I'm going to cut through the bull and just flat out say that this book is a MUST buy for every medical school student out there in their first 2 years of medical school. If you've just been accepted for this upcoming fall, buy this book. If you're looking for a good quick guide to study for your USMLE step 1, this is the book. This book is no nonsense and just full of high yield information.
What I like:
High Yield Facts
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Ok, we all know that studying in medical school is often compared to trying to drink from a fire hydrant. The only change to that analogy I would make is that it's like trying to drink from a fire hydrant while being sprayed by 3 other fire hydrants. There's a LOT of information to learn especially for pharmacology, microbiology, and pathology (yes, I know these are 2nd year classes, but these classes make neuroscience and anatomy feel like child's play). Having a condensed section of high yield facts is extremely helpful. Now, this book is aimed for those taking the USMLE Step 1, but I'm going to let you in on a little secret -- This is an excellent book for studying and reviewing for your midterms, finals, and NBME tests. I have found this book EXTREMELY helpful for Pharm, Path, and Microbiology. I'm sure it would be equally as helpful for Biochem, Anatomy, and Physiology.
Features of the high yield section include:
1) high yield glossy pathology pictures
2) clinical vignettes to help you assimilate different classes together
3) high yield diagrams - for the visual learners
4) cross reference to the Underground Clinical Vignette series for related case studies
Review of Basic Science Resources
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You see that everyone in class is using a different review book, and you feel like you're missing out on something. Wonder which books are good? Check out this section. Review books for every basic science discipline are rated in this section. You get the book name, price, quick synopsis of the book, and the finally, a letter grade to how your medical school peers rate the books. I know that you can probably get an idea of which books are good by talking to classmates, but everyone seems to have a different idea of what's good or not. This is a good place to start when looking for review books before you buy a $50 book because some wacko in your class said it was good. I have made many a review book purchase based of these recommendations (Neuroscience Made Ridiculously Simple, Lippincott Pharmacology, etc).
Guide for USMLE Preparation
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I've only briefly glanced through this section so I can't say much about it. I'll update this epinion when it becomes closer to the USMLE for me. =)
Conclusion
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I really like this book because it's a "peer" authored and edited book. It's not a group of people who have no idea what is going on medical school and have no idea what it is like to be a medical school student. The authors of this book have definitely done their research among the medical schools to find out what's important. When I took my NBME final in Pharmacology, I studied the pharm section in First Aid, and I came out saying, "wow, that First Aid hit the nail right on the head." Many of my friends said the exact same thing. They definitely know what's important to learn. But on the other side, to think that an entire medical education can be replaced by a 1 inch high yield facts list is foolish. It's an excellent quick reference guide and a good book to study from to review for a final, but it is by no means meant to replace your own learning.
Study hard!
Recommended:
