Step 1 PHARM Advice

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genieinabottle

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I just started to study pharm.. I am using First Aid and Katzung's Board Review Book...but yikes, there are a lot of drugs in there and I am not sure if First Aid has enough...can someone tell me where to find the happy medium? It seems a little scary to say that all the drugs I need are in FA. So which extra ones do I go for? I might have to whip out class notes (please no!). Thanks in advance!

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PharmCards are really popular. I started using them in the beginning of our pharm course, but since they are not comprehensive, they weren't great for class, because I had to keep making my own. They should be a good usmle review, though, because the cards highlight the most important drugs. I haven't started pharm yet, but I'll either use the cards or a "Lange smart charts pharmacology," a chart book that I really like and used for my pharm final.
 
first aid isn't bad for the drugs. remember that you've gone over all the drugs during the past year, and you should remember a lot of it anyway. Katzung is a very good source but something of a slow read.
 
I am in a problem-based learning curriculum that is semi-systems-based. My point is that we don't have a pharm course per se. We learn drugs as they are relevant to systems/topics. Any recommendations for a book to LEARN pharm rather than just REVIEW. I am afraid that review books/flashcards will lack the detail I need to know when learning it rather than just reviewing it. I hope that made sense. I bought Clinical Pharm Made Ridiculously Simple because I liked the micro book from that series but, as many of you might know, that series is known to be quite cursory. It might be a good start but I definitely want something more comprehensive to learn the material well for the USMLE. Any suggestions?
 
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Originally posted by genieinabottle
I just started to study pharm.. I am using First Aid and Katzung's Board Review Book...but yikes, there are a lot of drugs in there and I am not sure if First Aid has enough...can someone tell me where to find the happy medium? It seems a little scary to say that all the drugs I need are in FA. So which extra ones do I go for? I might have to whip out class notes (please no!). Thanks in advance!


Review your pharmacology concepts, and know the drugs in First Aid. I found that Step 1 did not require more than basic knowledge of drugs, and I had no trouble remembering them from my pharm course. Step 1 is much more about concepts than rote memorization these days. Don't kill yourself memorizing pharm and micro for Step 1, it's low yield.
 
THanks for the replies so far. I think I will just use First Aid..for the most part. But I am readin Katzung too..just to refresh. I am doing Q bank and there are a lot of questions about the "best drug for..." seems like you will have to memorize drugs for that. Are there mechanism questions or are the drugs usually clinically related?
 
Originally posted by trkd
It might be a good start but I definitely want something more comprehensive to learn the material well for the USMLE. Any suggestions?

Lippincott Pharmacology is very popular, too. It isn't as comprehensive as Katzung, but from what I understand, it is very easy to use (I don't have it, but many people in my class opted to use that over Katzung.)
 
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