The USMLE is a 3 part licensing exam required of all prospective doctors in the US. The first of these exams takes place after the first 2 years of medical school - ie: the basic science years. For most schools, a passing grade on the "Step 1" is required to continue on into the clinical years - the next 2 years of med school. In addition, the score on this exam greatly affects the residency a student goes to.

The big 3 topics on the Step 1 are Pathology, Pharmacology, and Microbiology. Four weeks away from the test date, I'm currently studying Microbiology.

I am using First Aid as my main guide, and using this book as well as Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple.

First Aid: http://www.epinions.com/content_7012257412

Clinical Microbiology Made Ridiculously Simple: http://www.epinions.com/content_17955917444

I orginally purchased Medical Microbiology & Immunology because I needed a reference for the immunology section of my micro course at school. That section in itself was more than helpful enough to clarify the ideas I didn't understand from class notes.

Now, having flipped through more of this book, I have found it to be a very valuable resource. The authors of the book have really made it a point to focus the book with clinical vignettes and clinical applications - making this book not only a mere source of facts, but as a tool for integrating information. They have also included over 600 USMLE style questions to help people like myself review for the exam.

All the major topics of microbiology are covered thoroughly - bacteriology, parasites, viruses, mycology, immunology. The detail of the information hovers right between textbook level and review level - which makes it a little difficult to decide whether I should actually read this book or just skim the charts. Also, the book reads just like a textbook - and that is sometimes hard to handle for more than a couple of hours at a time.

In addition to the information and plethora of practice questions, there is a section called "Brief Summaries of Medically Important Organisms." This is essentially the "high yield" section of the book - extremely crammable and guaranteed test questions over these facts. If you've read some of my other reviews on review books, I'm a big fan of "high yield" study materials - especially when studying medicine is described as trying to drink from a water fountain. Furthermore, there is a section with just clinical case studies that presents cases of common ailments with microbes. The case studies are extremely useful for integrating information from a basic science level to the clinical level.

This book I would definitely recommend as a reference or main guide for those studying for the Step 1. The high yield section and clinical based questions make it more than valuable during study time.

Recommended: Yes

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