How to use First Aid for Step 1 Reddit

I say it depends on how much time you have left until your test. If you are 6+ weeks out, then I think giving First Aid a read through is a great idea. I usually recommend spending the first 4 weeks of your designated study period reading First Aid in its entirety (aim to get through half a chapter per day), doing 40 UW questions daily, and getting through all the Pathoma videos. This way you are in a way quickly re-learning/brushing up on all the material. After that stick to timed UW blocks and practice tests.

Hope that helps!

- Annette G, MD, MPH - USMLE Tutor and Residency Advisor at Med School Tutors

I would recommend using the First Aid book as you review your UW questions. Refer to FA every time you read a UWQ explanation. For example, say you came across a question on Sjogren Syndrome (patient is presenting with symptoms of dry eyes and dry mouth) and the answer is Ro and La antibodies. Open up your FA book, look up Sjogren's and read the entire section about it. Make sure you understand and know everything in that section (and look up anything you may not know/understand). Then do the same for all topics present in the answer choices (I.e. read the sections on lupus, dermatomycosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc) and make sure you know the antibodies that go with other autoimmune disease. When you do this, you are maximizing your time and mastering the material in FA. I know it seems very time consuming, but with time you will get really quick and efficient.

Good luck!

- Annette G, MD, MPH - USMLE Tutor and Residency Advisor at Med School Tutors

Posted by10 months ago

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Hello! I just finished my first semester of med school and I have winter break now. I kinda just wanted to review the stuff we did this past semester from first aid but I don’t know how to study from it. Like so I read it like a textbook and take notes on it? Or do I read it and memorize everything? Watch videos along with it? Any help will be appreciated!

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level 1

First aid isn’t something you read like a textbook. It’s better to use Anki, B&B, Sketchy, and Pathoma as your primary study resources. Use FA as a review guide during dedicated for Step 1 to make sure you know/understand all of the listed concepts.

level 1

On winter break you spend time with your family, sleep in, and drink beer. Otherwise you get depressed and burned out.

level 2

This is the best answer here, OP. “Reviewing” the stuff from the first half of this year is what the rest of your medical training is for. You will revisit this material in different ways dozens and dozens of times. Enjoy some time off.

level 2

Lol you’re def right. I’m doing this too but it’s weird having so much free time 😂

level 2

Thread’s over. Follow this OP.

level 1

B&B and Osmosis both put the FA page numbers in their respective videos. You can use those relative to your school curriculum to figure out where to go.

Also Anking.

level 1

It's best to treat first aid as a massive cheat sheet or checklist of things to know. It isn't really a textbook that you can use to learn from because there's no context or explanations to anything. If anything, read over the sections of first aid that cover the subjects you've studied already and see how much you remember/how much you need to review using other resources.

level 1

If you are in the traditional 4 year set up, wait till second year and enjoy break.

If you really want to, you can follow along during your courses and add things into it. I used it as a content dump source for board studying but I mostly added second year things

level 2

I'm m2 on the break.. it sucks.

level 1

use board and beyonds, pathoma for understanding. unlock those relevant anki cards. see medical school anki reddit for more info. supplement with sketchy for micro and pharm... start anki early and keep doing it everyday. I promise it will make studying for step exam and class exams a breeze. Didn't use anki for Step 1 and didn't do great, relied on it heavily for step 2 and did much better

level 1

First off, DO NOT STUDY on your break. It will not make a difference. But if you insist -

Don't, first aid is not a study resource. It's a reference book. Look up stuff you haven't heard of or add your own notes and mnemonics. Don't try to "read" it at all. The most use i got out of first aid was using to find information I had not covered yet after I finished all of Uworld during dedicated. Before that point, its pointless and overwhelming.

level 1

Download the Anking Deck and start maturing all the cards! Anki is the best way to learn first-aid.

level 1

Read page, write page down from memory: repeat

level 1

Do not treat First Aid like a bible. It contains errata often. The publisher does offer a list of corrections:

https://usmle-rx.com/proposed-errata-and-suggestions-fa-step-1/

You do UWorld, if you don’t understand a concept you look it up in First Aid. Often times they even cite Fist Aid in their explanations. You go through your coursework, if it seems low yield look it up in First Aid to see if it’s there. You don’t really read through it. At least I didn’t.

level 1

I’d recommend using Anki decks based on first aid and use the book as a reference. You can jot down notes in the book too but I found it more useful to makes notes directly on the Anki cards

level 1

I used FA to help reinforce class material. So would look at just specific sections of what I had learned in class before a class test (skip anything not on the test). Sometimes I would write down a note or two if I felt moved to do so. I found the mnemonics were sometimes really helpful for the tests.

When I actually started seriously studying for step 1, I found I had a good understanding of how FA was laid out and had numerous (usually) helpful annotations.

level 1

The Anki cards based on First Aid are far more valuable than First Aid itself.

level 1

Step 1: open it

Step 2: Memorize it

Step 3: ??????

Step 4: profit

Is first aid and UWorld enough for Step 1?

How do you use Usmle first aid?