Review books?

[Dr Dazzle]

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Hi guys,

So several med students have recommended using review books along with preclinical classes and hold off on first aid because its very concise and more of an outline. However, should a new student order all the review books that may be used during the first 2 years right at the beginning or buy them as needed? If you have all of them, you wont have to bother with ordering when classes have already started. Additionally, which review books do you recommend for each of the core classes? For example, many recommend BRS for physio.

Thanks

 

[D elegans]

Books I actually used my first two years:

M1: Costanzo, Little Costanzo, HY Neuro (used it, wouldn't recommend it), FA (mainly for quick review of concepts)
M2: Pathoma, FA. (Goljan is good too, but I am exclusively on Team Sattar (the Pathoma guy))

Everything else was from lectures, notes, etc.

I know, it's shocking, but true

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Books I actually used my first two years:

M1: Costanzo, Little Costanzo, HY Neuro (used it, wouldn't recommend it), FA (mainly for quick review of concepts)
M2: Pathoma, FA. (Goljan is good too, but I am exclusively on Team Sattar (the Pathoma guy))

Everything else was from lectures, notes, etc.

I know, it's shocking, but true

Did you feel that the lectures covered the material well? Or did you support the notes by using Internet or textbooks? Were you annotating in FA?

 

[D elegans]

Did you feel that the lectures covered the material well? Or did you support the notes by using Internet or textbooks? Were you annotating in FA?

The lectures were enough for the most part because the exam questions came right out of them. Sometimes to supplement a subject I used a couple of internet resources (Access Medicine, which you'll likely have access to, is awesome).

I would recommend not annotating FA your first year unless you want to annotate it to help with classes. For boards prep, I would only annotate FA with info from Qbanks (DO NOT THINK ABOUT STEP 1 UNTIL 2nd YEAR).

If you love reading textbooks, you can find some more resources. If you didn't use them much in undergrad, you probably won't use them much now.

 

[FrkyBgStok]

I purchased most of the BRS books but really only used that as a night before the test overall review. using them to prep for boards in any way is useless, but it was helpful to have a quick and concise review that i could get done in an hour, just to get everything moving in my head. if you want first aid, i would buy a cheap crappy marked up one for first year, simply because it is nice to see a few mnemonics or connections. then buy the newest one for second year and annotate as you go through.

i also plan on using pathoma videos with goljan text for 2nd year.

 

[jdj16]

I guess i come from a different school of thought. I dont trust most of my professors because they dont teach to step 1. My school is an integrated style so i memorize the organ system and any other related concepts from first aid as well as memorizing pathoma for path. I make 100% sure that this is what i learn since its what ill be hit with for the most part on step 1. I add in the details of things that my teachers say that arent in any of the widely accepted review books as kind of a cram and dump cycle so i do well on our tests. Towards the end of each organ module i work on questions, again from banks that are widely accepted to pretty well cover a decent portion of what i should be learning.

This works really well for me...1 because most of my professors have a unique ability to make the simplest things complicated and 2 im a big picture learner...i have to see the forest before i can begin to assimilate where the trees stand.

Just a different perspective on this to think about

 

[Dr Dazzle]

Great insights

 

[Barcu]

The only review books that I used with any frequency were BRS anatomy first year and then Goljan Rapid Review path second year (would definitely recommend this one). I didn't even buy First Aid until halfway through second year.

I would occasionally read textbooks, but usually just the short ones (like West for Respiratory phys or Vander's for Renal). I also read the green boxes in Gray's (but not all the text) because that was pretty high yield in my class. Sometimes I read Robbins 2nd year if I had some time. It's hard to really get through that but if you can, that is the bible.

When you get to school, you can figure out what you need from older classmates. While the material should be the same at every school, it appears there is quite a variation between what is covered and when. You will get a ton of resources (powerpoints, syllabi, etc) from your school, which is usually more than sufficient for exams. From what I have heard from older students and I am noticing in my Step 1 prep, my school seemed to do a pretty good job of covering stuff for Step 1. It seems other schools may not be the same so you may want to add some extra sources based on what people recommend.

 

[evilbooyaa]

The best way to do well on step 1 for 100% of students is to do well in the first 2 years. Well doesn't necessarily mean honoring everything, but understanding all major concepts and knowing some step 1 relevant details (meaning not esoteric research/mechanisms).

As a M1, I wouldn't start thinking about Step 1. You will learn much more than is required for the exam.

 

[Stellar Clouds]

I would buy them as needed, but only before your step 1 studying IF your school has you take NBME subject exams at the end of classes.

I used BRS biochem, gross anatomy, phys, and behavioral to study for subject exams. I used RR path for studying during the second half of MS2.

I didn't waste my time with FA until the latest edition came out in January of my MS2 year.