Tips for annotating your books?

[1nycdoc8]

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Hey everyone I'm getting ready for my step 1 exam (mid July) and I've been going through both First Aid and Goljan RR and I was wondering if you guys have any tips on how to annotate, and whether or not you guys annotate your FA or RR more. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[kryptik]

I rarely if ever annotate RR, and for FA i only annotate with new concepts and explanations from question banks

 

[vicinihil]

I think annotating FA with Qbanks is the only thing you should do while using RR as a primary info source and not as a supplement.

I also like to annotate my flashcards (MicroCards, Lange Pharm Cards) with info from FA that I find is important and missing or mnemonics that make it easier when I study.

 

[illixir]

Aside from sparingly maybe a couple notes that help you understand whats being said if you don't get it, I wouldn't annotate RR; there is so much on a single page as it is and you dont want to fill up the space of the blue note margin area cause thats stuff's good and things will get cluttered.

FA has the room to annotate on its pages and may be a good idea for some people since it is an outline of things on exam. I haven't really been doing it, I've heard that FA gets all the high-yield stuff pretty well anyways. I have other stuff for the details. That said, I do plan on annotating new stuff or just following along and writing extra in FA when I do DIT a couple weeks before test but only cause I know that that stuff is supposed to be high yield.

 

[ChiDO]

Only thing I've done thus far in my FA is too clarify topics. FOr example in the immunology section there is a list of diseases of hypersensitivity. I added short blurbs next to each explaining what each disease is for faster recall then looking it up. (Ex. Hashimotos -> hypothyroid...Erthryoblastosis fetalis -> Rh- mom/Rh+ baby -> mom gets IgM/G -> attack 2nd baby rbc -> tx: rhogam)

The thing that I try to avoid is ADDING to FA. There is already so much, no point in putting more in thtere. The only thing I will add is from UWorld if I can't find it.

 

[Blondnuttyboy]

FA should for be annotated with info from q-banks. Obviously if there is something you dont understand, go look it up and make a note.

But q-banks will elucidate areas that FA is lacking. Or new relationships, etc that you did not previously see.

I.e. I saw a kaplan question stating that chlamydia may be implicated with the development of initial fatty streaks in atherosclerosis. Too detailed for FA but worth noting.

 

[metalmd06]

I really use annotation as an exercise. Writing the information down and correlating it with the concepts already in FA help to solidify the information in my head. I doubt that when I finally review straight throught that I will read all of my notes. However, I hope that reading the high-yield info presented will help me to recall other information I read and thus further solidify those connections.

 

[Stark]

By the time I took Step 1, my FA was totally marked up. I regret that I got rid of it, because some of the mnemonics would have been useful to share. These are my tips:

1. First of all, the act of writing something (rather than just reading it or hearing it) helps you retain the information. You engage an extra part of the brain that helps you synthesize information, a part of the brain you will need for step 1. So - annotate - it will help you remember.

2. I filled the margins with mnemonics and figures of my own design. Mnemonics are easier to "think you remember" than to "actually remember." So, for the high-yield mnemonics, write them in the margin in your own handwriting. It tests your knowledge and helps retention.

3. Figures of my own design in the margins - I specifically remember drawing a boy with Fragile X Syndrome. It was a cartoon with a large forehead, ears, jaw, and large testicles. Once I ran across my own drawing a couple of times - I never forgot it.

4. Highlighting isn't helpful. Highlighting is passive and won't help you remember. Annotating is active - do it.

5. Don't get stuck. No matter what happens, don't spend too much time on any one page of FA. Get through the whole book several times - it's that important.

Stark

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