Step 1 Molecular Biology Resources

[scienceguy123]

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hi guys, so I'm prepping for step 1, kind of following the Taus method which was posted and am going to be trying to understand as much Molecular Biology as possible out of a high yield book over 5-6 days- I like Kaplan's biochemistry book, and I was wondering if you thought that would be sufficient for covering the molecular Biochem concepts, or if you think I should stick with Taus' recommendation of HY molec. bio? Does anyone know how heavy molecular bio usually is on the exam?

I'm not really hoping to score a 99, I just want to pass the Step 1, so I'm not too worried about hitting all the minutia, but I also think that given my strong science background, this might be an easy area to gain some marks since it's mostly just memorization

 

[Hercules022]

Go with HY molecular 1st ed... I saw some molecular on my test and the questions can be tricky. Its the most concise and to-the-point book on molecular out there.... I don't remember the specifics, but I remember looking through Kaplan biochem and not being impressed.

 

[rankin]

Go with HY molecular 1st ed... I saw some molecular on my test and the questions can be tricky. Its the most concise and to-the-point book on molecular out there.... I don't remember the specifics, but I remember looking through Kaplan biochem and not being impressed.

Maybe because lots of the cell bio is in the histo + anatomy section of kaplan rather than biochem?

 

[Rollo]

I heard that FA in recent years has been covering molecular bio to sufficient detail that HY Molecular has become a secondary source.

 

[scienceguy123]

I heard that FA in recent years has been covering molecular bio to sufficient detail that HY Molecular has become a secondary source.

yeah, so I'm hoping I can get away with using mostly Kaplan biochem to annotate into FA. In FA, there are subsections in Biochem for nutrition, molecular, cellular, metabolism, laboratory techniques and genetics. Kaplan covers all this except teh cellular stuff, for which I think i could just use HY molec bio.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is kaplan's level of detail sufficient for all biochem/molec bio (excl 'Cellular biochem')? After using Kaplan, i have found all of FA's biochem (excluding cellular) to be covered in entirety, but i don't know if I should learn more detail outside of FA that may be present in HY, which appears to be hihgly recommended on the forum.

 

[bbydoc]

yeah, so I'm hoping I can get away with using mostly Kaplan biochem to annotate into FA. In FA, there are subsections in Biochem for nutrition, molecular, cellular, metabolism, laboratory techniques and genetics. Kaplan covers all this except teh cellular stuff, for which I think i could just use HY molec bio.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Is kaplan's level of detail sufficient for all biochem/molec bio (excl 'Cellular biochem')? After using Kaplan, i have found all of FA's biochem (excluding cellular) to be covered in entirety, but i don't know if I should learn more detail outside of FA that may be present in HY, which appears to be hihgly recommended on the forum.

the reflection of previous test takers shows that FA biochem is sufficient and biochem is the best subject in the kaplan series in my opinion. it is very well integrated with pathology and even pharmacology.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

Stick to First Aid. I didn't find HY very helpful.

 

[rankin]

the reflection of previous test takers shows that FA biochem is sufficient and biochem is the best subject in the kaplan series in my opinion. it is very well integrated with pathology and even pharmacology.

Sorry I might have missed your point here. You are saying FA Biochem is enough but you are complementing kaplan biochem saying its well integrated? Are you saying since FA is also very good because its as good as kaplan?

 

[bbydoc]

Sorry I might have missed your point here. You are saying FA Biochem is enough but you are complementing kaplan biochem saying its well integrated? Are you saying since FA is also very good because its as good as kaplan?

well, I was saying both resources are good.
biochem in FA is sufficient and good for the USMLE.
Kaplan biochem is better as it is well integrated which makes me remember it better, obviously it takes more time.