Using ONLY First Aid and USMLE world Qbank...

[yankeess]

.....has anyone studied from ONLY First Aid and USMLE world Qbank and passed Step 1?

Initially, I planned on reading from BRS and High Yield books for 4 weeks during the day and USMLE World at night. For the last week before the exam, I was planning on memorizing as much as possible from First Aid.

I am now thinking, though, that if I really focused on the questions/answers/explanations from USMLE world and memorized as much as possible from First Aid, that this would be a wiser method... My only concern is that, with these 2 sources, I may miss out on a lot of testable information that was in the individual review books.

Anyone heard of such experiences with this method?

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[rem6775]

.....has anyone studied from ONLY First Aid and USMLE world Qbank and passed Step 1?

Initially, I planned on reading from BRS and High Yield books for 4 weeks during the day and USMLE World at night. For the last week before the exam, I was planning on memorizing as much as possible from First Aid.

I am now thinking, though, that if I really focused on the questions/answers/explanations from USMLE world and memorized as much as possible from First Aid, that this would be a wiser method... My only concern is that, with these 2 sources, I may miss out on a lot of testable information that was in the individual review books.

Anyone heard of such experiences with this method?

The people I know the have scored 260+ that gave me advice used very limited sources. One used FA + USMLEWorld + Goljan Audio only, and used MMRS as a reference when needed. Another did FA + QBank + Goljan Audio and BRS Path/MMRS as references.

 

[vicinihil]

UW + FA + Goljan (Book and Audio) + BRS Phys should be 90% of your studying.

 

[illixir]

If you just wanted to pass I'm sure you could do it, probably could do pretty well, that has pretty much everything. I'd just make sure to listen to goljan audio too.

 

[lildave2586]

That's all I'm using. If you have a firm foundation in basic science from your course work, a well annotated First Aid and Uworld are the only things you need. People using this method would still get a large range of scores based on retention ability, but if you are able to retain everything you get from those two sources, there is no reason why you can't get a 240+.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

I think the advice everyone else gave here is solid. First aid + UW is excellent and will help you get a good score. Goljan audio, Rapid Review Path can definitely help you if you have the time for them.

 

[MDpride]

UW + FA + Goljan (Book and Audio) + BRS Phys should be 90% of your studying.

is FA and ch2 & 3 from goljan good enough for IMMUNO?

 

[African]

The people I know the have scored 260+ that gave me advice used very limited sources. One used FA + USMLEWorld + Goljan Audio only, and used MMRS as a reference when needed. Another did FA + QBank + Goljan Audio and BRS Path/MMRS as references.

yeah but this sort of one shoe fits all generalizations hardly work. nobody knows what sort of students your friends were/are. That is why the material you use is subjective, and depends on your academic standing in you med school most of the time, coupled with how long you have prepared for the exam.

To the OP, i think you should take time into account, if you have four weeks, you can go through a bit more than FA and the questions, if you have a week, i would concentrate on FA and question banks. A friend of mine did quite well with the sources you mentioned, but he was an above average student throughout his academic life.

 

[yankeess]

Good stuff. My major concern was whether or not First Aid, USMLE world qbank, (and now) Goljan AUDIO will expose me to enough information. For example, if I were to use those 3 sources, would I be limiting myself to only, say, 80% of the testable material for Step 1? Thus, the other 20% of testable material would be obtained from BRS, High Yield, etc... Does that make sense?

 

[VoiceofReason]

in addition to all those things, i would also know the general pathology sections from the Robbins Review of Pathology book (the question book). I did them along with a quick flip through all the corresponding pictures in big robbins and I found that at the end i had a much much better understanding of general path. The only thing FA and Uworld are inadequate for is general path in my my opinion.

its really not that much extra work either.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Based on what I've done so far, FA+UWorld would be a very strong study option for most people. If you're looking to score average or above-average, those sources will get you there with no problem at all. If you want to start topping 240, you'll probably need to add in Goljan, at least. I also agree with the above that UWorld doesn't have a lot of general path in it, and the 15 pages of FA certainly are not enough.

 

[badasshairday]

I also agree with the above that UWorld doesn't have a lot of general path in it, and the 15 pages of FA certainly are not enough.

Goljan's 2nd edition of RR path was skimpy on general path, but the 3rd edition is much more beefed up. I read both for general path, 2nd edition back in the fall when we started path... and the 3rd edition's general path over spring break. There is a HUGE difference. Anyhow, I doubt many people on this forum are using the 2nd edition, so it may be a moot point. Obviously Robbin's first couple of chapters is gold standard. Just wanted to say that RRpath is good for general path too!

 

[Bartelby]

I put around 90% of my study time on FA and USMLE World and scored a 239. I would look up extra information if I wasn't comfortable with something in FA, whether from the internet, a book, or rarely class notes. I also did some review from BRS physiology, Micro made ridiculously simple, and biochem made ridiculously simple.

I did not know everything in FA, and I didn't know everything in UWorld. You could probably push higher if you genuinely did. (My guess is you could get an unreal score with complete mastery of those two resources).

