Step I Memorizing First Aid

Started by bostonguy911
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bostonguy911

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10+ Year Member
To what extent? I do not really understand, im not sure if the time I have allotted will allow me to literally verbatum learn the book inside and out. I understand concepts, and wish that I had memorized each section of the FA as I went through classes, but I just would skim FA and make sure I understood the main concepts.

I am looking at embryology and I have not even learned 1/2 of the material in my class and it took me almost an entire morning to get through 5 pages!!

Can someone explain how they went about 'memorizing first aid'
Did you really just sit there and memorize the words in FA after reading goljan or other textbooks? Its hard to ingrain a 600 page book into memory in only a few weeks.
 
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I have gone through FA many many times. Except for Repro. Will be learning that in courses for the next 8 weeks.
Obviously some systems/basic science chapters will be easier for you than others but just take it one page at a time and read SLOW. And then do it again, again and again. ect....... + practice Qs
 
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Don't worry about it. Just learn the concepts and hone your problem solving skills. The actual test involves applying the concepts you've learned towards the questions they create. That being said, there will certainly be some questions that are detail specific. I'm taking my test tomorrow and I can tell you that I honestly don't remember the details of >60% of FA. I took 4 NBME practice tests and was scoring in the high 240's-low 250's.

In the beginning, I also thought I had to literally digest FA page by page, but now I see that if you're not aiming for a 280, that's not really necessary. Hope that helps
 
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I use flashcards. I have around 5700 of them and do about 10/day and review the stuff I have trouble on. Seems to be working. I'll tell you how it goes when I take the beast.
 
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mrmandrake, I am doing the same thing (have 5098 cards so far) using FA, RR Path, BRS Phys as my sources. Similar for you? What program are you using? Let me know how you end up doing.
 
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Actually my brother made these flashcards with several friends who also wanted to get into competitive specialties. The program used is called "Anki" and if you google it, it's a free download. It takes some getting used to but it does have an algorithm that shows you cards sooner or later depending on your perceived difficulty in remembering the fact.

There is also a PDF of First Aid 2008 floating around on the internet and these guys copied and pasted the corresponding page of FA that deals with the fact on the card so you can "see" where the question came from. I think that part is super handy and I recommend anyone making FA flashcards to do the same. Very time consuming though.
 
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mrmandrake said:
Actually my brother made these flashcards with several friends who also wanted to get into competitive specialties. The program used is called "Anki" and if you google it, it's a free download. It takes some getting used to but it does have an algorithm that shows you cards sooner or later depending on your perceived difficulty in remembering the fact.

There is also a PDF of First Aid 2008 floating around on the internet and these guys copied and pasted the corresponding page of FA that deals with the fact on the card so you can "see" where the question came from. I think that part is super handy and I recommend anyone making FA flashcards to do the same. Very time consuming though.
Click to expand...

About 40-50 of our M2 and M1s have gotten together to do this on Anki, we're each taking about 10 pages and turning it into 100 notecards to ultimately have 4-5 thousand.
 
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There's a great iPhone flashcard app out there too (aside from all of the expensive pre-made ones). Mental Case lets you make your own + you can download sets from flashcardexchange. Think the app costs around $3, they make a desktop version too which is worth the purchase if you like it.

(FlashCardExchange seems to be pretty slow on copyright enforcement, so there are a lot of card sets people have made that go over basically everything in First Aid, Goljan, etc. etc.)
 
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johnnydrama said:
There's a great iPhone flashcard app out there too (aside from all of the expensive pre-made ones). Mental Case lets you make your own + you can download sets from flashcardexchange. Think the app costs around $3, they make a desktop version too which is worth the purchase if you like it.

(FlashCardExchange seems to be pretty slow on copyright enforcement, so there are a lot of card sets people have made that go over basically everything in First Aid, Goljan, etc. etc.)
Click to expand...

wow that sounds awesome, how would I search for this app? thanks for the help!
 
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Ah. I am using Mnemosyne, but I have heard of Anki. It must be a lot easier to do this with a bunch of people working together- takes a fair bit of time to write all the cards yourself.
 
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are there any free flashcard programs out there that let you cut and paste pictures into them? im a very visual learner.

Anki looks pretty good but it seems be mainly text based.
 
