What's your best recommendation for Step 1

[Just Tryin]

I've been thinking about getting Kaplan home study and doing that for everything except pathology for which i would use goljan RR.
I havent seen anything good or bad about the Kaplan home study books however (4 volume set).
Im trying to trim down to the right books .
I have about two months and I am starting to get a little nervous because I havent started studying yet. I've done well enough in school but i really dont know how much i recall considering the amount of info. PLease let me know what you think of kaplan and if not what else i should use.

thanks for the input in advance

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[sponch]

I've been thinking about getting Kaplan home study and doing that for everything except pathology for which i would use goljan RR.
I havent seen anything good or bad about the Kaplan home study books however (4 volume set).
Im trying to trim down to the right books .
I have about two months and I am starting to get a little nervous because I havent started studying yet. I've done well enough in school but i really dont know how much i recall considering the amount of info. PLease let me know what you think of kaplan and if not what else i should use.

thanks for the input in advance

I'm sorry, but for Step 1 I would seriously consider memorizing first aid. It'll take you a month to do so, just in time to take your board. Use the topics in FA to trigger your memory...look up stuff you forgot...do Qbank questions...that's all that you need and is a tried and true approach. The boards haven't changed all that much in the last couple of years, and they're not going to change all that much in the next few years.

 

[Just Tryin]

Sorry i meant to state that i was going to use first aid in the mornings as an overview and then fill in the blanks, but i guess its what are the books to use to fill in the blanks, I know the books in the back of first aid are supposed to be pretty good, wondering if there is something that is more succinct or better that people have had personal experience with

 

[JayneCobb]

Sorry i meant to state that i was going to use first aid in the mornings as an overview and then fill in the blanks, but i guess its what are the books to use to fill in the blanks, I know the books in the back of first aid are supposed to be pretty good, wondering if there is something that is more succinct or better that people have had personal experience with

I would go back to my class notes or books for the particular topic I was looking for more info on. You more than likely have the information in a book already, the hard part is getting to it easily. There's little sense in spending a fortune on review books if you're already familiar with another good book.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

I would go back to my class notes or books for the particular topic I was looking for more info on. You more than likely have the information in a book already, the hard part is getting to it easily. There's little sense in spending a fortune on review books if you're already familiar with another good book.

Sorry, have to step in here (get it? "step?" ).

I don't know if Jayne has already taken the exam but this advice is not good. Your PhD professors and the editors of Robbins/Moore do NOT know what is on Step 1. The editors of First Aid, BRS, etc do in fact.

If you choose to study from Dr. Brown's Febuary 23rd lecture "Molecular Pathways in Viral Genomic Replication" instead of using a book titled "First Aid For the USMLE Step 1" then I cannot help you.

Class notes should be thrown out the window, textbooks equally so. There is a huge industry in test review for 2 reasons, 1) $$$ 2) it works.

 

[phudrix]

First Aid, BRS biochem, BRS physiology, any high-yield embryo/antomy, Lippincott pharm, Boards and Wards, Robbins Pathology Review questions, Kaplan Qbank, Smashstep1.com supplemental questions. Do LOTS of questions....

 

[lord_jeebus]

Class notes should be thrown out the window, textbooks equally so. There is a huge industry in test review for 2 reasons, 1) $$$ 2) it works.

Agreed.

The review books aren't perfect but are much more appropriate than old textbooks or notes.

As for Kaplan vs. not-Kaplan, I think it's better (and cheaper) to pick and choose individual review books for each subject that people have been pleased with in the past. Quick searches of this forum by subject should reveal what these books are.

 

[JayneCobb]

I would go back to my class notes or books forthe particular topic I was looking for more info on. You more than likely have the information in a book already, the hard part is getting to it easily. There's little sense in spending a fortune on review books if you're already familiar with another good book.

reiterated try and get my point across.

Sorry, have to step in here (get it? "step?" ).

I don't know if Jayne has already taken the exam but this advice is not good. Your PhD professors and the editors of Robbins/Moore do NOT know what is on Step 1. The editors of First Aid, BRS, etc do in fact.

If you choose to study from Dr. Brown's Febuary 23rd lecture "Molecular Pathways in Viral Genomic Replication" instead of using a book titled "First Aid For the USMLE Step 1" then I cannot help you.

Class notes should be thrown out the window, textbooks equally so. There is a huge industry in test review for 2 reasons, 1) $$$ 2) it works.

I have taken USMLE and I didn't do to shabby on it. The point I was trying to get across was for the additional information. No review book is going to have enough information in it and they definitively do not have enough information to answer all of your questions you'll come up with as you study them. So instead of wasting more money on other review books, why not stick with the materials you're familiar with and have on hand? I am not saying that you should not use First Aid, boards & wards, Crush, Kaplan, etc, but I am saying that if you're like me and the info in the review book doesn't always turn the light on, go back to the sources you already have for more information.