Microbiology book

[metview]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I've search the forums and seems like CMMRS is recommended. However, is it good enough to learn micro instead of just reviewing? Do I need to invest in a real textbook or will CMMRS suffice with my med school course?

 

[Ismet]

CMMRS + lectures will be perfectly fine. I never had microbio before med school, most non-bio majors don't take microbio, so it's not like it's a review course.

 

[spicysoup55]

Do you guys recommend CMMRS for step1 review? Is a dedicated micro book even needed or does first aid cover it well enough?

 

[zeppelinpage4]

CMMRS + lectures will be perfectly fine. I never had microbio before med school, most non-bio majors don't take microbio, so it's not like it's a review course.

Agreed. At our school CMMRS, First Aid, and lectures were plenty I think. I sort of used a little bit of each.
I only used CMMRS near the end for fungi stuff and wish I'd read the whole book during the course, it summarized things nicely.

I see a lot of the first years at our school using this thing called Sketchy Micro, can't vouch for it myself...but it seems to be popular among my friends. Could be worth a look as well.

 

[skipdivided]

Do all 3. For step1 I read CMMRS, used first aid, and got sketchy micro and it really worked for me, particularly because I felt that Micro wasn't a particularly strong part of my school's curriculum. Personally I LOVED SketchyMicro, and it was extremely useful for learning otherwise hard-to-recall facts. Actually, it's been really helpful on my rotations too. CMMRS is a super quick, easy read that I felt gave me a good way to organize all the bacteria in my head.

 

[cs24]

Do you guys recommend CMMRS for step1 review? Is a dedicated micro book even needed or does first aid cover it well enough?

I'd honestly just get sketchy micro. I read CMMRS before I did sketchy, and while it filled in the gaps in my school's micro curriculum (of which they are many), the details fell right out of my head shortly afterwards until sketchy hammered them in for good. I think I would have gotten just as much out of sketchy without CMMRS beforehand, but CMMRS without sketchy would NOT have cut it at all. FWIW I'm in boards prep right now and I would consider micro possibly my biggest strength (backed up by NBME results), and when I started UWorld it was my lowest scoring section next to pharm.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

I'd honestly just get sketchy micro. I read CMMRS before I did sketchy, and while it filled in the gaps in my school's micro curriculum (of which they are many), the details fell right out of my head shortly afterwards until sketchy hammered them in for good. I think I would have gotten just as much out of sketchy without CMMRS beforehand, but CMMRS without sketchy would NOT have cut it at all. FWIW I'm in boards prep right now and I would consider micro possibly my biggest strength (backed up by NBME results), and when I started UWorld it was my lowest scoring section next to pharm.

I'm really struggling with micro and I'm about 3 weeks out. Do you think Sketchy would help in that short amount of time if I got it?
Didn't mean to hijack thread haha, just looking for ideas myself.

 

[cs24]

I'm really struggling with micro and I'm about 3 weeks out. Do you think Sketchy would help in that short amount of time if I got it?
Didn't mean to hijack thread haha, just looking for ideas myself.

Yes. If you are tight on time just try to hit your worst organisms, or the ones you get mixed up most with each other. Give it a little bit of time each day and make sure you review to keep the images sharp in your head. I watch a set number of videos in the morning/early afternoon, then go back to the review images right before bed to see what I remembered and reinforce what I needed.

 

[zeppelinpage4]

Yes. If you are tight on time just try to hit your worst organisms, or the ones you get mixed up most with each other. Give it a little bit of time each day and make sure you review to keep the images sharp in your head. I watch a set number of videos in the morning/early afternoon, then go back to the review images right before bed to see what I remembered and reinforce what I needed.

Awesome, that sounds quite manageable, really appreciate the advice. 🙂 Maybe I'll give it a try.