Reviewing for USMLE I as an M1`

[fizzbot]

Hi,
I am an M1 and am trying to get some review done to solidify this material (anatomy, histology, cell bio, and perhaps dev) for the USMLE step I. I inherited all the BRS books from someone and started doing the BRS anatomy but it seems so dense.

Basically, what I am asking is:
What should I be reviewing right now?
Is BRS anatomy too dense (should I go high yield?)
What about the other subjects, is BRS fine or too much?

Sincerely,
Fizzbot

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[psipsina]

Hi,
I am an M1 and am trying to get some review done to solidify this material (anatomy, histology, cell bio, and perhaps dev) for the USMLE step I. I inherited all the BRS books from someone and started doing the BRS anatomy but it seems so dense.

Basically, what I am asking is:
What should I be reviewing right now?
Is BRS anatomy too dense (should I go high yield?)
What about the other subjects, is BRS fine or too much?

Sincerely,
Fizzbot

Hey, I'm planning on buying Firstaid for the USMLE and annotating it from the BRS books for my M1 courses over our summer break. I hunted thru the USMLE forum and this seems to be the most raved about tactic of some high scorers over there. I would check out that forum and see what of their tactics appeals to you, there is a whole thread where people give their scores and then describe how they studied.

 

[DoctorFunk]

Don't even bother reviewing at this point in time. All of the subjects that you listed are far less represented than physiology, pathology, and pharm and your review will certainly not prevent you from having to look over the material again during your Step studies in second year. Take this time to recharge your batteries for second semester and really work on learning the material well the first time so you can minimize the amount of material you are unfamiliar with heading into your board studies.

BRS Anatomy is far too dense for Step 1, although I found it helpful for the class. HY Anatomy and the anatomy found in First Aid seems to be sufficient.

 

[fizzbot]

Hey, I'm planning on buying Firstaid for the USMLE and annotating it from the BRS books for my M1 courses over our summer break. I hunted thru the USMLE forum and this seems to be the most raved about tactic of some high scorers over there. I would check out that forum and see what of their tactics appeals to you, there is a whole thread where people give their scores and then describe how they studied.

Annotate it from BRS? What do you mean exactly, like cross-reference the common material and only study that? Just wondering...

 

[fizzbot]

And also then pepsina you are doing nothing over xmas study wise??

Just wondering.... btw ur pic is hot.

 

[fizzbot]

Don't even bother reviewing at this point in time. All of the subjects that you listed are far less represented than physiology, pathology, and pharm and your review will certainly not prevent you from having to look over the material again during your Step studies in second year. Take this time to recharge your batteries for second semester and really work on learning the material well the first time so you can minimize the amount of material you are unfamiliar with heading into your board studies.

BRS Anatomy is far too dense for Step 1, although I found it helpful for the class. HY Anatomy and the anatomy found in First Aid seems to be sufficient.

Funk, your thoughts on the other classes?

 

[fizzbot]

Funk, your thoughts on the other classes?

By that I mean for cell bio, hist, and dev? BRS no?

 

[psipsina]

And also then pepsina you are doing nothing over xmas study wise??

Just wondering.... btw ur pic is hot.

My understanding is that First Aid is a good reference of topics to cover but doesn't go far enough in depth, so you fill in extra info in margins etc (the process itself is a review) and then you just study your annotated first aid. Our proffs also say all the time in lectures "and this has been on the boards . . ." when they say that I make a flash card of the factoid and put it in a box, and I plan on running thru that box a few times too.

Unfortunately I am studying for my first semester finals over xmas break, as I was hospitalized twice in the last block so my exams were extended untill the first week of January. Which means I get to hang out in anatomy lab all by my lonesome. The only other school related thing I am doing (and the only thing I was planning if I hadn't ended up with extended exams) is studying the physical exam stuff that I never comitted to memory during the semester as the first week of our second semester is a clinical preceptorship that I will be doing 10 physicals on real patients (!!!) for so I need to make sure I can connect all the different parts that they taught us seperately into one cohesive event. . . my poor husband will be tortured for my learning pleasure

 

[MadameLULU]

Hi,

I haven't taken Step 1, but my school requires us to take and pass the Comprehensive Basic Science Exam (written by the NBME, the same folks who write the USMLE) in order for us to proceed to clinical rotations. The test was 4 hours and 200 questions and gave me a lot of insight about what Step 1 will be like. Basically I studied from First Aid for 3 days before the exam and I think it helped quite a bit. So, what I'd do is look at First Aid before your school exams and annotate as you go I think that will prepare you well. There were probably 20 or so anatomy questions and 10-15 biochemistry questions on my exam, so I think BRS Anatomy or Biochem would be overkill for those subjects.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Reviewing for Step 1 as an MS1 is pointless.

If you have spare time that you don't want want to dedicate to recreation, use it to learn your current subjects as well as you can.

When you start your review next year, everything buried in your hippocampi will come back -- I promise.

 

[deuist]

Maybe not reviewing for Step I, but I did find that reading BRS and First Aid before my exams was really helpful. These books provide summaries of material that I may have missed in lecture.