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Greetings mortals!
Below is a list of what I think are the best resources for Step 1 prep. I am not endorsed by anyone if you're wondering. I have wasted an unfathomable amount of money getting a hold of other resources, some of which were pure garbage, so this list really took some time and money to put together. Resources that are not included on this list aren't necessarily bad some are actually quite good and are comparable to the ones I've listed, you might even find them to be better than the ones I use. I just preferred them for their clarity, style and accuracy (YES ACCURACY you wouldn't believe how many books have plain wrong info)
Before going on further. If you haven't studied from reference books during basic sciences, no amount of review material can save you. If you are one of those unfortunate people who wasted pre-clinical years not studying and cramming before exams, always have a reference book next to you so that if you don't understand something, you can go through that section quickly.
This is not a study plan! I basically used the TAUS method and modified it a bit...I might post a study plan later on, but feel free to modify this list to suit your own study plan/preferences.
GOODLUCK!
Biochemistry and Genetics
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
This is really good if you have forgotten most of biochem and you need to sort of re-learn it (ME!). Do the genetic diseases part from Goljan RR along with the genetics section!
-Biochemistry flash cards by Baron
Great way to keep the pathways fresh in your head and the genetics cards are really good. THIS IS NOT NECESSARY! so if you feel that you got the hang of these two subjects just by doing kaplan, then I'd say skip this.
If you can't get your hands on either of these, use first aid and a biochemistry book. Basically, read a section in first aid, go to your reference book and read that section, make sure you understand it properly, but do not annotate from a biochemistry book onto first aid because you're gonna go beyond the scope of what you need to know for step 1. I would recommend lippincotts biochemistry review as a reference book if you're going to use the second method.
Behavioural sciences
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
-High yield behavioural sciences
Cell/molecular biology and histology
This is the lowest yield subject on step1 and I wouldn't bother with anything that's not in first aid because all other resources are too lengthy and low yield. Even high-yield...(ironyyy)
Embryology and Anatomy
-High yield embryology
-High yield anatomy
Once again, these topics are low yield and your main focus should be on clinical anatomy. If you master that, then questions related to these topics become easy marks. Both of these books provide a lot of clinical correlations as well as IMAGING STUDIES! don't expect a diagram of the human body to show up on your exam, its either gonna be a CT scan, an Xray or an MRI...
-Moore's clinical oriented anatomy
IF YOU HAVE THE TIME! GO OVER THE BLUE BOXES IN THIS BOOK ONLY! JUST THE BLUE BOXES! Don't panic if you flip through the pages and it all sounds greek and latin (well it sort of is). No time to re-learn anatomy, stick to high yield. This is not a must.
Neuroscience
Arguably the most difficult topic in medicine so hear goes...
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes (if you don't have the videos, the lecture notes are enough JUST FOR THIS TOPIC)
My school is **** at neuroscience, so I pretty much had to study this on my own. I tried to read Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases (which is an amazing book and I would recommend it as a reference) but it was too long, not because its poorly written, but because there's a LOT to know in neuroscience.
-High yield neuroscience
Great for reviewing material. If you know this book inside out, you're good to go. All you need afterwards is to practice reading CT scans, MRIs and other imaging studies. You can do that by looking for some radiology sources online, there's quite a few and I don't think I can review them properly.
RED FLAG
BRS neuroscience is too long for review and has a few mistakes. don't bother with it.
Physiology
-BRS physiology
I don't think this one needs explanation. Linda Costanzo, I love you.
-Kaplan videos
If you feel that you're a bit weak in physiology, go over the kaplan videos and annotate BRS, not the kaplan book because it's poorly written.
Microbiology
This largely depends on how good you are with micro. Personally, I'm **** at micro. In through one ear, out through the other. So i needed to spend some time on this subject.
-Microbiology made ridiculously simple
Excellent resource for someone who's weak in micro just use the micro section, don't bother with antibiotics n stuff in this book, you have pharma books for that. Bit lengthy but well worth it. If you're a fast reader, you could probably get through this book in a week or 10 days.
-Microbiology flash cards by Somers
If you're good with micro, this is the only thing that you'll need. For each organism there's a clinical vignette and then all what you need to know about that organism is on the other side of the card.
For me, micro is one of those subjects that no matter how many times i study, i always forget after 2 weeks, so flash cards a really nice way of retaining all those pesky little details.
