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- Jun 17, 2004
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Hi people,
Just thought I'd drop a quick line about my experience with step I.
I took it a while ago and havent had a chance to do this yet, but I
thought I'd chip in my two cents.
Books: Use first aid a lot, but do the following: Add in and
supplement stuff from qbank. I'm a firm believer in QBANK, and I
think that Qbank was the closest and most accurate representation of
step 1, in terms of question style, format, and difficulty level.
For Pharm: First aid is adequate, but wont cover questoins that go
over and above. Use a supplemental resource. I'd say either the
Kaplan pharm book (what i used) or use the baby katzung
Path: Use goljan. However, reading that Goljan book is next to
impossible in terms of trying to retain everything. My advice?
listen to his lectures a couple of times over, and take notes
directly from lecture, and use those. In addition, read up in his
book on sections that your weak on. The Kaplan lecture notes are also good.
Physio: graphs, graphs, graphs, graphs. I hope you get the idea.
Lots of graphs, and the kaplan physio book is excellent, and BRS
physio is also good, although I lost the damn thing and still havent
found it. Dont memorize the physio, understand it and be flexible
with ur knowledge. Conceptually related things such as blood pressure, hemmorhage, renin axis, and etc. are common on many exams.
Micro/Immuno: Kaplan is good (the charts and clinical disease notes
at the back are excellent!) know the distinguishing features of each
disease. Every dz has a clue, make sure u know it! First aid is
good, and if u memorize first aid micro, that should be good. FOr
immuno, know your immune deficiencies, acquired and genetic. Other
books that are good include micro made ridic. simple, and of course
the kaplan book. Micro is a gimme on step I, just dont be thrown off
by distractors! if its gram + in chains, its gonna be strep, even if
they make it look like a staph infection!
Behavioural/Epi/Psych: These were the hardest questions on my exam,
at least thats what I thought. I never knew ethics was so hard! They
ask some tough questions, but I'm not too eager to get my mark taken
from me, so i cant give any specifics. All i can say is that kaplan
qbank and qbook do an excellent job of ethics and behavioural prep.
Dont go TOO in depth on epi, just know ur basic calculations, and u
should be fine. I wouldnt advise wasting hours and hours no epi when
you could put that time into path/pathophys.
Anatomgy/Embryo: know the high yield stuff. Nerve lesions,
dermatomes, upper and lower limb (know EVERYTHING about your upper
limb stuff - lesions, blood supply, dermatomes, brachial plexus -
its all there) embryo: the classic stuff is impt, exactly what first
aid stresses. Pharyngeal pouches/arches, BRAIN/CNS development is a
hot topic at the moment.
Cell Bio/Histo: Molecular aparrently is hitting everybody really
hard. I had a fair share of molelar bio questions on mine, bu tthey
werent that bad. I would recommend the kaplan books, first aid isnt
adequate for this. Know your DNA/RNA transcription tranlsation, the
cell cycle (cold!) esp. as related to reproductive systems. Know
Concepts of cancer cell bio (two hit hypothesis, tumor supressors)
etc. those are in first aid.
biochem: know the main pathways. dont get bogged down in the
details. I thought biochem was my weakest subject, but it was one of
my best areas on step I. make sure u know nutritional
states/defincies (vitamins/minerals/etc.) and the MAIN pathways and
what FEEDS into them. Know ur inborn errors of metabolism and their
classic clues. eg. tay sachs, gauchers, must know these. As for
books: first aid is ok, and i used the kaplan biochem book to
supplement. THe genetics/cel bio portion in kaplan is somewhat
overwhelming and complicated, but good to use.
Finally: I took the pass program review course, in champaign,
illinois. Dr. Francis is awesome, and some of his tutors are great.
I would highly recommend this course, it does a great job of
prepping you.
For this exam: if your really solid in your second year courses
(path/pharm/micro/immuno/neuro) you should be ok. CNS is becoming a
hot topic, including things like neuropharmacology, etc. etc. Again,
pass program lecturer Dr. Ofori did a great job with this. Neuro
was about my worst subject coming out of basic sciences, but I ended
up smoking it due to my prep at pass program. Also: make sure u know
ur basic MRI and CT scan stuff! know ur bleeds! sub/epi, etc. Also:
know how to id stuff on mri such as caudate, glob. pallidus,
putamen, int. capsule. that int. capsule and surrounding area is
very high yield. For neuro class: you simply must use high yield
neuroanatomy. Phenomenal book,and supplement it with qbank.
