately quiz myself on it. Its a slow process but helps me hammer down the material.