Neuro and Biochem Step 1 prep

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504196

Hey everyone,

MS2 here, been thinking more about step 1 since I take it this spring. I have FA and pathoma and will get Uworld later. But I've noticed that I'm a little weak in neuroanatomy and biochem as I've gone through parts of FA. Just wondering what you all found to be very helpful in neuro and biochem material in addition to UFAP materials?? Should I just google/youtube specific weak areas? Or is there a good resource on neuro and/or biochem that you really liked?
 
Hey everyone,

MS2 here, been thinking more about step 1 since I take it this spring. I have FA and pathoma and will get Uworld later. But I've noticed that I'm a little weak in neuroanatomy and biochem as I've gone through parts of FA. Just wondering what you all found to be very helpful in neuro and biochem material in addition to UFAP materials?? Should I just google/youtube specific weak areas? Or is there a good resource on neuro and/or biochem that you really liked?
FA is more than enough for Neuro and Biochem. I'm more of a conceptual learner so occasionally I supplemented biochem with reviewing Lippincott's or watching Kaplan videos. Otherwise, biochem for Step is just memorizing FA. What's needed for school exams for neuroantomy is overkill for Step.
 
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id also like to know a little more on this . So for neuro in total would you recommend kaplan videos ? my neuro course was garbage
 
Hey everyone,

MS2 here, been thinking more about step 1 since I take it this spring. I have FA and pathoma and will get Uworld later. But I've noticed that I'm a little weak in neuroanatomy and biochem as I've gone through parts of FA. Just wondering what you all found to be very helpful in neuro and biochem material in addition to UFAP materials?? Should I just google/youtube specific weak areas? Or is there a good resource on neuro and/or biochem that you really liked?


First off, SDN is split into two different camps in regards to step 1 prep. I'm part of the camp that recommends starting UWorld early and using it as a learning tool. That's what I'd suggest you do rather than thumbing through first aid and trying to learn from it. First Aid rarely teaches you anything, it only helps you remember stuff by keeping things all in one place and maybe sometimes explains something that was missing from your school's course notes. What teaches you is using your school's lectures/notes as well as doing UWorld while spending time reading explanations. I know I'm only one guy on the internet but now is exactly the right time to be starting UWorld as a second year. In fact, waiting until Christmas break or even January would be a great time as well.

Now to address your question:


Looking at First AID is not a good measurement tool for areas of weakness because I don't think we are the best at self assessment of understanding by just reading. The only good indicator is NBME comprehensive exams and UWorld (only if you do all of it mixed and in a matter of 4-5 weeks or so which no one ever does). Frankly the NBME score reports aren't the best either because you just may not be good at the understanding the way one exam is testing respiratory for example. My advice for targeting weaknesses is to wait until you have a few NBME data points and then target things from there. This may very well be 1-2 weeks from your real exam but realize you're literally sitting there with completely free days. I used to think Repro was a weakness for me because I was always unsure of all the embryo/etc because of all the details in FA I thought I was not remembering, but it ended up being a consistent strength. For me I was consistently weak in Neuro (even thought I went thru it a lot in FA and thought it knew it well) and biostats so focusing on understanding those helped on the real deal.

Lastly to speculate a little, if your curriculum was anything like mine, you've listed 2/3 of the courses (the other being anatomy) that were thought in excrutiating detail that now seem like a long time ago which is possibly why you feel weak in them. I would caution you that neuroanatomy and biochemistry aren't tested in the ways you'd think (brainstem nuclei and cerebellar pathways won't be tested and neither will steps of glycolysis). For neuroanatomy they love to test stupid things like foot drop/peroneal nerve and reflexes as well as opposed to the functions are areas 5/7 in the brain.


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First off, SDN is split into two different camps in regards to step 1 prep. I'm part of the camp that recommends starting UWorld early and using it as a learning tool. That's what I'd suggest you do rather than thumbing through first aid and trying to learn from it. First Aid rarely teaches you anything, it only helps you remember stuff by keeping things all in one place and maybe sometimes explains something that was missing from your school's course notes. What teaches you is using your school's lectures/notes as well as doing UWorld while spending time reading explanations. I know I'm only one guy on the internet but now is exactly the right time to be starting UWorld as a second year. In fact, waiting until Christmas break or even January would be a great time as well.

Now to address your question:


Looking at First AID is not a good measurement tool for areas of weakness because I don't think we are the best at self assessment of understanding by just reading. The only good indicator is NBME comprehensive exams and UWorld (only if you do all of it mixed and in a matter of 4-5 weeks or so which no one ever does). Frankly the NBME score reports aren't the best either because you just may not be good at the understanding the way one exam is testing respiratory for example. My advice for targeting weaknesses is to wait until you have a few NBME data points and then target things from there. This may very well be 1-2 weeks from your real exam but realize you're literally sitting there with completely free days. I used to think Repro was a weakness for me because I was always unsure of all the embryo/etc because of all the details in FA I thought I was not remembering, but it ended up being a consistent strength. For me I was consistently weak in Neuro (even thought I went thru it a lot in FA and thought it knew it well) and biostats so focusing on understanding those helped on the real deal.

Lastly to speculate a little, if your curriculum was anything like mine, you've listed 2/3 of the courses (the other being anatomy) that were thought in excrutiating detail that now seem like a long time ago which is possibly why you feel weak in them. I would caution you that neuroanatomy and biochemistry aren't tested in the ways you'd think (brainstem nuclei and cerebellar pathways won't be tested and neither will steps of glycolysis). For neuroanatomy they love to test stupid things like foot drop/peroneal nerve and reflexes as well as opposed to the functions are areas 5/7 in the brain.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
Thanks for the advice. I was also planning on starting a q bank this winter and was debating getting Rx or starting U world and trying to get two passes. I take it that you would recommend going with Uworld and skipping Rx?
 
Thanks for the advice. I was also planning on starting a q bank this winter and was debating getting Rx or starting U world and trying to get two passes. I take it that you would recommend going with Uworld and skipping Rx?

I would! Some people would say RX first but I wouldn't see the need to waste time using a diluted version of the real thing, that's all it is really. But then again there's a lot of time to waste especially for the smarter kids who get things fast.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
Thanks for the advice. I was also planning on starting a q bank this winter and was debating getting Rx or starting U world and trying to get two passes. I take it that you would recommend going with Uworld and skipping Rx?

That depends, if you're the type of person That can memorize questions then don't do it. Do Kaplan or USMLE Rx


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
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