Weakest part of FA?

[Cards21aceking]

Have a couple of weeks left, and wondering what people's thoughts were on general weaknesses of FA? I'm going through Neuro right now and there seems to be some bits and pieces missing from that section.

Any thoughts?

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[lipofuscin232]

i'd say neuro and immunology...for both I had to write in tons

 

[agranulocytosis]

Yeah I added a ton of stuff into the neuro section. I also added a bunch to the glomerular diseases, especially SLE presentations, on p430. I really don't like the micro section in FA at all either.

 

[-Goose-]

For me, its micro. Its a huge cluster*&%$

 

[BrisketAttack]

the whole renal path section is grossly inadequate. i'm forgoing FA for goljan on all things kidney.

 

[MSKalltheway]

Glomerular pathology, Immune deficiencies, some parts of GI, and a lot of pulm im finding it to be scant on. Most of the stuff I had to write for neuro were things about anything ischemia (MI and stroke) and some of the degenerative diseases.

 

[tfom08]

I really don't like FA. I know it's a necessary evil and I follow along in it to make sure I'm not missing any big details, but unless you only have a few weeks, say 3, to study, I don't see a reason to rely on it much except for maybe pharm. It has a few good sections but I am just unimpressed with the lack of organization and overall amateur feel of the text. Would it really be so bad to release a new edition every 2-3 years instead of every year and actually spend some time correcting errors and making sure the organization makes sense? And how about making an index that actually has some stuff in it?

 

[DwyaneWade]

Have a couple of weeks left, and wondering what people's thoughts were on general weaknesses of FA? I'm going through Neuro right now and there seems to be some bits and pieces missing from that section.

Any thoughts?

Actually Neuro is alright once you supplement it a bit. Same with Immuno.

Besides Cell Biology (which is nonexistent), renal path was pretty bad, as was cardio path (for me).

 

[peter90036]

tfom08
its caught on, now its only drive is sales of patched up editions, not quality/improvement (which = hard work), (less editions = not "the latest and greatest" = not cool anymore = might let some other book slip between the cracks and take its spot...)... btw, i did get the latest FA, just because... "i dont want to miss anything that might be 'updated' "...its a psychological mechanism i guess

 

[Knicks]

^^ what could possibly be 'updated' in a book that actually has errors that were correct in previous editions. or, how much more 'updated' can it be?

you're right, the 'newer' editions are just for psychological peace of mind.

 

[Galler]

I would supplement neuro and molecular biology with HY Neuroanatomy and HY Cell and Molecular Biology. I found the pictures on HY Neuroanatomy really helpful for the real exams.

 

[-Goose-]

We are forgetting the biggest weakness of FA: the INDEX.

 

[osli]

I picked up HY Brain and Behavior thinking it would be a good alternative to HY Neuroanatomy and would also cover the behavioral sciences and psych part too.

It isn't.

Take my advice and stay away from this one. The neuroanatomy part is way to weak, virtually no pathology on spine, brainstem, or cortical lesions (exactly one graphic covering half a page), it covers ethics and behavioral stuff that is really superfluous for the exam (really, do we need to read about how to sit and face a patient during an interview!?!), and the coverage of pharm was wasted space since it took ten pages to really just say "use SSRI's for depression, lithium for mania, and antipsychotics for psychoses" with only sketchy detail on mechanisms and way to broad of generalizations on side effects.

Oh, and it also directly contradicts Goljan in about 20 places, on everything from mechanisms to most commons. And I found three blatant errors on three consecutive pages, so I'm not very confident in the editing (hell, they even managed to mess up the prostitute's pupil, and that's a saying that everyone knows!).


Sorry, I know this is OT for the thread, but I didn't feel like starting another one just to vent about this book.

 

[Cards21aceking]

Sorry, I know this is OT for the thread, but I didn't feel like starting another one just to vent about this book.

No worries. That's what this place is for . I ended up going with HY Neuro (Fix) and HY Behavior (Fadem) for those sections. Hopefully they'll pay off.