memorizing every word of first aid = 230+?

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yowhatup

yowhatup

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would memorizing First Aid ensure a score of at least 230?
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Good luck with that. If you didn't learn much in M1 or M2 FA won't help do any better than average. You really think you can memorize it all go for it. Just make sure you test your knowledge with usmleworld.
 
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It's not just raw knowledge, it's application thereof. If you memorized every word and had instantaneous recall, if you couldn't make the association that if A+B = C and C+D = E, then A+B+C+D=E (but minor variations in A, B, C, or D make this invalid), you won't do as well.
 
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Keg said:
It's not just raw knowledge, it's application thereof. If you memorized every word and had instantaneous recall, if you couldn't make the association that if A+B = C and C+D = E, then A+B+C+D=E (but minor variations in A, B, C, or D make this invalid), you won't do as well.
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Actually, A+B+C+D = C+C+D = C+E 😀, but still a good point about why memorization alone is not sufficient for a good Step 1 score.
 
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If you understand FA 100% and can recall a good majority of it if presented in multiple choices then you should have no problem with getting 230+ I'd bet. But I don't think FA alone contains enough information to understand all of the concepts presented in it, so you'd probably need to do some outside reading (review books, question banks and the like)
 
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First Aid as a sole resource can get you in the 230 range, but you would have to literally memorize all of it.
 
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memorizing gets you to passing, not to 230+. Understanding the material and incorporating maybe 2-3 more resources gets you to 230+
 
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a girl in my class read only FA and nothing else, and ended up getting a 190. Not a very good score for applying to residencies. If you put in the effort of utilizing other sources to supplement FA, you'll be in great shape. At least using a qbank like UW or kaplan can do wonders to your score.
 
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yowhatup said:
would memorizing First Aid ensure a score of at least 230?
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Just first aid? I doubt it. I haven't received my step I score back yet, and I don't think that I did that well on it, but in hindsight (which is always 20/20) I think First Aid is really just the skeleton to hang everything else on. It was definitely my primary source for most subject and I tried to know it as well as I could before anything else, but I definitely supplemented-- I used Golgan during my coursework, read BRS physio during M1, flipped through HY neuroanatomy for diagrams and what I thought were holes in FA, read HY Behavioral (which didn't do me any good on the ethics questions)

You definitely have to understand the material-- it's a thinking test. I think that it's possible, if you understood and did semi-well during your coursework to use just FA and UWorld and score a 230. But JUST First Aid-- no way.
 
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Rendar5 said:
memorizing gets you to passing, not to 230+. Understanding the material and incorporating maybe 2-3 more resources gets you to 230+
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Um ok, w/e you want to believe.

chaostheory said:
a girl in my class read only FA and nothing else, and ended up getting a 190. Not a very good score for applying to residencies. If you put in the effort of utilizing other sources to supplement FA, you'll be in great shape. At least using a qbank like UW or kaplan can do wonders to your score.
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Several people in my school used just FA and got in the 230s.
 
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I hate when people say if i memorize this and i memorize that will i do well. You need to be able to understand and apply, not just simply memorize a book
 
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jackets5 said:
I hate when people say if i memorize this and i memorize that will i do well. You need to be able to understand and apply, not just simply memorize a book
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also, in all seriousness, who can memorize a whole book? and if you have that ability, why wouldn't you also try to understand what it is that you're reading??

there were quite a few things on my test that were not in first aid. i answered them by drawing on what i learned over the first 2 years. i think you need to have a solid background first before you review as much as you can from first aid.
 
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I would say that maybe 50% of the topics for my exam were in first aid. I brought my first aid to the testing center and looked up answers at breaks. The ones I had questions about weren't in first aid. First aid is a great resource, and you may get lucky and get an exam straight out of first aid, but it just seems like step 1 is moving away from first aid topics. I had a lot of behavioral science and ethics questions, those are definitely not in first aid. You just have to prepare for everything.
 
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If by memorize you mean know/understand all the concepts in FA and able to apply, then yes you can definitely get 230+.
 
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I am sort of glad to see the number of posts on here acknowledging how hard it would be to memorize FA. After being on here a while and reading a number of posts emphasizing the importance of "knowing FA cold", I was starting to worry that I would be screwed for the real thing in a few days from now.

I am doing OK on qbanks, etc but I definitely dont have FA memorized.
For instance, I really dont know the immuno/chemo drugs well, I just reason through what I can when I come to them...

I wish I had this thing memorized though😎
but you definetly need to know how to apply this knowledge...I went to all the classes in the first two years, unlike a lot of my classmates, and sometimes I answer questions based off lectures I went to...
 
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I think you're asking the wrong question. No matter what score memorizing FA may get you, that score would be much higher if you studied more efficiently.

There is a bunch of stuff in FA that I don't know and large chunk of it that I didn't read, and I was hitting 240+ on the NMBE's.

FA is not the minimum base to start on, it's just an inefficient collection of testable concepts reduced to factoids + other added factoids + really bad mnemonics.
 
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stanka said:
annotating FA w/ Uworld = >235
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bythat, do you mean the concepts of UW that you did not understand the first time you did the questions?

PS- my friend did just the FA and did different question banks and got a 247 / 99
 
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SMA said:
I would say that maybe 50% of the topics for my exam were in first aid. I brought my first aid to the testing center and looked up answers at breaks. The ones I had questions about weren't in first aid. First aid is a great resource, and you may get lucky and get an exam straight out of first aid, but it just seems like step 1 is moving away from first aid topics. I had a lot of behavioral science and ethics questions, those are definitely not in first aid. You just have to prepare for everything.
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Here's a dumb question that I just realized😛: what's everything? Where is that one source that will tell you, "Here's all you need to know for the exam"?

