Step I USMLE Reference while taking first and second year courses

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Mandiblespeaks

Mandiblespeaks

Full Member
10+ Year Member
I want a good reference for the USMLE while studying through the MS1 and MS2 years. The abundance of books/programs spoken of is daunting and I need to start somewhere.

Thank you Kindly.
 
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FYI: I am not looking to prestudy. I am not looking to prep. I am looking for a reference to use while I am learning the material that also presents that material in a format similar and useful to the USMLE. THANKS👍
 
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By far, the best book that I have found for both class and boards is Goljan's RR Pathology. I am doing better than my classmates on the systems courses mainly because I know Goljan.
 
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You should order Goljan RR Path. It's more than just a Path book...he covers most of the basic sciences relevant to disease throughout the book, so you'll get a good overview of basic immunology, micro, physiology, and biochem as well. What I love about the book is that he goes through the clinical and laboratory findings as well for the diseases as well, which helps a lot in your clinical courses.
 
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Waysensei said:
You should order Goljan RR Path. It's more than just a Path book...he covers most of the basic sciences relevant to disease throughout the book, so you'll get a good overview of basic immunology, micro, physiology, and biochem as well. What I love about the book is that he goes through the clinical and laboratory findings as well for the diseases as well, which helps a lot in your clinical courses.
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Is this a main focus for the USMLE step 1? Better to use a "pathology," refrence for all the courses then say an anatomy reference for Anatomy and a Bio for ..etc.

Sorry last question. THANKS A MILLION!
 
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RR Path is for boards prep. I thought what you wanted was a book you could read during year 1 and 2 classes that would prepare you for boards. If you want a complete reference, you would want something else.
 
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I would check out the new high yield comprehensive, it's an easy to read format and most of the individual books are highly respected
 
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I don't see any reason to read a board level book during MSI. It will make no sense and you will be wasting a lot of time that you could be using to master the early material so it is easy a second time around.

Obviously throughout MSII use Goljan.
 
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McGillGrad said:
I just used the BRS for each specific class and followed along to make sure I was touching on the right topics.
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I do want a reference for the Boards.

My question is... Do I use a pathology book as I go along in each coarse. Or is there a book that is pertinent to each individual course (eq Biochem Anatomy) I take that will bring that information into a board perspective?

I am looking for a reference that will prepare me for the boards and allow me to view the material I am learning through that "lens."

If I am being unclear its because I have no idea what I am talking about but know what I hope to achieve. I want to study the info in my courses in "boards" centric perspective as well as use that reference to reinfornce what I am learning. How and what can I use to that? Should I use just a pathology book and/or use board books for specific courses?

THANK YOU soo much.
 
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You will want a separate book for each course. There is a First Aid for the Basic Sciences that has everything, but I think that it is a piece of s***. Here are my recommendations:

Biochem: RR Biochem or Lippincott's Biochem
Micro: Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple
Embryology: High-Yield Embryo
Neuro: High-Yield Neuro
Pathology and all systems: RR Pathology
Anatomy: Netter's Atlas, USMLE Road Map: Gross Anatomy
Immunology: Crash Course Immunology
Physiology: BRS Physiology, or maybe Costanzo's Physiology
Pharm: Lippincott's Pharmacology

You will be thankful for having read these when it comes down to boards time. I found that these were much more helpful than the required texts for my school. I actually ended up selling most of the required books I bought before starting med school, and used the money to help finance these purchases.

Mandiblespeaks said:
I do want a reference for the Boards.

My question is... Do I use a pathology book as I go along in each coarse. Or is there a book that is pertinent to each individual course (eq Biochem Anatomy) I take that will bring that information into a board perspective?

I am looking for a reference that will prepare me for the boards and allow me to view the material I am learning through that "lens."

If I am being unclear its because I have no idea what I am talking about but know what I hope to achieve. I want to study the info in my courses in "boards" centric perspective as well as use that reference to reinfornce what I am learning. How and what can I use to that? Should I use just a pathology book and/or use board books for specific courses?