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Honestly, I don't work for them, but Mental Case is worth the 3 bucks. It's worth it alone for being able to download from flashcardexchange...
 
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This is such a good idea. How did that get set up? I used anki for classes for the first half of M1 but it was so inefficient to make cards by yourself...

I hope someone loads FirstAid on Anki online when the project is complete!
 
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hey if you dont mind can you up load those flashcards to rapid share so I too can use them, they are a terrific idea, my exam is coming near and I simply haven't the time to make flashcards.
 
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I'm not sure about the guy above who is doing it with 50 of his classmates but the 5 guys who worked on the flashcards I have wouldn't want it to be released online.

It's about 900MB in size (because the copy and pasting images from First Aid and other books) so they put a ton of work into it. It's not just from First Aid either, it's annotated with notes from CMMRS, RR Path, and BRS Physio. So I hope you understand that they want to keep it private.

I'm supposed to add UWorld stuff to it and pass it on to one lucky soul once I'm done haha.

Like another poster mentioned, there are flash cards made for USMLE on flashcardexchange or something like that so you might want to look over those.
 
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bostonguy911 said:
I am looking at embryology and I have not even learned 1/2 of the material in my class and it took me almost an entire morning to get through 5 pages!!
Click to expand...

Man, this reminds me of med school. I did the same thing! I would try to "memorize" starting from page 1 and never got past page 5. A mistake I kept making for the first 6 months of med school!

My belief is that you need to read FA cover to cover three times in a short period of time (a week or two max). This makes sure your are FAMILIAR with all the material in the book - and it's all important. After you've read the entire book three times, then, and only then, do you try to "memorize" anything. I call it Familiarization First, Memorization Last. By the time you are through the book three times, you will find there is a lot of information you remember already without having to "memorize" much.

This system helped me get a 253 on Step 1.

Stark

USMLE Audio
Gold Standard Audio
 
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Well. . . to do great on Step 1 you basically have to know all the information that they are covering in your classes second year (Path, Pharm, etc...). So, for the first six months, I basically studied hard for my classes and tried to do well on the exams. I didn't necessarily do special preparation for Step 1.

For the next 6 months, I stepped into high gear studying for Step 1. Bascially, I figured that my next 6 months of grades were not as important as Step 1 in 6 months. So I used the following resources: FA, Step-Up, BRS Path, Gold Standard Audio, Underground Clinical Vignettes Step 1 (highly underrated - and a great resource), and questions (taking a practice test and scoring myself once a month looking for improvement).

I went through all of these resources multiple times (at least three) during that six month period. I don't want this to turn into a discussion on reading vs. audio - but I made audio versions of all the books and actually listened to them (it fit my learning style).

So, at this point, I was familiar with all of the resources I would use to cram for the last month. At my school, we all took Step 1 at the end of the second year (M2 year). Like many schools they gave us the summer off (6 weeks). So I studied in a cramped little study carrel from 8am to 8pm for 4 weeks, took the exam, and took 2 weeks off.

There several keys that will help you along the way.
1. If it's important, it's in a lot of books (FA, UCV, Step-Up, and Gold Standard). You go through each three times and they all mention one important topic - you hear it 12 times and remember it!
2. Pick a few resources and get through them at least three times before trying to "memorize" anything. If you do the above and hear about Fabry's Disease 12 time, you won't have to sit down and memorize it - you'll already know it.
3.Don't get bogged down. 5 pages a day while trying to memorize will never do. Burn through the material.

In summary for your MSII year:

First 6 months - study to do well in your classes (this will be the same material for Step 1).

Last 6 months - transition to your Step 1 resources (this will be some of the same material you need for classes).

Last 4 weeks - cram. 12 hours per day, every day. Know your Step 1 resources forward and backward.

Finally, take 2 weeks vacation.

Stark

USMLE Audio
Gold Standard Audio
 
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mrmandrake said:
Actually my brother made these flashcards with several friends who also wanted to get into competitive specialties. The program used is called "Anki" and if you google it, it's a free download. It takes some getting used to but it does have an algorithm that shows you cards sooner or later depending on your perceived difficulty in remembering the fact.

There is also a PDF of First Aid 2008 floating around on the internet and these guys copied and pasted the corresponding page of FA that deals with the fact on the card so you can "see" where the question came from. I think that part is super handy and I recommend anyone making FA flashcards to do the same. Very time consuming though.
Click to expand...

