How to study using first aid?

[Diesel Mind]

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Hey guys,
So I keep seeing people saying to do 3 "passes" through FA. What consists of a pass? (just reading, copying charts, etc?) I feel like I could read through FA 100x and not know it cold, like everyone claims you should. Any help would be appreciated on how you guys approached FA successfully.

 

[Asp]

Stop wasting your time on First Aid and do UWorld or USMLE Rx or even Kaplan.

First Aid was relevant like 10 years ago, when the test was still primarily factoid oriented.

It's long past its prime, but its reputation dies slowly.

 

[jfgavina]

That's a theory..

 

[Asp]

If you want to use FA you should buy the Rx question bank and use FA as an adjunct. FA should not be a primary resource.

 

[chet]

If you want to use FA you should buy the Rx question bank and use FA as an adjunct. FA should not be a primary resource.

How would you recommend prioritizing subjects then? Based off of questions seen?

Seems like without something like FA I would be reading books front to back with no perception of what I really need to know.

 

[Asp]

You'll understand what you need to know once you do 5,000 questions. I'm not saying don't read, but reading without solid grounding in standardized test type questions is suboptimal.

 

[Tig2575]

Go slowly. Take careful note of each word on each page and ask yourself if you would have known that if you hadn't just read it. If not, highlight it and move on.

 

[Deepa100]

Good Q. FA will only make sense for a quick review few weeks before the exam. i.e, you have to have all your ducks in row before attempting to read it. That was my experience with it anyways. I read it a couple of times 2 weeks before my step 1. When I tried reading it 6 mo. before the step I it made no sense.