 

[rem6775]

yeah but this sort of one shoe fits all generalizations hardly work. nobody knows what sort of students your friends were/are. That is why the material you use is subjective, and depends on your academic standing in you med school most of the time, coupled with how long you have prepared for the exam.

To the OP, i think you should take time into account, if you have four weeks, you can go through a bit more than FA and the questions, if you have a week, i would concentrate on FA and question banks. A friend of mine did quite well with the sources you mentioned, but he was an above average student throughout his academic life.

Well, honestly, no matter what you do, you can never make up for 2 years of hard work and deep understanding. Yes, that probably works best with someone who has a solid understanding of the material because they worked hard the first two years, but the fact is, that is the best studying for Step 1. But if you don't know physiology/pathophysiology by 5 weeks before the exam, you're screwed, period, if you want a 260. However, the more sources you try to cram in (especially if you are already lacking in areas), the more you're going to forget/never retain and that's probably ineffective, too.

 

[DrVanNostran]

I think for people scared to expand, the best method is FA + World. BUT, you should keep a copy of RR Path and BRS phys on hand for reference. When you read about obstructive vs. restrictive lung diseases in FA, you get the bare bones, and if you can make the connections in your head, move on. If you are struggling, open up BRS Phsy/RR and clarify what you are missing. That way you aren't spending literally hours juggling through a lot of books.

 

[lildave2586]

Well, honestly, no matter what you do, you can never make up for 2 years of hard work and deep understanding. Yes, that probably works best with someone who has a solid understanding of the material because they worked hard the first two years, but the fact is, that is the best studying for Step 1.

It really has a lot to do with how much you worked to learn the material first time around. My goal is 250, and I'm only using FA, Uworld, Goljan audio, and RR3 for reference.

 

[strongboy2005]

It really has a lot to do with how much you worked to learn the material first time around. My goal is 250, and I'm only using FA, Uworld, Goljan audio, and RR3 for reference.

No BRS Physio?

 

[VoiceofReason]

No BRS Physio?

i may be alone in this but i think FA and World have all the physio you need.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I've been trying to decide whether or not to cut BRS phys out, myself, but I think I'll stick with it. I discovered today that I can get through UWorld in tutor mode in 8 days without too much trouble, so I'll still have plenty of time for reading stuff even if I want to do 2 more complete passes through UWorld.

 

[badasshairday]

I have been thinking about adding brs phys into the mix as vicinhil did in his study strategy. Just so much to do, so little time!

 

[MrMister]

we have kaplan qbank paid for us through the school. is USMLE World that much better that it is worth getting as well. also, do you think it's possible to share an account, i.e. can two people be logged on at once? i'm probably just gonna have to buck up and buy it but i want to make sure it's worth it. thanks.

 

[lildave2586]

we have kaplan qbank paid for us through the school. is USMLE World that much better that it is worth getting as well. also, do you think it's possible to share an account, i.e. can two people be logged on at once? i'm probably just gonna have to buck up and buy it but i want to make sure it's worth it. thanks.

Do them both if you can. I did 87% of Qbank before I started my study period (while we were still in class) and I think it has it's merits. I do think it would be unwise to completely not use Uworld. The questions are more high yield, in my opinion. There is a lot of minutia in Qbank.

 

[lildave2586]

No BRS Physio?

I've been thinking about adding this, actually. I think it is the best written of the BRS books, but there is a lot of stuff in there that is probably not needed (I'm not using the Nerst equation on my test, even if I'm asked about it; that will be a punt).

 

[VoiceofReason]

I have been thinking about adding brs phys into the mix as vicinhil did in his study strategy. Just so much to do, so little time!

yeah thats my problem with it i find that after reading pages and pages its just spelling out stuff at length that i feel i already knew.

anything i could think of that would be high yield from brs physio seems to turn up in FA although of course im probably missing a handful of things -- the question is, is it worth it.

 

[rem6775]

i may be alone in this but i think FA and World have all the physio you need.

I tend to agree for myself as well. I have BRS Physio just sitting there because I've always heard you're supposed to read it, and I just never do because it seems pointless when I understand the physio presented everywhere else and in questions.

I do think it's a good book for weakness or if you're not up to par on physio in general.

 

[Working through]

Any advice on how to study physiology if you absolutely don't get it? Is BRS physio review enough, or would that author's full physio book be better?

 

[MilkmanAl]

Stick with BRS phys. It's more than enough information for Step 1 studying.

 

[kryptik]

and make sure to do all the end of chapter questions in the brs and read the explanations

 

[reemeo]

If I were to use UW + FA + Robbins Patho + BRS Physio to prep for the Step 1-writing in Mar '11 - would that be enough? My goal is +240. Also, still confused on whether I should go with UW or Kaplan Qbank?

 

[MilkmanAl]

I'd take Robbins out of the equation. It's too much detail for class, let alone for Step 1. UW's qbank is way better than Kaplan's. I don't recommend getting Kaplan at all, even if you want 2 qbanks. Go with USMLERx instead.