Is FA enough for Micro ...

[the god]

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Is FA enough for Micro ?

 

[Phloston]

Is FA enough for Micro ?

The Sanjiv Microcards have made micro my best subject. FA + QBanks are enough for info on toxins, agars and a lot other stuff, but the Microcards are the best for learning the classifications of organisms. In other words, if you learn the tree-diagrams from the Microcards, you won't have to think twice about coxsackie virus being RNA, icosahedral, non-enveloped, SS(+)-non-segmented, picornaviridae, enterovirus. Etc. Are you catching my point?

 

[PiBond]

The Sanjiv Microcards have made micro my best subject. FA + QBanks are enough for info on toxins, agars and a lot other stuff, but the Microcards are the best for learning the classifications of organisms. In other words, if you learn the tree-diagrams from the Microcards, you won't have to think twice about coxsackie virus being RNA, icosahedral, non-enveloped, SS(+)-non-segmented, picornaviridae, enterovirus. Etc. Are you catching my point?

This is excellent advice. I used the microcards during classes and thought they were my best resource.

 

[LaCasta]

Classification is what kills me, so I looked these cards up:

$2 on amazon for used cards? Does that sound right?

 

[the god]

Hey all, am an IMG from India, don't have Microcards & ordering them now will take time ... My test is 4 weeks from now ... I have CMMRS, Kaplan, Levinson & FA .... I have'nt read FA but have read Kaplan fully and parts of CMMS & Levinson ... I need to revise ultra-quick like in 2-3days time ... that's all the time I have ...

 

[GTP]

Hey all, am an IMG from India, don't have Microcards & ordering them now will take time ... My test is 4 weeks from now ... I have CMMRS, Kaplan, Levinson & FA .... I have'nt read FA but have read Kaplan fully and parts of CMMS & Levinson ... I need to revise ultra-quick like in 2-3days time ... that's all the time I have ...

Yeah I'd also like to know if cmmrs can replace microcards. But having one less book to read is kind of refreshing. Flashcards are nice. Somehow I always see the cards in my head during exams

 

[shenanigi]

Is FA enough for Micro ?

yes

 

[Kaputt]

If you paid attention to micro during school, then yes, First Aid (+UWorld, of course) is really all you need.

The microcards are good if you want more specific information about each particular bug. I doubt there is much information that is testable that isn't in FA, though. Microcards have good lab algorithm flow charts and viral classification but those are also in FA. FA also has more in depth information on toxins and other general micro stuff.

At the end of the day, really just use UWorld for your core knowledge and if you know the details in FA that aren't in UWorld you may get 0, 1 or 2 more questions right on your exam.

 

[bomgd3]

Classification is low yield, outside of the few mnemonics already in FA such as PERCH, the long Hippy Pickles one, BOAR, etc. I used to freak out about it too, but in all of the practice tests + the real thing, I never had a single question that hinged on classification beyond those key mnemonics.

But no, FA isn't quite enough to learn microbio. I leaned on knowledge from CMMRS that I picked up during MS2 and reviewed with the Kaplan videos. There was nothing exotic on my actual test.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

FA's micro section is one of the best done sections in the whole book. I had no problems with micro questions on my exam. Pathoma/FA/UWorld does a good job covering the range of questions that can show up.

 

[Phloston]

FA's micro section is one of the best done sections in the whole book. I had no problems with micro questions on my exam. Pathoma/FA/UWorld does a good job covering the range of questions that can show up.

That's interesting that you say that. Although they have cursory algorithms for some of the bacteria, they don't have them for the RNA/DNA viruses and parasites. The Microcards, in my opinion, exceed FA in terms of effectively enabling memorization of the latter three.

 

[C O M 2014]

I only used FA. There were only a couple micro q's on my exam that I had no clue of. Almost everything you need is in FA.

 

[MrBeauregard]

I, too, felt that the microbiology section was one of the better in FA. I felt it was sufficient (in addition to Kaplan and UWorld) for both the USMLE and the majority of COMLEX. This isn't a COMLEX-directed question, but there were probably 5 (tops) micro questions on COMLEX that I couldn't find in FA. All of my USMLE micro questions could be answered with FA, and Kaplan and UWorld simply help to refine your ability to work through the clinical scenario and recognize similarities between your Step question and the qbank questions you did.

 

[oanjiwks]

Is FA enough for Micro ?

Yes, and UWorld of course.

 

[MedicalStudent9]

I recently got the microcards and was just curious how you guys use the clinical cases on the front. Do you just try to assosicate the case with the bacteria (or whatever)? Or do you try to cover up the bacteria and read the case to see if you can guess the bacteria? I felt it was kind of strange that you could read the case on the same side as the organism.

 

[Kaputt]

Classification is low yield, outside of the few mnemonics already in FA such as PERCH, the long Hippy Pickles one, BOAR, etc. I used to freak out about it too, but in all of the practice tests + the real thing, I never had a single question that hinged on classification beyond those key mnemonics.

But no, FA isn't quite enough to learn microbio. I leaned on knowledge from CMMRS that I picked up during MS2 and reviewed with the Kaplan videos. There was nothing exotic on my actual test.

I agree that classification is really a waste of time. The only ones that I remember showing up in qbanks or practice tests were BOAR and that Parvo is a ssDNA virus.

But yeah, it's correct that FA isn't quite enough to learn micro, but it's more than sufficient to review micro for Step 1. I also read CMMRS during school and relied heavily on my background which was strong for micro.

The real test, sadly, had nothing exotic for me either.

 

[MedicalStudent9]

FA's micro section is one of the best done sections in the whole book. I had no problems with micro questions on my exam. Pathoma/FA/UWorld does a good job covering the range of questions that can show up.

So would you advise going through micro cards with class or just using FA alongside class? I'm sure I will only use FA once the dedicate time comes but I was wondering your thoughts for learning the material the first time.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

i used cmmrs and class notes the first time around. I remembered many of the stupid cartoons in the cmmrs book before i started the dedicated step 1 study time. I haven't used the micro cards so I honestly have no idea how good they are, but on my step 1 performance profile, it seems like I got all or most of the micro questions right.

 

[san2]

Hey all, am an IMG from India, don't have Microcards & ordering them now will take time ... My test is 4 weeks from now ... I have CMMRS, Kaplan, Levinson & FA .... I have'nt read FA but have read Kaplan fully and parts of CMMS & Levinson ... I need to revise ultra-quick like in 2-3days time ... that's all the time I have ...

If you know the kaplan lecture series book on microbiology, that is def more than enough. I did not look at first aid for microbio and just did Kaplan Lecture Series and Kaplan medessentials for microbio, along with uworld and kaplan qbank and got all micro questions right.

since you have read the kaplan book in its entirety, rather than switching to a new source, just look at kaplan.

the tables at the end of the book are excellent ultra quick review.

 

[Aclamity]

If you know the kaplan lecture series book on microbiology, that is def more than enough. I did not look at first aid for microbio and just did Kaplan Lecture Series and Kaplan medessentials for microbio, along with uworld and kaplan qbank and got all micro questions right.

since you have read the kaplan book in its entirety, rather than switching to a new source, just look at kaplan.

the tables at the end of the book are excellent ultra quick review.

lol

 

[Brotato]

Hi my name is San2 ... blah blah blah ...... Kaplan Medessentials..... blah blah blah blah.