DON'T BOTHER WITH KAPLAN MICRO
The lady just reads tables in all her videos, and the book is pretty much one giant table.
Immunology
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
Ironically, the same lady that does the useless micro section does this section. BUT! This is worth its weight in gold. You'll have a much better chance of understanding basic pathology after doing this. My school's idea of immunology is hypersensitivity reactions and HIV/AIDS, and surprisingly a lot of schools don't do this subject justice.
-High yield immunology
If you've done kaplan properly, solved all the questions at the end of each chapter correctly, this book will take you 2 hours to properly study. You won't have the time to go back to the lectures towards your exam...
FOR MICRO AND IMMUNOLOGY
Don't bother with Levinson's or any big immunology text book. They're often too wordy, poorly written, have a lot of details, and will confuse the hell out of you!
Immunology is a relatively new subject in medicine and there's a lot of research going on, so often (if you're like me and you tend to ask "why") you'll find that you're questions have no answers....yet! So stick to the above mentioned resources.
Pathology
-Goljan rapid review pathology
This is the Robbins of pathology review books. If it's not here, you proobabbblyyy don't need to know it.
-Pathoma
I watched the pathoma videos before reading the equivalent chapter in Goljan. I felt that the pathoma book (while an excellent resource!) lacked detailed explanations, but the videos are gold. I would recommend using pathoma only in two scenarios:
1) You don't have the time to go through the roughly 800 pages in Goljan
2) You KNOW that you have a solid foundation in pathology and PATHOPHYSIOLOGY!!!! How do you know this? Pick any disease (the more complex the better), if you can explain the pathophysiology (i.e. the mechanism) behind every single symptom (the ones that have explanations of course) then you're good.
For example in heart failure, why is there a positive Schamroth's sign (i.e what cause clubbing)? Why is there pink frothy sputum? why does the liver have a nutmeg appearance on histology? etc...
-Goljan audio lectures
These are great for commutes and work outs. I listened to them after I watched pathoma and read Goljan.
Know pathology slides! It's not enough to know that you see Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses in cholecystitis, you need to be able to identify them.
Pharmacology
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
Dr. Raymond is a life-saver. Listen to every word he has to say! If he says something, chances are you'll see it on the boards one way or the other!
-Pharmacology flash cards by Baron
Firecracker
I wasted quite a bit of money on this.
First of all, if you use this the moment you start med school then it has the potential to be helpful, if you start in the second semester of first year, it becomes difficult to manage, any later than that and its just a hassle. Second, I noticed an alarming number of mistakes with the answers provided, to the point where I had to unselect entire topics because of how ridiculously wrong they were. In my last year of basic sciences I had to stop using it because I couldn't be bothered correcting their mistakes and it got to a point where i was spending 3 to 4 hours a day doing questions.
Its hit n miss with this really, because the people who write the topics are students or graduates like you and I, some are good and some are dumb. I wouldn't waste my time with this unless you really like their method of learning and you find yourself doing it on your own anyway.
QBanks
-USMLE WORLD USMLE WORLD USMLE WORLD
If you're gonna use one thing only on this list, use this. If you don't use this resource, you're committing a crime tbh...
-USMLE RX
I haven't tried this, some people say its good. So i can't comment on it.
-Kaplan Q bank
I didn't do the q bank, but I did the question book, and mate. It's like someone wrote the questions to say "I know more than you do. ha!" they ask about very small details, especially for physio. I've been told that the q bank is the same. It wouldn't hurt to do this, in order to test yourself after you've finished studying a topic early on in your prep. but I wouldn't use this over Uworld.
NBME
These exams will accurately predict your actual test scores in MOST cases. So if you're aiming for 240 and you get the equivalent of 220 on these exams, guess what, the exam isn't wrong, you need to go back and study some more!
Don't get these on some forum and try to figure out a way to calculate your own score. NEWS FALSH no one knows how they calculate USMLE scores.
If you just want to pass, don't use these. If you're aiming for a certain score...lets sayyyy 250+. I would use this to gauge my performance. Do one before you start prep, use that feedback to alter your study plan. Do one after you finish prep (with some time to change your exam date), if you get a good score, don't postpone the exam, if you get a bad score, you'll have to decide whether or not you want to risk failing or not getting the score you want.
I hope this will help you guys!
Have a good one!