I thought FA was supposed to be the closest deal (even if they're kind of predicting based on past exams what's important). Our schools aren't that much help, either, because most of them teach you what they want you to know, not what's on the Step I exam...

So in the end, do you just learn everything there is to know about everything (and hence annotating from review books into FA)...😕
 
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I think memorizing first aid as a LAST STEP is the best way to go. I'm basically at the end of my studying. And I've gone through the kaplan vids a few times (double speed is awesome!), goljan, a few other texts, flashcards & usmle world. I found that a lot of the questions I got wrong on world weren't because I didn't understand what was going on but because I forgot little things like definitions. I think on THAT level, memorizing first aid is VERY valuable. But you have to understand things, especially the physiology. I went through the Kaplan phys lectures probably 2 1/2 times. You also have to be very familiar with the diseases and the processes. I'm one of these people who feel more secure when I know I can regurgitate the entire book from the back of my hand. Also, you can only study through stuff for so long before you're like I need to just memorize stuff.
 
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I memorized FA word for word. Minus most of the drugs and parts of neuro (suprisingly which were my loswest blocks on the score report).I think it was good for me because I felt overwhelmed when I tried using other sources, and FA was concise in one book. However, if you want a good score I would not recommend just FA. I found that out the hard way, when I got my crappy score of 228.

Best,
-FF
 
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If you really want to know the answer for yourself take an NBME test untimed with FA. You'll probably learn enough to make it worth the money and you'll have a personalized answer.

If you gave a stranger on the street FA to use during this board exam and all the time they wanted I would be surprised if they passed. Similarly, if five individuals from this forum took the NBME open book they would likely have a range of scores from 200 to 260+. The answer depends on the level of understanding you are bringing to the table.

If I could have only one source for study I would have chosen UWorld or any other Qbank over FA. FA is really just a glorified book of lists.
 
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kdburton said:
Wow thats a lot of questions you did haha. Good job on the test though
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lol i did wikitestprep and a few hundred other qs from random sources too.

sitting and reading FA was the most painful thing i've ever had to do whereas doing questions all day didn't really feel like studying. i think the qs contributed more to my score than FA did anyway 👍
 
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Nope because FA is there to cue the concepts associated with the words, so unless you know all the concepts, FA is not guaranteeing anything.
 
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kdburton said:
If you understand FA 100% and can recall a good majority of it if presented in multiple choices then you should have no problem with getting 230+ I'd bet. But I don't think FA alone contains enough information to understand all of the concepts presented in it, so you'd probably need to do some outside reading (review books, question banks and the like)
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cgscribe said:
If by memorize you mean know/understand all the concepts in FA and able to apply, then yes you can definitely get 230+.
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laputan said:
I think you're asking the wrong question. No matter what score memorizing FA may get you, that score would be much higher if you studied more efficiently.

There is a bunch of stuff in FA that I don't know and large chunk of it that I didn't read, and I was hitting 240+ on the NMBE's.

FA is not the minimum base to start on, it's just an inefficient collection of testable concepts reduced to factoids + other added factoids + really bad mnemonics.
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These 3 posts should've already ended this thread. (4 posts, including this one).
 
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So you don't understand how people don't understand? :laugh::laugh::laugh:



priyanka said:
wow, I dont get it.

For how long do you guys try to "understand" the stuff? I mean, it takes ONE time to understand something. I dont know why you need to understand a certain thing a million times. 😕 And what exactly was med school and med schoool exams for if you dont already understand, how did you make it through first two years? That is something beyond me. :idea: Come USMLE step time, it should all be regurgitating and recalling. Understanding should have been LONG done..
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No, I am pointing out the hilariously hypocritical statement which obviously is too complex for you to appreciate.

Did you understand that?


priyanka said:
exactly -- are you just trying to paraphrase what I wrote? with the addition ":laugh:" x3 ?

thanks- but I dont think people need the paraphrasing :laugh:
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You are all over the place with your posts. Are you off of your meds?



priyanka said:
What's so complex about that? Its like a 2 year old pointing out something so obvious that it is better ignored and move on with the real topic. Its called, Tautology- and its a figure of speech.

You think you are a smartass, then keep that thought to yourself. I dont need to necessarily pay any attention to them even if you "point" them out. Thankyou very much.

About it being hypocritical- you are comparing apples and oranges here. We are talking about human behavior compared to understanding science. Yeah a lot of Psychology is not "understood". And about it being hilarious- it is so not. Maybe, only to immature 2 year olds. 🙄
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So you're basically saying that I am right that you need to understand everything in FA and the the step is ABSOLUTELY not recall and regurgitation? Then we agree that you are wrong. Perfect👍



priyanka said:
If mocking other people to make yourself feel good, is the only way you get attention, then I really do feel sorry for you. And you should thank me for giving you attention right now. But I am only doing it because I feel sorry for you. Poor sad soul.I will try not to reply next time though, because I have better things to do then serve your sad life.
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You said that you would never reply to me. I seem to control you and make you do things that you do not want to do. Would someone sane act like you? I think not.


priyanka said:
Are you blind?
This is what I said



SO no, we agree that YOU are wrong.
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McGillGrad said:
You said that you would never reply to me. I seem to control you and make you do things that you do not want to do. Would someone sane act like you? I think not.
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Thanks a lot. You made me spit my mouthful of water all over my keyboard!!:laugh:
 
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