M1 question: studying "First Aid" alongside school curriculum

[DancinSarah]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Recently got a copy of the First Aid book for the boards. As a first year student, is it worth reading the section in First Aid alongside the lecture slides the professor provides? Our exams are basically straight off the slides, but I noticed some of the terminology in First Aid is different (for example, what they call HMP shunt we called Pentose Phosphate Pathway). Just wondering if this is a good strategy or if I should just wait and cross that bridge when I have to. Thanks.

 

[XRanger]

useless. Just wait til next year

 

[dude1344]

It's not useless. If you're covering material that is first aid, it's good just to skim through it so you've seen it.

 

[Kevin Baker]

I tried doing this but First Aid is organized very differently than our lectures and requires integrating a lot of the basic science classes in order to understand a chapter.

I've been using the USMLE Road Map books which are organized into separate subjects, which syncs up with our curriculum a lot better. An old edition is only a few bucks on Amazon and they're organized pretty well and help show what is fluff and what's board relevant. I might try out those, but I'm a first year so take what I say with a grain of salt.

 

[Divine Furor]

Dude, wayyy toooo sooon. If you can't easily wrangle the terminology in First Aid, it's because you don't have the foundation complete yet for the study of pathophysiology. You need to learn the language first. And it's okay that you haven't even begun to master it by November of Year 1.

 

[Ghost22]

Far from useless, but it's not necessarily going to give you the most bang for your buck. The biochem section basically hit all the high points in our cell sci course. Other sections, however, incorporate a lot of the stuff that most schools don't start hitting until the second year.

Plus some of the mnemonics are excellent.

Personally, I've found the specialized (and more in-depth) review books that are for the subjects to be more helpful (Rapid Review Biochem and High Yield Neuro were very good).

My 2 cents.

 

[sylvanthus]

I agree on waiting till 2nd year. I have seen some first years start blowing off information because it isn't in FA. Bad idea. Best to learn as much as possible during the first 2 years and THEN review afterwards. It doesn't make much sense to review before really learning the material.

 

[Isoprop]

I have found FA to be excellent to review cumulative material in the exams during M1 classes. Plus the mnemonics are nice little pearls.

 

[deleted248403]

Plus some of the mnemonics are excellent.

Personally, I've found the specialized (and more in-depth) review books that are for the subjects to be more helpful (Rapid Review Biochem and High Yield Neuro were very good).

My 2 cents.

+1 on this - I thought FA was good to read (thus far) before an exam as a very big-picture review. Not detailed enough for class exams, though I thought it was pretty good for the biochem shelf

 

[PassionReborn]

Recently got a copy of the First Aid book for the boards. As a first year student, is it worth reading the section in First Aid alongside the lecture slides the professor provides? Our exams are basically straight off the slides, but I noticed some of the terminology in First Aid is different (for example, what they call HMP shunt we called Pentose Phosphate Pathway). Just wondering if this is a good strategy or if I should just wait and cross that bridge when I have to. Thanks.

In my experience... Dont take first aid as a book. It is a "tool" to get you going for the boards which is exclusively points/concepts previously tested on the boards. Nothing more , nothing less. It wont explain you anything.

IMO, stay focused on your school material and then on weekend or after you are finished with a subject/module/block, however, your school does it, then review first aid and see if it makes sense.

Use First Aid as a **TOOL** to get maximum out of it.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I don't think it hurts to use it to get familiar with the book that you'll be using next year when studying for Step 1; reading it alongside some basic science first year stuff like Biochem or Embryology can't hurt, and reading the physiology parts for the appropriate organ systems probably isn't a bad idea. Just realize that you're not using it to actually study for your classes RIGHT NOW; you're reading so that when you come back to it in a year it'll already be somewhat familiar to you.

 

[mvenus929]

I've recommended to many of the first year students at my school to get First Aid... when the new edition comes out in January and they start organ systems. It was really helpful for me to go through before an exam and make sure that I knew all the concepts in there. And I could go in and add things that won't necessarily be pertinent for boards study, but is helpful to review for the wards.

 

[FSU2013]

The sooner/more you use FA, the better you will do on Step 1. Yes, the marginal return might not be extremely high this early, but anyone who says that it's useless is just plain wrong. If you know every page of FA cold, you will do extremely well on Step 1. Same goes for UWorld.....the earlier you get your Qbank (in M2), the better you will do. Good luck.

 

[ksmajmudar]

Work, and there are two girls intend to go back together, then, a girl said to another girl: how can you not go, so you do the frog?

Truth. Trust this man's knowledge, it's the soundest advice I have ever read on this website.