Below is a list of what I think are the best resources for Step 1 prep. I am not endorsed by anyone if you're wondering. I have wasted an unfathomable amount of money getting a hold of other resources, some of which were pure garbage, so this list really took some time and money to put together. Resources that are not included on this list aren't necessarily bad some are actually quite good and are comparable to the ones I've listed, you might even find them to be better than the ones I use. I just preferred them for their clarity, style and accuracy (YES ACCURACY you wouldn't believe how many books have plain wrong info)
Before going on further. If you haven't studied from reference books during basic sciences, no amount of review material can save you. If you are one of those unfortunate people who wasted pre-clinical years not studying and cramming before exams, always have a reference book next to you so that if you don't understand something, you can go through that section quickly.
This is not a study plan! I basically used the TAUS method and modified it a bit...I might post a study plan later on, but feel free to modify this list to suit your own study plan/preferences.
GOODLUCK!
Biochemistry and Genetics
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
This is really good if you have forgotten most of biochem and you need to sort of re-learn it (ME!). Do the genetic diseases part from Goljan RR along with the genetics section!
-Biochemistry flash cards by Baron
Great way to keep the pathways fresh in your head and the genetics cards are really good. THIS IS NOT NECESSARY! so if you feel that you got the hang of these two subjects just by doing kaplan, then I'd say skip this.
If you can't get your hands on either of these, use first aid and a biochemistry book. Basically, read a section in first aid, go to your reference book and read that section, make sure you understand it properly, but do not annotate from a biochemistry book onto first aid because you're gonna go beyond the scope of what you need to know for step 1. I would recommend lippincotts biochemistry review as a reference book if you're going to use the second method.
Behavioural sciences
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
-High yield behavioural sciences
Cell/molecular biology and histology
This is the lowest yield subject on step1 and I wouldn't bother with anything that's not in first aid because all other resources are too lengthy and low yield. Even high-yield...(ironyyy)
Embryology and Anatomy
-High yield embryology
-High yield anatomy
Once again, these topics are low yield and your main focus should be on clinical anatomy. If you master that, then questions related to these topics become easy marks. Both of these books provide a lot of clinical correlations as well as IMAGING STUDIES! don't expect a diagram of the human body to show up on your exam, its either gonna be a CT scan, an Xray or an MRI...
-Moore's clinical oriented anatomy
IF YOU HAVE THE TIME! GO OVER THE BLUE BOXES IN THIS BOOK ONLY! JUST THE BLUE BOXES! Don't panic if you flip through the pages and it all sounds greek and latin (well it sort of is). No time to re-learn anatomy, stick to high yield. This is not a must.
Neuroscience
Arguably the most difficult topic in medicine so hear goes...
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes (if you don't have the videos, the lecture notes are enough JUST FOR THIS TOPIC)
My school is **** at neuroscience, so I pretty much had to study this on my own. I tried to read Neuroanatomy Through Clinical Cases (which is an amazing book and I would recommend it as a reference) but it was too long, not because its poorly written, but because there's a LOT to know in neuroscience.
-High yield neuroscience
Great for reviewing material. If you know this book inside out, you're good to go. All you need afterwards is to practice reading CT scans, MRIs and other imaging studies. You can do that by looking for some radiology sources online, there's quite a few and I don't think I can review them properly.
RED FLAG
BRS neuroscience is too long for review and has a few mistakes. don't bother with it.
Physiology
-BRS physiology
I don't think this one needs explanation. Linda Costanzo, I love you.
-Kaplan videos
If you feel that you're a bit weak in physiology, go over the kaplan videos and annotate BRS, not the kaplan book because it's poorly written.
Microbiology
This largely depends on how good you are with micro. Personally, I'm **** at micro. In through one ear, out through the other. So i needed to spend some time on this subject.
-Microbiology made ridiculously simple
Excellent resource for someone who's weak in micro just use the micro section, don't bother with antibiotics n stuff in this book, you have pharma books for that. Bit lengthy but well worth it. If you're a fast reader, you could probably get through this book in a week or 10 days.
-Microbiology flash cards by Somers
If you're good with micro, this is the only thing that you'll need. For each organism there's a clinical vignette and then all what you need to know about that organism is on the other side of the card.
For me, micro is one of those subjects that no matter how many times i study, i always forget after 2 weeks, so flash cards a really nice way of retaining all those pesky little details.
