Supplements

[medhope4]

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Are there any specific books that med students buy that help them with their basic sciences, as well as help them prepare for the step 1 exam?

I was in law school and there were certain supplemental books that majority agreed would help them with each specific class. Was wondering if it was the same way for med school?

 

[evilbooyaa]

Are you looking for all basic sciences? Or specific basic sciences?

There are tons of supplemental books out there. There are too many to use all of them efficiently and retain all of the information from them.

In terms of preparing for Step 1, I'll tell you what I hope you should already know.

Get First Aid (either the most recent year or 1 year back)
Get a QBank, preferably USMLE World (Kaplan is pretty good as well)

Everything else is supplementary. I didn't do great on Step 1 (probably b/c I didn't finish all of the UWorld QBank and memorize everything in FA), but I think if I had done those exact 2 things above I could've pulled off a 240+.

 

[Noyoudinit]

I don't think he wants advice from someone who got 220-230

 

[KnuxNole]

Someone seems snarky tonight.

BUT, to be on topic, in addition to the above....there are some good subject specific books. I think there was another topic which had a good list, but personally(and from other classmates), these are good

BRS Anatomy
Lippincotts Biochem
Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple(note: this book is easy to read despite the density)
Goljan Path and Robbins Path
BRS Physiology or Costanza Physiology(the purple textbook)

I don't know what Pathoma is, but underclassmen praise it, and I'm sure people with experience here can expand on it.

 

[medhope4]

Thanks! I have heard about QBANKs and First Aid. Should I purchase these prior to starting med school and use them while taking each class, or just use them when studying for Step1.

Since I'm ultimately trying to prepare for the step, Im curious how to approach this. So say I take anatomy first semester, and I read the BRS Anatomy to help me in the class, sure I may get an A. But 2 years later when taking the step, I'm going to have to relearn. Do I continually keep reviewing it? Sounds difficult considering the volume of studying each semester.

 

[DrSnips]

Thanks! I have heard about QBANKs and First Aid. Should I purchase these prior to starting med school and use them while taking each class, or just use them when studying for Step1.

Since I'm ultimately trying to prepare for the step, Im curious how to approach this. So say I take anatomy first semester, and I read the BRS Anatomy to help me in the class, sure I may get an A. But 2 years later when taking the step, I'm going to have to relearn. Do I continually keep reviewing it? Sounds difficult considering the volume of studying each semester.

Anatomy is not super important for step 1, you'll remember enough to get by if you did well during first year. Here's what I recommend:

-Read First Aid twice (know everything in there)
-Do the entire Uworld Qbank, no exceptions! (these questions are very close to the real deal)
-Do as much of the Kaplan Qbank as possible (some questions are overly detailed, but they are still good practice)
-If you have specific weak areas identified by practice tests and/or practice questions, you should either read lecture notes or watch lectures about those specific subjects. Do not try to do hundreds of hours of lectures that will cover everything. There is not enough time for that and you will burn yourself out relearning what you already know. The Qbanks are enough of a refresher on material you know moderately well.

That's really all it takes in the 6 weeks before Step 1. If you wanted to read first aid during the year it wouldn't hurt, but it's not necessary. You have enough on your plate as it is.

 

[calvnandhobbs68]

Thanks! I have heard about QBANKs and First Aid. Should I purchase these prior to starting med school and use them while taking each class, or just use them when studying for Step1.

Since I'm ultimately trying to prepare for the step, Im curious how to approach this. So say I take anatomy first semester, and I read the BRS Anatomy to help me in the class, sure I may get an A. But 2 years later when taking the step, I'm going to have to relearn. Do I continually keep reviewing it? Sounds difficult considering the volume of studying each semester.

Wha....

Get into medical school first and don't worry about Step 1 until second year. See ya.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Thanks! I have heard about QBANKs and First Aid. Should I purchase these prior to starting med school and use them while taking each class, or just use them when studying for Step1.

Since I'm ultimately trying to prepare for the step, Im curious how to approach this. So say I take anatomy first semester, and I read the BRS Anatomy to help me in the class, sure I may get an A. But 2 years later when taking the step, I'm going to have to relearn. Do I continually keep reviewing it? Sounds difficult considering the volume of studying each semester.

WTF Figured you were at least a first year. Don't get any of this crap until Year 1 at the VERY least, if not Act 2.

 

[MedicalBeast]

gunner alert

 

[medhope4]

lol what about just simple supplements to help me out with classes?

 

[Wordead]

First year really just concentrate on physiology, micro, and maybe biochem in broad strokes...not much else is super relevant. Know your physiology cold though...a lot of path and pathophys you don't really have to memorize because it makes sense if you understand the underlying mechanism.

And if you're a pre-med....one step at a time dude.