Customer Reviews

First Aid for the USMLE Step 1: 2004

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My only concern is that the 2004 edition is identical to the editions of the past 5 years. Nothing new except for a few more pics.

A must-have guide for Step 1 prep. But by itself, not sufficient to cover the nitty-gritty details found on The Test. Best used as starting point in January or February, then add BRS review series. Mix in Kaplan QBank along the way. Alternatively, instead of BRS, you may want to review your own class notes on pathophysiology (which I did, and found quite helpful, even though it's more time-consuming). And, be sure to keep up with current health events in the news (they show up on the boards)!

If you plan on taking the USMLE Step 1, forget about trying to read all of those high yield books... there just isn't time. Instead, study this book, and hit up the Kaplan Qbank and you should be in good shape if you've been paying attention in classes for the past two years. It's got very concise and specific info that's great for answering standardized test style questions. It's absolutely essential, and worth the investment. Also, if you have an older version.. keep it. They dont change much year to year, but for sure grab one of them because it will save you a lot of time, and can only help your score.

There are plenty of Step 1 resources out there, and this book can't replace things like a good old Kaplan review course, BUT...
This was the most useful book I found to help me review for the exam. Upon reading it, I realized that it would have been SOOOO helpful in my courses to just give me a short, clear overview of all the truly important concepts that I needed to understand in each subject (something my courses were unable to clearly outline!)

It is arranged by course, eg Pathology, Biochem, Microbio, Physio, Pharm, etc. It provides plenty of helpful mnemonics. This is not really something that you read cover to cover. If you're looking for something to review by systems, then Step-Up (by Mehta) is a great book. It's arranged by renal, cardiovascular, etc.

First Aid was recommended to me by every last one of my upperclassmen. It has a great collection of high-yield glossy path photos that you should be familiar with, and it ends with reviews of many other useful books you may need for the 1st two years of med school.

If you don't have it yet, you should get it.

What can I say that you haven't already heard. This book is the "bible" of the USMLE. Study it, know it! I would recommend to start using in early on (by your second year)- that way, by the time it's time for the boards, you've been using it all along, and you're going to know it pretty darn well!
That's going to help you a lot for boards

First Aid for Step 1 is like Netter's -- not very good and highly overrated. The book is a mess of random information that has no connection and no flow to it, and is therefore difficult, frustrating and low-yield. The only good part of the book are the images but these can be found online (WebPath) for free. I skimmed First Aid once, tossed it aside and spent all of my time with Step-Up which is a MUCH better book.

I usually dont like this format of books where everything is too dense and compressed but this book changed everything.
The book contains a huge amount of high yield facts many of which i had on my exam.
Very well organized with a great section in pharma' and pathology but kind of weak on physiology.
I read it a couple of times during the months before the exam and in the last week it was my only study source.
All together a great one ,a must have book for anyone taking the first step.

For all foreign doctors, this book is a goal if you want to have short information and help to remind the correct answer in the test. All the Docs must have one.

This is a MUST HAVE to prepare for Step 1 of the USMLE board exams. I went through each chapter with a fine toothed comb and it served as the backbone of my month-long studying. I'm pretty sure I would have done horribly on the exam without this book. I supplemented with Step-Up for the embryology sections, but otherwise this book is good to go. I opted to go to Staples and have them remove the binding so I could put the loose pages in a binder for easier access and note-taking, too. I took the exam 4 years ago but I still refer back to my handy Step 1 binder.

Obviously some of the previous people who have written reviews about first aid are greatly misinformed as how to study for step 1. No one book will cover everything you need to know for the test, that should have learned this over a period of 2 years in medical school.

First Aid does not "claim" to cover it all, all it does is cover very high yield stuff that you really should be taking into the test IN ADDITION to more information.

Do not be fooled, FIRST AID is necessary. Perhaps this is the reason why EVERY medical student taking the USMLE owns at least one edition. This being the case, you are doing yourself great harm by not using a book that everyone is using, especially since this is a standardized exam.