USMLE prep

[Tristero]

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Hi,

Lots of people on this board and many friends of mine have told me that a great way to prepare for STEP 1 is to buy First Aid and then write in the margins with notes during class, so when you have to study for Step 1, all the info is in on eplace. The problem I've been having thus far is that with the exception of biochem, none of the information inmy classes has really correlated with the step one book! Should I be worried?

As an MS1, I have taken thus far biochem, genetics, intro to embryo, pharm, basic physiology (action potentials etc), intro to histology, and cell bio.

My school is on a module curriculum setup, so we move on to various organ systems and study the anatomy, pharm, physio for each particular system (eg. cardio or renal module)...Will step one correlate more when i hit those modules (such as cardio physiology, renal physio etc.)

 

[Tristero]

Anyone?

 

[box29]

I'd like to know too...

 

[manwhoisthursdy]

Just buy Step-Up or whatever it's called, and work with that. . . it's systems based. I prefer first-aid (and my school doesn't do a systems curriculum), but I plan to use both just to have two points of view.

I'm an M-I who is trying to get a head start too, but realize that most step I stuff comes from path/micro/immuno anyway. At my school that's all second-year.

 

[DrBuzzLightYear]

first year stuff really isnt on step 1 that much. my studying focused entirely on second year material like path, pathophys, micro, and pharm (i scored 240+). the only way that i studied stuff like anatomy was that i read the first aid chapters a few times, and whenever i'd have a practice test question (from Q Bank for example), that referred to material that wasnt in first aid, then i'd write it in the margins so i'd see it the next time i read thru first aid. most lecturers at academic hospitals dont teach stuff that is even remotely valuable for the boards, its usually too detailed or esoteric. you'll waste a lot of time if you write down all the info in lectures that isnt in first aid, chances are it'll be pretty "low yield" in terms of board review. the best source for augmenting first aid content is step 1 practice questions from reputable sources (NMS, Kaplan, etc). best of luck

 

[NateatUC]

Can I add a vote for the High Yield books for some of the first year topics? I used Embryo, Gross, and Biochem, and they were in fact High Yield. Yeah, this stuff isn't the bulk of the exam but its still there and still worth studying. (I got >235.) I'll also recommend Q-bank, Q-bank, Q-bank. Its one failing is that for some of the first year stuff, it has I think too few questions. But Q-bank is for much closer to the test, so don't worry too much about it (Q-bank, that is) first year.

I do like DrBuzz's idea of writing info from Q-bank in the margins of First Aid. I wrote a bunch of that stuff in a separate notebook and ended up not looking at it nearly as much as I should've, but First Aid really is the bible for USMLE.

 

[Tristero]

Muchas gracias.