There's PDFs of almost all the main review materials floating around online, including First Aid 2010. If you go looking for that sort of thing at least.

I find books more convenient to use so I buy them anyway (for the stuff thats relevant to the M1 material, like BRS phys), but having a PDF is good for quick reference if you're away from your materials. (I assuage my guilt for piracy by owning the physical books as well.)

Note: I am not advocating going and downloading anything illegal.
 
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Stark said:
I went through all of these resources multiple times (at least three) during that six month period. I don't want this to turn into a discussion on reading vs. audio - but I made audio versions of all the books and actually listened to them (it fit my learning style).
Click to expand...

How did you go about making audio versions? I like learning via audio however making it yourself seems time consuming.
 
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Use WavePad ($20) or GarageBand and your computer. buy a headset with microphone (a cheap one $20), and just read the book. It is time consuming and depends on how fast a reader your are.

If you read slowly, listening to that "little voice" in your head as you go - it doesn't take much more time to read it aloud.

If you read quickly, 400 words per minute or more, it would be very time consuming.

You can a buy a book on speed reading - The Evelyn Wood system that can help you speed up your reading. I'm a terribly slow reader and this book really helped me speed up (but only after med school).

In fact -- --- EVERY MED STUDENT SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: The Evelyn Wood Seven-Day Speed Reading and Learning Program by Stanley D. Frank

It can help slow readers tremendously.

If you want more info: PM me.

Stark

NOTE: If you do anything - you must do it only for personal use. Don't make illegal copies of books in PDF or Audio or any other format. If you make an audio version of anything, keep it to yourself for only personal use. If you share it or sell or distribute it any way YOU WILL GO TO JAIL and YOU CAN GET KICKED OUT OF MED SCHOOL. The publishers are very sensitive about their material and will call the dean and the police. I have known students who actually got kicked out of US Med Schools for illegally distributing material. Seriously.

USMLE Audio
Gold Standard Audio
 
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I experimented with this method awhile back using "Audacity" which is a free program. I would read along and every time I bumped into something I thought was high yield I would record it. So I would pause and record and repeat that process so I wouldn't be recording the whole book.

I figured I wasn't an audio learner so I don't do this anymore but it could work for you and it seemed to work for Stark so give it a try. Good for listening while walking to class, working out, or in the car if you can absorb it. I just seem to block out the sound of my own voice 🙂
 
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For people who have all these flashcard apps, what other phones can you use them with, if any? I've got T-Mobile, but I had been thinking about getting an iPhone (unless T-Mobile carries something similar, but I don't think something "similar" exists) for 3rd year stuff anyway in lieu of a straight up PDA.

I really know nothing about smart phones, I've got some old piece of crap Samsung from years ago that I still use. Any input from the more tech savvy crowd would be great.
 
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personally i like to keep my cell phone separate from my electronic media so i use an ipod touch for music, videos, flashcards, uptodate, ebooks etc
 
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kryptik said:
personally i like to keep my cell phone separate from my electronic media so i use an ipod touch for music, videos, flashcards, uptodate, ebooks etc
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Hmm, perhaps I'll have to look into this. Clearly I'm showing my tech-******edness, but is the ipod touch essentially like an iphone without the phone? As in, could I use that for a PDA 3rd year (I assume it has internet access?), etc.

I don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner to check out the ipod touch.
 
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GuyWhoDoesStuff said:
Hmm, perhaps I'll have to look into this. Clearly I'm showing my tech-******edness, but is the ipod touch essentially like an iphone without the phone? As in, could I use that for a PDA 3rd year (I assume it has internet access?), etc.

I don't know why this didn't occur to me sooner to check out the ipod touch.
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correct, its like an iphone without the phone and it has much more harddisk space, has internet access, etc
 
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Another stupid question: would an itouch work in most hospitals as far as internet access? I can't imagine many hospitals having a random wireless network to just attach to (but I really have no idea how that all works, even at my school).

Basically, I just want to make sure I could use this thing smoothly and without trouble on the wards.
 
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An itouch will need a wifi to hop on to be able to use the internet, so it will depend on availability of a wifi signal. To have guaranteed internet service you will have to get a cell phone service with a data plan.
 