How to know when your ready: when i came out of basic science, i
started qbank. and on comprehensive blocks of 50q's, i was getting
beat up pretty nicely. I was scoring 50's, because i was still
memorizing and not integrating. After taking pass program, my
comprehensive blocks jumped up to high 70's, 80's, and the
ocassional 90. Its said that if ur doing 60% and above consistently
on qbank (comprehensive blocks of course) then you SHOULD be ok. but
obviously, you cant hold me to that. Before i took step 1, i
completed a few blocks of teh kaplan diagnositc, and i average about
75% on those right before my exam. Also: on the USMLE.org website,
those 150 q's, i used those shortly before my exam. i got 44/50,
37/50, and 47/50 on those 3 blocks right before my exam. Be careful
with those questions, the exam is not that easy.
In summary: dont forget to start using first aid EARLY, and
supplement it with stuff from qbank. I have a first aid that has so
much added material from QBANk its essentially double the size now.
Over and above first aid, the kaplan set is awesome. Do NOT use big
textbooks unless you didnt learn a subject properly in the first
place, because good luck retaining info when you read from that kind
of source. Concise, high yield review books are the way to go.
Things such as nutrition and anything related to the female are
important to know (menstrual cycle, aging process, fertility,
normal/abnormal phys) etc. Neuro is impt, and if u know ur tracts,
the stuff in high yield neuro,a nd some important imaging stuff
(ct/mri/brainstem lesions, GROSS BRAINSTEM!!!) then you should do
just fine on that. Pharm is fine from first aid, and add a little
more and you should be fine. Dont learn obscure drugs, know the main
ones, and know mechianisms and side effects. Also: P450 interactions
are gold if you know them.
P450 dept drugs: WEPT D (warfarin estrogen theophyline and digoxin)
Drugs that dec p450: ID SMACK Q (INH, Dapsone, Spironolac,
macrolides, amiodarone, cimetidine, ketoconazole, and quinolones)
drugs that INC p450: Gas car, rev, and brake quickly to stop
(Griseofulving, Carbamezapine, Rifampin, Barbiturates, Alcohol,
Quinidine? (i think) this last menmonic is kinda messed. feel free
to improve it.
Anyhow, hope that helped. Please remember none of this are specifics
from my exam, just topics i felt that were stressed in review items
and books, and obviously they turn up on exams.
Good luck
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me. Im all too familiar with the anxiety felt preparing for this exam, so I'm happy to help
Just thought I'd drop a quick line about my experience with step I.
I took it a while ago and havent had a chance to do this yet, but I
thought I'd chip in my two cents.
Books: Use first aid a lot, but do the following: Add in and
supplement stuff from qbank. I'm a firm believer in QBANK, and I
think that Qbank was the closest and most accurate representation of
step 1, in terms of question style, format, and difficulty level.
For Pharm: First aid is adequate, but wont cover questoins that go
over and above. Use a supplemental resource. I'd say either the
Kaplan pharm book (what i used) or use the baby katzung
Path: Use goljan. However, reading that Goljan book is next to
impossible in terms of trying to retain everything. My advice?
listen to his lectures a couple of times over, and take notes
directly from lecture, and use those. In addition, read up in his
book on sections that your weak on. The Kaplan lecture notes are also good.
Physio: graphs, graphs, graphs, graphs. I hope you get the idea.
Lots of graphs, and the kaplan physio book is excellent, and BRS
physio is also good, although I lost the damn thing and still havent
found it. Dont memorize the physio, understand it and be flexible
with ur knowledge. Conceptually related things such as blood pressure, hemmorhage, renin axis, and etc. are common on many exams.
Micro/Immuno: Kaplan is good (the charts and clinical disease notes
at the back are excellent!) know the distinguishing features of each
disease. Every dz has a clue, make sure u know it! First aid is
good, and if u memorize first aid micro, that should be good. FOr
immuno, know your immune deficiencies, acquired and genetic. Other
books that are good include micro made ridic. simple, and of course
the kaplan book. Micro is a gimme on step I, just dont be thrown off
by distractors! if its gram + in chains, its gonna be strep, even if
they make it look like a staph infection!
Behavioural/Epi/Psych: These were the hardest questions on my exam,
at least thats what I thought. I never knew ethics was so hard! They
ask some tough questions, but I'm not too eager to get my mark taken
from me, so i cant give any specifics. All i can say is that kaplan
qbank and qbook do an excellent job of ethics and behavioural prep.
Dont go TOO in depth on epi, just know ur basic calculations, and u
should be fine. I wouldnt advise wasting hours and hours no epi when
you could put that time into path/pathophys.
