Supplementing First Aid

[C6789]

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I keep reading on here that FA is enough to pass, but not enough to do extremely well on the exam. Is this to say that FA doesn't cover all of the material needed, or that it just does not go into enough depth/make enough connections? So, like, when you're supplementing, are you merely adding more detail to things already found in FA, or are you adding diseases/drugs/etc found in other review books that are missing from FA? If the latter is the case, how to do you go about figuring out what missing material is actually important?

I've tried searching, so I know what books to use to annotate where, but haven't really seen any info about what material from each book is most useful. Any advice?

Thanks!

 

[ACSurgeon]

I keep reading on here that FA is enough to pass, but not enough to do extremely well on the exam. Is this to say that FA doesn't cover all of the material needed, or that it just does not go into enough depth/make enough connections? So, like, when you're supplementing, are you merely adding more detail to things already found in FA, or are you adding diseases/drugs/etc found in other review books that are missing from FA? If the latter is the case, how to do you go about figuring out what missing material is actually important?

I've tried searching, so I know what books to use to annotate where, but haven't really seen any info about what material from each book is most useful. Any advice?

Thanks!

It's hard to answer this question, as I felt that the bulk of my knowledge was from second year, not from the 4 week of step1 review. That being said, first aid doesn't explain anything, so unless you have a photographic memory, it will be hard to get enough to stick from first aid alone. Also, BRS path, for example, goes into more detail (which I doubt you'll remember anyways). So, you might find it easier to read 40 pages of BRS or another review book with more meat than to read (and comprehend) 10 pages of FA. That was my impression, anyways.

 

[IM Substance P]

I agree with the previous poster. There's no way to know *everything* that could possibly come up on Step 1.

First Aid covers almost all of the diseases, drugs, organisms, etc. that you'll need to know to do fairly well on Step 1. Frankly, there is no bible to the USMLE. You need to spend two solid years of medical school soaking up as much as you can and finding a way to store it in your long-term memory. Then, you spend three weeks reviewing that information and picking up some new stuff from your question bank or First Aid.

Personally I think the most successful takers of Step 1 are those with a solid background, especially people that studied the biological sciences extensively in their undergraduate years. They have the longest prep process of anyone.