THANK YOU soo much.
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Once again, use BRS along with your courses.



Mandiblespeaks said:
I do want a reference for the Boards.

My question is... Do I use a pathology book as I go along in each coarse. Or is there a book that is pertinent to each individual course (eq Biochem Anatomy) I take that will bring that information into a board perspective?

I am looking for a reference that will prepare me for the boards and allow me to view the material I am learning through that "lens."

If I am being unclear its because I have no idea what I am talking about but know what I hope to achieve. I want to study the info in my courses in "boards" centric perspective as well as use that reference to reinfornce what I am learning. How and what can I use to that? Should I use just a pathology book and/or use board books for specific courses?

THANK YOU soo much.
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😀 Sweet. 👍👍 Exactly what I was looking for. I will use a referrence for each subject as a means to reinforce what I am learning in a Boards particular perspective. I am psyched, thank you for your advice.

Not sure what these books are. BRS? But I will look them up and order them. I will be ordering them used to save a little green. You think it matters much if it's not the most recent edition?

In any case. Thank you for taking the time to post. :laugh:

Waysensei said:
You will want a separate book for each course. There is a First Aid for the Basic Sciences that has everything, but I think that it is a piece of s***. Here are my recommendations:

Biochem: RR Biochem or Lippincott's Biochem
Micro: Clinical Micro Made Ridiculously Simple
Embryology: High-Yield Embryo
Neuro: High-Yield Neuro
Pathology and all systems: RR Pathology
Anatomy: Netter's Atlas, USMLE Road Map: Gross Anatomy
Immunology: Crash Course Immunology
Physiology: BRS Physiology, or maybe Costanzo's Physiology
Pharm: Lippincott's Pharmacology

You will be thankful for having read these when it comes down to boards time. I found that these were much more helpful than the required texts for my school. I actually ended up selling most of the required books I bought before starting med school, and used the money to help finance these purchases.
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I think First Aid is most important. That has most everything that will be on the exam; follow along using that with your courses. Review books for individual courses are great especially if starting so early.
What others have recommended is good. I recommend Pharm Recall for pharm, probably the smallest review you'll find that gets it all.
 
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illixir said:
I think First Aid is most important. That has most everything that will be on the exam; follow along using that with your courses. Review books for individual courses are great especially if starting so early.
What others have recommended is good. I recommend Pharm Recall for pharm, probably the smallest review you'll find that gets it all.
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First Aid as an overall review come USMLE time and a different assortment of books such as the list Way made above?👍

Aside🙁I am thinking of pre-ordering the new Rohens anatomy and Netters Atlas to use together. Crazy that 2010 is the year of new editions. oy...)
 
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A note of caution. From my experience a lot of times what the boards thinks is important isn't necessarily what the professors think is important and vice versa so be careful using a boards approach to your studying. It does you little good to have all the board-relevant knowledge if you're failing the class. Just make sure you're supplementing the class notes, not replacing.
 
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vicinihil said:
I don't think you'll be scoring 100's if you study the board way only but I think in the long run, taking an 85 in a class when you're hitting a 265 on the boards is more than worth it
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I agree with you on this one. I am curious how hard it would be to get A's in classes and still do it the board prep way. I think that is one of the reasons I like the P/F system more. Allows you to focus on board prep a little more.

When you bought the 2008 and 2010 you mean you bought the 2008 when you started school and the 2010 during you actual pre-test prep period. I like that idea. Thats what I'll do. But I am definately using the RR pathology and the course specific references as I go along.

How did you use the 2008 First Aid as you went along? I am trying to figure out a study plan of sorts. Devote a day a week to course specific board reviews (as also pertinent to exams). Something like that?
_________________________________

Q: If you did a board review approach through MS1 and MS2 HOW did you do it. Asking people whove done this early. What kind of study plan did you have. I greatly appreciate your input. Thoughts. What worked etc. Cant thank you enough. 😀:xf:

-Mandible
 
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