DON'T BOTHER WITH KAPLAN MICRO
The lady just reads tables in all her videos, and the book is pretty much one giant table.
Immunology
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
Ironically, the same lady that does the useless micro section does this section. BUT! This is worth its weight in gold. You'll have a much better chance of understanding basic pathology after doing this. My school's idea of immunology is hypersensitivity reactions and HIV/AIDS, and surprisingly a lot of schools don't do this subject justice.
-High yield immunology
If you've done kaplan properly, solved all the questions at the end of each chapter correctly, this book will take you 2 hours to properly study. You won't have the time to go back to the lectures towards your exam...
FOR MICRO AND IMMUNOLOGY
Don't bother with Levinson's or any big immunology text book. They're often too wordy, poorly written, have a lot of details, and will confuse the hell out of you!
Immunology is a relatively new subject in medicine and there's a lot of research going on, so often (if you're like me and you tend to ask "why") you'll find that you're questions have no answers....yet! So stick to the above mentioned resources.
Pathology
-Goljan rapid review pathology
This is the Robbins of pathology review books. If it's not here, you proobabbblyyy don't need to know it.
-Pathoma
I watched the pathoma videos before reading the equivalent chapter in Goljan. I felt that the pathoma book (while an excellent resource!) lacked detailed explanations, but the videos are gold. I would recommend using pathoma only in two scenarios:
1) You don't have the time to go through the roughly 800 pages in Goljan
2) You KNOW that you have a solid foundation in pathology and PATHOPHYSIOLOGY!!!! How do you know this? Pick any disease (the more complex the better), if you can explain the pathophysiology (i.e. the mechanism) behind every single symptom (the ones that have explanations of course) then you're good.
For example in heart failure, why is there a positive Schamroth's sign (i.e what cause clubbing)? Why is there pink frothy sputum? why does the liver have a nutmeg appearance on histology? etc...
-Goljan audio lectures
These are great for commutes and work outs. I listened to them after I watched pathoma and read Goljan.
Know pathology slides! It's not enough to know that you see Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses in cholecystitis, you need to be able to identify them.
Pharmacology
-Kaplan videos + lecture notes
Dr. Raymond is a life-saver. Listen to every word he has to say! If he says something, chances are you'll see it on the boards one way or the other!
-Pharmacology flash cards by Baron
Firecracker
I wasted quite a bit of money on this.
First of all, if you use this the moment you start med school then it has the potential to be helpful, if you start in the second semester of first year, it becomes difficult to manage, any later than that and its just a hassle. Second, I noticed an alarming number of mistakes with the answers provided, to the point where I had to unselect entire topics because of how ridiculously wrong they were. In my last year of basic sciences I had to stop using it because I couldn't be bothered correcting their mistakes and it got to a point where i was spending 3 to 4 hours a day doing questions.
Its hit n miss with this really, because the people who write the topics are students or graduates like you and I, some are good and some are dumb. I wouldn't waste my time with this unless you really like their method of learning and you find yourself doing it on your own anyway.
QBanks
-USMLE WORLD USMLE WORLD USMLE WORLD
If you're gonna use one thing only on this list, use this. If you don't use this resource, you're committing a crime tbh...
-USMLE RX
I haven't tried this, some people say its good. So i can't comment on it.
-Kaplan Q bank
I didn't do the q bank, but I did the question book, and mate. It's like someone wrote the questions to say "I know more than you do. ha!" they ask about very small details, especially for physio. I've been told that the q bank is the same. It wouldn't hurt to do this, in order to test yourself after you've finished studying a topic early on in your prep. but I wouldn't use this over Uworld.
NBME
These exams will accurately predict your actual test scores in MOST cases. So if you're aiming for 240 and you get the equivalent of 220 on these exams, guess what, the exam isn't wrong, you need to go back and study some more!
Don't get these on some forum and try to figure out a way to calculate your own score. NEWS FALSH no one knows how they calculate USMLE scores.
If you just want to pass, don't use these. If you're aiming for a certain score...lets sayyyy 250+. I would use this to gauge my performance. Do one before you start prep, use that feedback to alter your study plan. Do one after you finish prep (with some time to change your exam date), if you get a good score, don't postpone the exam, if you get a bad score, you'll have to decide whether or not you want to risk failing or not getting the score you want.
I hope this will help you guys!
Have a good one!