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kryptik said:
An itouch will need a wifi to hop on to be able to use the internet, so it will depend on availability of a wifi signal. To have guaranteed internet service you will have to get a cell phone service with a data plan.
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Right, that's basically my concern. I don't know how the wifi works (if at all) at the hospital . . .
 
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kryptik said:
personally i like to keep my cell phone separate from my electronic media so i use an ipod touch for music, videos, flashcards, uptodate, ebooks etc
Click to expand...

Gotta ask: Does Up To Date work on iPhone? Last time asked they only had a PDA version . . . .
 
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Stark said:
Use WavePad ($20) or GarageBand and your computer. buy a headset with microphone (a cheap one $20), and just read the book. It is time consuming and depends on how fast a reader your are.

If you read slowly, listening to that "little voice" in your head as you go - it doesn't take much more time to read it aloud.

If you read quickly, 400 words per minute or more, it would be very time consuming.

You can a buy a book on speed reading - The Evelyn Wood system that can help you speed up your reading. I'm a terribly slow reader and this book really helped me speed up (but only after med school).

In fact -- --- EVERY MED STUDENT SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: The Evelyn Wood Seven-Day Speed Reading and Learning Program by Stanley D. Frank

It can help slow readers tremendously.

If you want more info: PM me.

Stark

NOTE: If you do anything - you must do it only for personal use. Don't make illegal copies of books in PDF or Audio or any other format. If you make an audio version of anything, keep it to yourself for only personal use. If you share it or sell or distribute it any way YOU WILL GO TO JAIL and YOU CAN GET KICKED OUT OF MED SCHOOL. The publishers are very sensitive about their material and will call the dean and the police. I have known students who actually got kicked out of US Med Schools for illegally distributing material. Seriously.

USMLE Audio
Gold Standard Audio
Click to expand...


Hey Stark,

I looked UCV and it seems like a whole series. is there a particular subject in UCV that you liked or they're all solid for prep?

also, does anyone think this book is also good to go through? ---> http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0071471847
 
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This might be a dumb Q, but when you guys are going through FA and trying to "memorize" it, are you just sitting there reading it over and over? Or rewriting an entire page? Or what?
 
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I like to read a page a few times, and then test myself by using a QBank. When I get a question wrong, I go back to that page in first aid, and realize that I simply read the material but didn't really understand/memorize it, and I underline or star something. The information then sticks better in my head.
 
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kryptik said:
i just access it via the website on my ipod, if thats what you asking yeh you can.
Click to expand...

Oh I figured . . . coz they had this pocket pc version and my friend sent them an e-mail asking if they were intending to release an iPhone version . . . not any time soon apparently
 
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kryptik said:
i just access it via the website on my ipod, if thats what you asking yeh you can.
Click to expand...


Any input/recommendation on size for an itouch? (there's 8/32/64gb).

I can't imagine ever needing the 64, and I don't plan on putting videos on it (but probably will put plenty of music on it).

I really have no clue how much various apps/programs take up. I guess I'd be planning on getting standard programs people use during M3, along with putting some flashcard programs/studying tools on there. I've never owned an iphone/ipod so I don't have any clue how much space would be recommended for these types of things.
 
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Well I'm trying to save money, and I'm currently with TMobile and have a decent rate/plan (family plan) going on with a cheapo flip phone. Switching to another plan and a new phone would almost certainly be a good bit more expensive than just getting a $200-300 ipod touch . . .
 
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GuyWhoDoesStuff said:
Any input/recommendation on size for an itouch? (there's 8/32/64gb).

I can't imagine ever needing the 64, and I don't plan on putting videos on it (but probably will put plenty of music on it).

I really have no clue how much various apps/programs take up. I guess I'd be planning on getting standard programs people use during M3, along with putting some flashcard programs/studying tools on there. I've never owned an iphone/ipod so I don't have any clue how much space would be recommended for these types of things.
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if you can afford it go with 32gb 8gb is fine too, btw you can check the refurb section, they are pretty much new and have full warranty http://store.apple.com/us/product/FC086?mco=MTM3NDkxODY
 
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As far as flashcardexchange goes, any recommendations on particularly good flashcard sets? Searching for "goljan", "first aid", or "usmle" returns a ton of results. It'd be nice to cut out the lesser quality ones..
 
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