USMLE Pharmacology for USMLE Step 1

[arcmd89]

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Hi! Does anyone have any tips on how to best approach pharmacology for the USMLE step 1? I'm pretty weak in the area and would appreciate any advice on what books to use/kaplan/BRS etc? THANKS!!

 

[Ionian]

Read all the FA sections. Do all the Pretest Pharmacology (current edition) questions. Done.
You will re-enforce this with Qbank questions (Rx, KaplanQbook, Uworld)

These are other pharm question sources I have used and dont recommend:
BRS
Rapid Review
Lippincotts Illustrated Q&A
Katzung Q&A

They all suck except pretest.

 

[Fatalis]

Read all the FA sections. Do all the Pretest Pharmacology (current edition) questions. Done.
You will re-enforce this with Qbank questions (Rx, KaplanQbook, Uworld)

These are other pharm question sources I have used and dont recommend:
BRS
Rapid Review
Lippincotts Illustrated Q&A
Katzung Q&A

They all suck except pretest.

+1 to this
instead of pre-test [used it in ms2 so i remembered most questions], I used picmonic instead [not question based but reinforced what I learned]

 

[acciddropping]

+1 to this
instead of pre-test [used it in ms2 so i remembered most questions], I used picmonic instead [not question based but reinforced what I learned]

Is picmonic good?

 

[surgok]

+1 to this
instead of pre-test [used it in ms2 so i remembered most questions], I used picmonic instead [not question based but reinforced what I learned]

Does picmonic have dedicated pharm section?

 

[Fatalis]

ya its great and yea it has a dedicated pharm section. it works really well bc it gives you really funny ways of remembering things. It was most helpful for micro

 

[PharMed2016]

I recommend doing the kaplan pharm and their associated qbank. Lippincotts Pharmacology is something I would recommend going through the course but not for review.

 

[BlueArc]

Read all the FA sections. Do all the Pretest Pharmacology (current edition) questions. Done.
Y

They all suck except pretest.

Really pretest? Never read anybody recommend pretest for pharma but i will def try it now! And yes picmonic is awesome for drugs.

 

[mcloaf]

Is picmonic good?

Wondering this as well.

Also, since it's a subscription (and an expensive one at that), when would you guys recommend purchasing it? I'm in M1 so I don't have much use for it until next year.

 

[Ismet]

Wondering this as well.

Also, since it's a subscription (and an expensive one at that), when would you guys recommend purchasing it? I'm in M1 so I don't have much use for it until next year.

Picmonic gets a "meh" from me, but I've used it a couple times in MS2 and some of the mnemonics really stuck and came in handy on exams. Haven't used it very much in board prep, but I'll probably use it here and there in the next couple weeks. Good to know people recommend it for pharm, because I hate pharm with a passion.

If you haven't signed up for the free trial yet, do so now. A few months ago they did a random giveaway where 1 out of every 10 free trial members were gifted a 6 month subscription for free, and I got one. Not sure if that's something they do often or whatever, but worth a shot.

I think it's a waste of money to buy the 6 month subscription. It's still being developed and cards are still being added. Even from when I started using it at the beginning of MS2 to now, they've added a lot of cards. If you're into mnemonics and you think it will complement your learning, I'd just pay for it monthly during your board study time. That way you can just cancel it if you don't like it/don't use it.

 

[Ionian]

Really pretest? Never read anybody recommend pretest for pharma but i will def try it now! And yes picmonic is awesome for drugs.

Don't get me wrong, I have owned a lot of pretests, and I don't like very many of them.

The new have long question stems for no reason to waste your time, didn't like pretest anatomy, and pretest biochem/genetics was like wtf....

Pretest phsyiology 2001 (green) edition is one of my favorite actually though, cause it hammers home very important aspects over and over again, and each question is 1-2 sentences long.

Pretest micro was worthless.


I almost had given up on pre-tests, but I'd have to say by far Pretest pharm actually did something right, its the best of the series im sure.

 

[BlueArc]

Don't get me wrong, I have owned a lot of pretests, and I don't like very many of them.

The new have long question stems for no reason to waste your time, didn't like pretest anatomy, and pretest biochem/genetics was like wtf....

Pretest phsyiology 2001 (green) edition is one of my favorite actually though, cause it hammers home very important aspects over and over again, and each question is 1-2 sentences long.

Pretest micro was worthless.


I almost had given up on pre-tests, but I'd have to say by far Pretest pharm actually did something right, its the best of the series im sure.

Thanks for letting us all know. I am almost done with pretest physiology and i have to agree with you , the explanations are really helpful in it, for example in GIT questions concerning vagotomy . I was about to go through pretest micro as well but your review isn't encouraging.

 

[Fatalis]

pretest path= the worst by far lol

 

[Ionian]

Thanks for letting us all know. I am almost done with pretest physiology and i have to agree with you , the explanations are really helpful in it, for example in GIT questions concerning vagotomy . I was about to go through pretest micro as well but your review isn't encouraging.

Dude if you have time for micro-questions out side of q banks you need:
Lippincott's Q & A Microbiology & Immunology (500 questions) (Medium difficulty, good quality question)
or
Review of Medical Microbiology, 1e Patrick R. Murray, Ken Rosenthal (550 questions; very good, but hard)

Even with the Illustrated series, I can't recommend very much, Biochemistry and Pharmocology were absolutely terrible.

No series gets it all right, so you got to mix and match I guess.

 

[BlueArc]

Dude if you have time for micro-questions out side of q banks you need:
Lippincott's Q & A Microbiology & Immunology (500 questions) (Medium difficulty, good quality question)
or
Review of Medical Microbiology, 1e Patrick R. Murray, Ken Rosenthal (550 questions; very good, but hard)

Even with the Illustrated series, I can't recommend very much, Biochemistry and Pharmocology were absolutely terrible.

No series gets it all right, so you got to mix and match I guess.

Thank you! Any suggestions for anatomy questions? i suck at it. I plan on going through clinical vigg with kaplan notes. You think that's enough?

 

[Ionian]

So far I feel the only real anatomy questions I've been asked are completely related to upper and lower limbs.
I guess everything else falls into the realm of the relevant pathology?

So I've improved my score in MSK buy just doing the Upper/Lower limb sections in Lippincotts Anatomy/Embryo, and the upper/lower limb sections in Roadmap anatomy (which I like cause its very short and nerve/peripheral lesion heavy)