Waste of time to read Costanzo phys textbook at this point?

[blastokine]

Hi all,

I'm in my M2 year and have my step in about 3 months. I read some but not all of the Costanzo book during my M1 phys class last year (mainly cardio, renal, and I think pulm chapters) and found it really helpful. I don't feel terrible about phys but definitely need to strengthen it. I've been using Anking since towards the end of M1 and have unlocked a lot of the phys cards but not all.

My question is, now that I'm gearing towards step would it be a waste of time to read the costanzo textbook to solidify my knowledge on phys? I've tried watching BnB videos and I find them as a chore. I know that a lot of people swear by BnB but I've never been able to get into it and think Dr. Ryan can be confusing sometimes.

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[deleted1079620]

I’m not a second year but I’m a big fan of the Costanzo text. I think each chapter is roughly 50-70 pages max, half of which are images and charts, so it’s not a heavy read and you could realistically get through a chapter in 1 days depending on your reading speed.

Why not focus your reading on your weak areas, as revealed through practice problems?

 

[blastokine]

I’m not a second year but I’m a big fan of the Costanzo text. I think each chapter is roughly 50-70 pages max, half of which are images and charts, so it’s not a heavy read and you could realistically get through a chapter in 1 days depending on your reading speed.

Why not focus your reading on your weak areas, as revealed through practice problems?

That's a smart idea, I've just heard that having a strong grasp on physiology is important for Step as physiology and pathophysiology are 2 of the highest yield subjects.

 

[antibody dance now]

I would also recommend checking out Costanzo’s BRS Physiology book, which has a lot of the highlights and practice problems.

 

[ExplodingUlcers]

I’m not a second year but I’m a big fan of the Costanzo text. I think each chapter is roughly 50-70 pages max, half of which are images and charts, so it’s not a heavy read and you could realistically get through a chapter in 1 days depending on your reading speed.

Why not focus your reading on your weak areas, as revealed through practice problems?

Also agree with this. As much as I loved Costanzo, it probably wouldn't be worth reading at this point unless you have a conceptual knowledge gap based on qbank performance.

Otherwise if you have extra time, I especially found the cardio, resp and renal chapters to be especially effective. GI and endocrine are good too but nothing to write home about considering you could get essentially the same info from bnb vids.

 

[Redpancreas]

Not to pile on but I also loved Costanzo but there is no more time for didactic learning. The time it will take to read, understand, and reinforce is not available to you now. Focus on the practice problems where you can see what's tested often and what you don't understand. Then you're going to be like "why the frik do I keep getting this action potential thing wrong" then go comprehensively learn it in Costanzo if needed. Much better use of your time.