Step I USMLE Books

[nima123]

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Hi,

I am starting med this August, and was thinking about starting to study some USMLE material this summer given the volume of material and the fact that I have lots of time at my disposal right now.

Any suggestions as to what books (First Aid, Kaplan, etc.) I should start with are appreciated.

 

[flumazenil]

couple of things here- all meant in a friendly tone
..i am assuming by saying you are starting med this fall you mean med school year 1..and not year 2..if that is the case..

1) I envy the days of innocence when we used to go to bed around 9, never run out of energy and never sweat in the hot sun-analogy should be drawn to an incomming med student starting to study for boards without starting med school yet..

2) the only thing i personally think you should study is human interaction-enjoy your friendships, family, or anyone/thing close to you. Cuz when you do really start studying for boards, and assuming you arent the many 260+ scorers on here, then you will have to put all those things dear to you aside.

3) personally i would get wasted, and if you dont drink, hang out with friends and try to spot a shooting star-its kinda trippy

 

[MikeyK]

Umm, youre kidding about studying 2 years early, right? If you want to get a good head start do well in your first 2 years, you can't just jump into the damn thing it won't make any sense anyway.

 

[smq123]

Hi,

I am starting med this August, and was thinking about starting to study some USMLE material this summer given the volume of material and the fact that I have lots of time at my disposal right now.

Any suggestions as to what books (First Aid, Kaplan, etc.) I should start with are appreciated.

They're review books. Theoretically you should have already studied this material before reviewing them. Just relax and enjoy your summer. 🙂 (Easier said than done, I know, especially for a soon-to-be MS1.)

 

[Dr.Phenomena]

When I was in your position I was anxious to start like you. I would suggest you spend as much time relaxing and getting ready for the upcoming unslought. But if you must do some achademic stuff, find out what books you need at your school, and acquire them early. Then look at the pictures ie, in say a biochem review book (ie. Lippincotts) and read the captions, thats it. When you get to it in class at least you'll have been introduced to the several pathways that you'll need to memorize. If you really have a lot of time, you might read through Physiology BRS. Only do this though if you have time to relax though for the rest of your summer.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Many people on this forum have broken 260, and I don't think any of them did any boards prep before MS2 year.

I have observed that the consensus among those that score 250+ is that learning everything well the first time is the most important thing.

Using review books before you learn things with the proper depth is at best useless and could be counterproductive.

 

[nima123]

Many people on this forum have broken 260, and I don't think any of them did any boards prep before MS2 year.

I have observed that the consensus among those that score 250+ is that learning everything well the first time is the most important thing.

Using review books before you learn things with the proper depth is at best useless and could be counterproductive.

I was a physiology major and took some anatomy (Netter's 😀), histology and biochem courses in my undergrad. I have seen the stuff people in Med1 study, I am somewhat familiar with most of them, some units are almost exact copies of the undergrad courses I took with the same profs (e.g. neuro). Still think it's not wise to get started?

 

[The Buff]

Still think it's not wise to get started?

For the love of god do not start now. Everyone here will tell you the same thing. You do not need to start now to get a good score, all it will do is burn you out and make for a miserable first year when you have to do all of this stuff again. Just relax and learn it when you're actually in school. Sounds like you already have a good base of knowledge, so you'll be ahead of most of your class when August comes around anyway.

 

[viostorm]

Hi,

I am starting med this August, and was thinking about starting to study some USMLE material this summer given the volume of material and the fact that I have lots of time at my disposal right now.

Any suggestions as to what books (First Aid, Kaplan, etc.) I should start with are appreciated.

#1 gunner.... 😎

 

[lord_jeebus]

Still think it's not wise to get started?

Doubly so.

 

[Medikit]

If you really want to start reading something Clinical Microbiology made ridiculously simple is a good place to start. At least that way it's informative yet light reading.

 

[kate0834tkjn]

If you really want to read something now that might help you be a better doctor/prepare you for what's to come, why don't you read any one of the thousands of books written on healthcare economics/insurance (big issue these days), or by physicians about issues in medicine, or about coping with terminal illness....these things aren't really discussed all that much in the classroom and once you start you'll have less time to read. I wish I had done more of that before starting, just b/c there's so much less time now. And maybe some of these books will put things into a little more perspective as you start. Anyway, do what you want, but that's my advice. And for the record, I took the absolute bare minimum of science courses to apply to med school, didn't study anything before, and I'm at the top of my class.