Customer Reviews

First Aid for the Basic Sciences, General Principles (First Aid Series)

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

 

 

So well organized. So clear. Great charts. Everything you need to know. It's all of the first two years of medical school in on place. There's just once catch...

IT'S SO, SO full of mistakes! Some of it is pretty basic, fact-based stuff. Example: "Shigella...does produce H2S." Well, no, it doesn't. That's how you know it's not salmonella. They also like to put arrows showing lab values changing in a chart, but then mix them up. Or say PT when they mean PTT. Stuff like that; stuff multiple choice questions are made of.

I still use it and love it. I'm a sucker for having everything in one place with one format. But if you're looking for a definitive source, this isn't it.

The concept behind this book (and its counterpart Basic Sciences: Organ Systems) is excellent as an alternative to the $400 Kaplan home study set. The depth to which the information is presented is quite appropriate as a review for the USMLE Step 1 and to supplement coursework in both first and second year of medical school. Unfortunately, it seems as if both this book and the Organ Systems book were rushed to the publisher without so much as a single proofread and revision. The errors in these books are too numerous to count. From simple typos to significant variation and contradiction in the content (less common, but still there) to figures being used inappropriately to show what they were not meant to, there is nearly an error on every single page. The majority of these errors can be easily recognized by anyone who has put in a decent effort with a good primary source and is reviewing, but the frequency of errors only makes it possible for the reader to review what they have already learned; nothing new can be learned from this book so long as the content cannot be trusted. Furthermore, the First Aid Team generally provides a fairly complete listing of errata on their website for their entire series, but the corrections for these books were published months ago with a very small proportion of the problems (maybe only 60 corrections between the two books) and has not been updated despite readers submitting their corrections constantly. I am sure that the response regarding errors has been overwhelming, but it sure would be nice to be able to quickly and reliably check on the occasions when you suspect an error but are not sure. I almost feel like they have realized that correcting these editions is essentially rewriting them and that they have given up on these to work on the next edition, but it makes me feel like I have been left with only half of what I thought I was buying. So my best advice is to keep these books in mind for when the next edition is published, but in the meantime stick to more refined sources such as Kaplan. Also, if studying for the USMLE, be sure to pick up Goljan's Rapid Review: Pathology. You will not regret it.

This book has great potential, but it is FILLED with errors. Unlike FirstAid for Step 1, there is no Errata (a webpage organized by the publishers of FirstAid which informs you of any found errors in the book.) I really like the organization and content of the book, but with so many errors it is too stressful to use and, until the next edition comes out, something I recommend you stay away from.

There is a 5 page errata available from first aid for this and that was just in the first few months it was released. This thing is a great book; good organization, nice charts. Everything is great EXCEPT THE ERRORS. I would not buy this until the next edition

This book and First aid organ systems really help me for step 1. You don't need any other books, such as Kaplan, high yield, BRS. These two books have everything you need to know for step 1. Know them in and out!

Just picked up the book and it has colorful diagrams, plenty of space in the margins to write, a reasonable amount of bolded words, and "Mnemonic" and "Flash forward" and "Flash back" boxes for drawing connections.

However, I gotta worry about the editing job when on the main Table of Contents, there are already two spelling mistakes: "Chapter 4. Embyology" and "Chapter 5. MIcrobiology"

This book has helped me but understand the Basics AFTER have learned the more advanced. Good review

This book, along with the new Organ Systems books, are the companion (or possibly replacement) to the original First Aid for the USMLE. Between the two books, they cover essentially the same material, but in much more detail (together, they're about double the length). With the original First Aid book, you usually have to go through the book and fill in a ton of notes as you go along. "General Principles" is basically the same charts and info from the original, but with the details already filled in. The margins are lined with "Key Facts" and tons of helpful mnemonics, along with clinical correlates. Also, as a very nice upgrade to the original First Aid book, these are in full color! Anatomy, behavioral science, immuno, and some VERY basic pharm and path are covered in this book, but the large majority of the book is devoted to biochem and microbiology.

The only possible downside is that this is a first edition book. Although I have not yet found any errors, it's likely that they exist. This book is definitely designed to be purchased with the Organ Systems book. Buying both together is an expensive proposition, but I have a feeling that in a few years, these are the two books you're going to see every medical student carrying around.

This book is a good one (with some typos and mistakes to be fixed in the next edition coming out in October 2011). The problem here is that the kindle edition is terribly formatted to the extent of being way too confusing to keep track of which section or title or sub-title you are in. The structure of the book is totally lost in the kindle edition. I think that kindle format is way behind in textbooks and should only be used for Novels or books that are basically formatted in blocks of text but textbooks are way too complicated to be rendered as the current kindle format e-books. i want a refund.

The book is easy on the eyes and would best be used along with your first year material if you have to time to do so. It is fairly detailed and may even be useful for a foreign doctor preparing to sit for the US boards after a few years away from the basic science material.