I hate First Aid

[unsung]

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Wow, how do you people read this book ?!

And... people keep saying Goljan is hard to read, but I actually "get" something from reading RR. It contains enough detail and explanation to be useful to me.

Otoh, FA feels just like reading a bunch of random crap. I could sit there for 30 minutes reading the Micro section, and retain like absolutely nothing. So right now I'm basically annotating CMMRS into GT... and that's working much better.

I feel like I'm just wasting time when I attempt to read FA.

How do you guys use this book ??

(...Or alternatively, can I get away with NOT using it ? I feel like GT + UWorld + RR covers everything in FA. Probably.

I mean, for something like micro at least, CMMRS clearly over-covers everything that could possibly be in FA!)

 

[raynor123456]

I love it. A single source of information that is organized cohesively and concisely. Organ systems teach you anatomy --> physiology --> path --> pharm. Sure, much of it is bullet-points, but that's what reference material is for when, on occasion, you don't understand what has been outlined in FA.

First Aid + Wikipedia = win, 95% of the time. The other 5%, reference all of the books you've accumulated through MS1,2.

JM.02

 

[da8s0859q]

Wow, how do you people read this book ?!

And... people keep saying Goljan is hard to read, but I actually "get" something from reading RR. It contains enough detail and explanation to be useful to me.

Otoh, FA feels just like reading a bunch of random crap. I could sit there for 30 minutes reading the Micro section, and retain like absolutely nothing. So right now I'm basically annotating CMMRS into GT... and that's working much better.

I feel like I'm just wasting time when I attempt to read FA.

How do you guys use this book ??

(...Or alternatively, can I get away with NOT using it ? I feel like GT + UWorld + RR covers everything in FA. Probably.

I mean, for something like micro at least, CMMRS clearly over-covers everything that could possibly be in FA!)

Hey man, whatever works for you. First Aid is a review text, so it's not intended to teach anything -- just to make you say "oh yeah, that's right" a billion times. And several "oh, okay, I forgot that" and some "didn't know that" too.

 

[scudrunner]

Wow, how do you people read this book ?!

And... people keep saying Goljan is hard to read, but I actually "get" something from reading RR. It contains enough detail and explanation to be useful to me.

Otoh, FA feels just like reading a bunch of random crap. I could sit there for 30 minutes reading the Micro section, and retain like absolutely nothing. So right now I'm basically annotating CMMRS into GT... and that's working much better.

I feel like I'm just wasting time when I attempt to read FA.

How do you guys use this book ??

(...Or alternatively, can I get away with NOT using it ? I feel like GT + UWorld + RR covers everything in FA. Probably.

I mean, for something like micro at least, CMMRS clearly over-covers everything that could possibly be in FA!)

You must already have a good understanding of the material in order to fully appreciate First Aid. Once you get there, FA rocks.

 

[ProtossCarrier]

exactly, if you learned your path well you gonna love FA.

 

[greatnt249]

Hey man, whatever works for you. First Aid is a review text, so it's not intended to teach anything -- just to make you say "oh yeah, that's right" a billion times. And several "oh, okay, I forgot that" and some "didn't know that" too.

This. 👍

First Aid is a condensed version of concepts you should have picked up during the first two years. I use it to jog my memory; if I feel that I need more detail, I go to a different resource.

IMO, it's better than slogging through other texts wondering if I'm spending my study time wisely as I sit there thinking "do I really need to know this much detail"? The way I see it, if I don't understand what I'm reading in First Aid, then I REALLY need to crack down and look at that concept in depth; otherwise, it probably wouldn't have made it into First Aid to begin with.

 

[jfgavina]

FA + UW are the absolute sources. Add more one or two sources for unclear subjects and you got it all. One curiosity fact, what age do you MS-2 in USA have? 23/24?

 

[ar2388]

FA + UW are the absolute sources. Add more one or two sources for unclear subjects and you got it all. One curiosity fact, what age do you MS-2 in USA have? 23/24?

i think min age is usually 23-24 but some non-traditional students can be older.

 

[tootheye]

FA is the last stop after you're done understanding concepts from other resources. Its to be treated as a HY book quickly memorizable( presuming you know the concepts) just what you need for the test and hence recommended to be read repeatedly. Its value is understood better if the concepts are already familiar. It wont make any sense otherwise. My 2 C.

 

[ArcGurren]

Rapid Review is good for teaching the pathology as well as being a good review book; that's why you're getting stuff out of it. I agree that FA can suck at times (I don't care much for their GI section and find it sparse on details) but it also has good mnemonics and teaching tricks. Also has some good pictures, though RR is the king of good pictures.

I do wish they would put in more Brain CT scans and angiograms though. I found it lacking severely in that. It's probably my weakest point.

 

[mdpre001]

I thought I was the only one! I DO like Step Up to USMLE Step 1, though!

 

[MossPoh]

You kind of have to make First Aid "your own", if that makes sense. Generally, the stripped binding and 3 hole bunch has been a pain for quick reference, but it has been a blessing with customizing it for my needs. I underline and annotate in my different colors, add in charts that I found more useful than their versions and were considered to be "high yield" and even copied and stuck in practice questions at the end of certain parts I KNOW I struggle with.

If you stare at it in all of its blocked, poorly spaced, black and white glory, then you will probably struggle. I go through and underline things to make them pop out more to my eye and to give some relation to other items on the page. (I've been moving away from highlighting because it is just TOO bright and distracting for me)

 

[jfgavina]

I don't highlight FA because one needs to know everything, so if I highlight I will focus more on certain facts and lose focus on others.

 

[Shadowmoses]

Yea FA is quite boring to work through. I highlight an annotated FA only so I know where the annotations come from...BRS Physio is one color, Goljan RR is another color, and Q-Bank questions are another. I even use wikipedia/internet to help fill in the gaps for some concepts and that has its own color.

 

[RadOncRocks]

Just to add to whats been said above...

I think that highlighting can play a vital role. One of the keys to good studying is to not spend time studying things you already know. SO, if you have one topic completely down except for one fact that you just keep forgetting, then highlighting would be a good way to draw your attention that fact.

So even though highlighting does draw your focus, that can be a good thing!

 

[ar2388]

i highlight to make everything not look so blakc and white and boring on the page.. so yea i have prtty much yellow pages with things 'sticking out' in yellow or pink.. i use highlighting to somewhat organize the page and the tables they have.

 

[medking]

i highlight to make everything not look so blakc and white and boring on the page.. so yea i have prtty much yellow pages with things 'sticking out' in yellow or pink.. i use highlighting to somewhat organize the page and the tables they have.

Haha. That's awesome. I kinda do the same. I use highlighters to highlight the crap out of the pages so that the pages are not black and white anymore. It's so that I can "feel" like I've studied the material before. Totally a psychological thing cause I hate the feeling of looking at something for the first time, haha.

 

[ar2388]

Haha. That's awesome. I kinda do the same. I use highlighters to highlight the crap out of the pages so that the pages are not black and white anymore. It's so that I can "feel" like I've studied the material before. Totally a psychological thing cause I hate the feeling of looking at something for the first time, haha.

yupp. totally the same here haha
about half of the goljan chps are highlighting in like 4 different colors to organize them so when i read those again, i can just read and underline a few things iwth a pen instead of having to do crazy highlighting or anything.

 

[airplanes]

I loved FA during 2nd year for reviewing material for exams. Haven't started boards studying with it yet, but like MossPoh said, it's not exactly meant to teach. Reviewing with RR first has been helping me.