Anatomgy/Embryo: know the high yield stuff. Nerve lesions,
dermatomes, upper and lower limb (know EVERYTHING about your upper
limb stuff - lesions, blood supply, dermatomes, brachial plexus -
its all there) embryo: the classic stuff is impt, exactly what first
aid stresses. Pharyngeal pouches/arches, BRAIN/CNS development is a
hot topic at the moment.
Cell Bio/Histo: Molecular aparrently is hitting everybody really
hard. I had a fair share of molelar bio questions on mine, bu tthey
werent that bad. I would recommend the kaplan books, first aid isnt
adequate for this. Know your DNA/RNA transcription tranlsation, the
cell cycle (cold!) esp. as related to reproductive systems. Know
Concepts of cancer cell bio (two hit hypothesis, tumor supressors)
etc. those are in first aid.
biochem: know the main pathways. dont get bogged down in the
details. I thought biochem was my weakest subject, but it was one of
my best areas on step I. make sure u know nutritional
states/defincies (vitamins/minerals/etc.) and the MAIN pathways and
what FEEDS into them. Know ur inborn errors of metabolism and their
classic clues. eg. tay sachs, gauchers, must know these. As for
books: first aid is ok, and i used the kaplan biochem book to
supplement. THe genetics/cel bio portion in kaplan is somewhat
overwhelming and complicated, but good to use.
Finally: I took the pass program review course, in champaign,
illinois. Dr. Francis is awesome, and some of his tutors are great.
I would highly recommend this course, it does a great job of
prepping you.
For this exam: if your really solid in your second year courses
(path/pharm/micro/immuno/neuro) you should be ok. CNS is becoming a
hot topic, including things like neuropharmacology, etc. etc. Again,
pass program lecturer Dr. Ofori did a great job with this. Neuro
was about my worst subject coming out of basic sciences, but I ended
up smoking it due to my prep at pass program. Also: make sure u know
ur basic MRI and CT scan stuff! know ur bleeds! sub/epi, etc. Also:
know how to id stuff on mri such as caudate, glob. pallidus,
putamen, int. capsule. that int. capsule and surrounding area is
very high yield. For neuro class: you simply must use high yield
neuroanatomy. Phenomenal book,and supplement it with qbank.
How to know when your ready: when i came out of basic science, i
started qbank. and on comprehensive blocks of 50q's, i was getting
beat up pretty nicely. I was scoring 50's, because i was still
memorizing and not integrating. After taking pass program, my
comprehensive blocks jumped up to high 70's, 80's, and the
ocassional 90. Its said that if ur doing 60% and above consistently
on qbank (comprehensive blocks of course) then you SHOULD be ok. but
obviously, you cant hold me to that. Before i took step 1, i
completed a few blocks of teh kaplan diagnositc, and i average about
75% on those right before my exam. Also: on the USMLE.org website,
those 150 q's, i used those shortly before my exam. i got 44/50,
37/50, and 47/50 on those 3 blocks right before my exam. Be careful
with those questions, the exam is not that easy.
In summary: dont forget to start using first aid EARLY, and
supplement it with stuff from qbank. I have a first aid that has so
much added material from QBANk its essentially double the size now.
Over and above first aid, the kaplan set is awesome. Do NOT use big
textbooks unless you didnt learn a subject properly in the first
place, because good luck retaining info when you read from that kind
of source. Concise, high yield review books are the way to go.
Things such as nutrition and anything related to the female are
important to know (menstrual cycle, aging process, fertility,
normal/abnormal phys) etc. Neuro is impt, and if u know ur tracts,
the stuff in high yield neuro,a nd some important imaging stuff
(ct/mri/brainstem lesions, GROSS BRAINSTEM!!!) then you should do
just fine on that. Pharm is fine from first aid, and add a little
more and you should be fine. Dont learn obscure drugs, know the main
ones, and know mechianisms and side effects. Also: P450 interactions
are gold if you know them.
P450 dept drugs: WEPT D (warfarin estrogen theophyline and digoxin)
Drugs that dec p450: ID SMACK Q (INH, Dapsone, Spironolac,
macrolides, amiodarone, cimetidine, ketoconazole, and quinolones)
drugs that INC p450: Gas car, rev, and brake quickly to stop
(Griseofulving, Carbamezapine, Rifampin, Barbiturates, Alcohol,
Quinidine? (i think) this last menmonic is kinda messed. feel free
to improve it.
Anyhow, hope that helped. Please remember none of this are specifics
from my exam, just topics i felt that were stressed in review items
and books, and obviously they turn up on exams.
Good luck
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask me. Im all too familiar with the anxiety felt preparing for this exam, so I'm happy to help
