Books for Prep | |
 - Good for more than just the boardsFirst Aid has helped me in tests throughout the year. I actually wish I had had it last year, so that when the time comes to study for the boards, I'd be extremely familiar with the book. That said, the book is systems based, and the curriculum at my school is subject-based, so I'm considering getting an older edition of the First Aid for the biochemistry, anatomy, embryology, and histology sections. The mnemonics are great, and since I'm a visual learner, I really like the diagrams and pictures, especially for neuropathology. I'm really glad I bought it early in the year. Don't put off buying this book simply because Step 1 is eight months away, it's value goes beyond USMLE. Rating: - the best book for the international MD studentgreat book - i used it a lot and it has all the guidance that you need. It is also very compatible with the Kaplan questions bank and very easy to read in conjugation with the Kaplan Medical. it is really up to date and has excellent graphics. I warmly recommend it Rating:  - ErrataI found this in a forum, I won't say anything just read this before you exam: A bunch of emails have been going around my class with the First Aid 2006 errata..there are tons, and even missing pages!!! I've copied & pasted what I can find so far, and obviously, use at your own risk but most are obvious... and 2 attachments of 2 PDF files of missing pages - one for micro (Rickettsia) & Cardio drugs., age#--correction 72--it should read "Kubler-Ross Dying Stages" (not grief stages) 161--Micro - Most common cause of bacterial meningitis in adults 18-60 is Strep pneumo. N meningitidis is still the most common for 6 - 18 yr olds (from uptodate) 187--the complement cascade show C4b2*b* as classic C3 convertase and C4b2*b as classic C5 convertase. It should be C4b2_*a*_ = classic C3 convertase and C4b2_*a*_3b = classic C5 convertase 208--St. John's Wort is an inducer of CYP (3A4), not an inhibitor. (checked JAMA) 221--EDV and ESV are swapped in the pressure-volume relationship in the cardiovascular section 221--the PV-curve shows what happens with an increase in afterload AND contractility. So put a little "[up-arrow] contractility" next to "[up-arrow] afterload" 259--In "Other hypothalamic/pituitary drugs" GH is somatoTROPIN. Octreotide is the analogue of somatostatin. 274--Barrett's esophagus is replacement of nonkeratinized squamous epithelium with INTESTINAL columnar epithelium in the distal esophagus (not gastric) 275--"Usually squamous cell carcinoma" Actually, squamous cell CA and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus currently have almost equal incidence due to a rapid rise in adenocarcinoma rates in recent decades (from UpToDate, Qbank) 283--Pirenzepine causes TACHYcardia, not bradycardia as a toxicity (from micromedex) 295--Wilm's tumor is a mutation on 11p (not 11q) (according to BRS and emedicine and Miglet) (for both WT1 and WT2) 310--Imatinib (Gleevec) is NOT an antibody or myclonal. But it is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor. 322--Pemphigus vulgaris = intraEPIDERMAL bullae 344--cavernous sinus syndrome should include opthalmoplegia, opthalmic and MAXILLARY sensory loss 345--swap SR with IO at the top, and IR with SO at the bottom 346--pupillary light reflex sends signal via CN2 not CN3 353--Syringomyelia is from damage to crossing SPINOTHALAMIC TRACT FIBERS in the anterior white commissure. 368--the mechanism of ethosuxamide blocks thalamic Ca+2 channels, NOT thalamic Ca+1 385--#5) SLE - in DIFFUSE PROLIFERATIVE form you get wire-loop abnormality with subendothelial immune complex deposits Color img 48B--is actually a pilocytic astrocytoma, not a glioblastoma (those are Rosenthal fibers) Color img 104--Sarcoidosis does NOT have caseation they're the area immediately posterior to the central sulcus. pg 346: Pupillary light reflex -> light in either retina sends a signal via CN II (NOT III). the pupils contract bilaterally (consensual reflex) via CN III (= solid lines) pg352- diagram on left: F, which is supposed to be pilocytic astroctoma, is usually in the posterior fossa but they drew it in the frontal lobe. pg353- the spinal cord section diagram for syringomelia- corticospinal should be spinothalamic pg 357- herniation syndromes- the uncus is mislabelled. Differences In the definition of cleft lip on page 117 and 124. What it says on page 124 is correct and page 117 should read "failure of fusion of the maxillary and medial nasal processes leading to cleft lip." pg 149 it states that Loa Loa (nematode) is transmitted by the deerfly. this is incorrect. it is transmitted by the bite of a mango fly, Chrysops. Pg 63 - Second chart should be disease vs. exposure, not disease vs. test [Annie Garment] Pg 87 - Pyruvate Kinase is shown as reversible in the diagram. It's irreversible. [From Mike Su and Christian Song] Pg 97 - Liver, Fasting State: Amino acids can indeed enter the TCA cycle directly (after deamination) but this is not true for glycerol or lactate. Glycerol enters the glycolytic pathway by being metabolized to Dihydroxyacetone Phosphate (DHAP) while lactate enters the pathway by being metabolized to pyruvate. Therefore, the arrows should be changed accordingly. Pg 118 - Under the heading "Embryologic Derivatives", surface ectoderm is said to give rise to the "epithelial linings". This is mostly incorrect. The ectodermal germ layer gives rise to the *sensory* epithelium of the ear, nose, and eye. Epithelial linings of the gut, UG tract, and respiratory tract are derived from the *endodermal* germ layer. [DT Jacobs] Pg 140 - "Salmonella has an animal reservoir." Not true of Salmonella Typhi, the strain the causes Typhoid fever! (i.e. it's only in humans). Pg 141 - E. Coli O157:H7 is a subtype of EHEC, not EIEC. Pg 154 - The process explained is called "Phenotypic Masking" not "Phenotypic Mixing", which is a different process. I verified this with a research paper which describes the process in the journal of Evolution. [from James Toussaint] Pg 166 (Chart) - Amoxicillin/Ampicillin can be used for E. Coli, as it says on the very next page. Pg 302 - Follicular Lymphoma: "bcl-2 is involved in apoptosis." Okay, technically this isn't an actual mistake, but at the very least it's HIGHLY misleading. It should really say "bcl-2 is involved in INHIBITION of apoptosis." It's important to realize that this isn't a matter of underexpression of a pro-apoptotic gene, but rather overexpression of an anti-apoptotic gene. Pg 319 - Osteomalacia/rickets. Vitamin D deficiency causes a DECREASE in serum phosphate (due to increased renal excretion, which, in turn, is due to increased PTH). Pg 324 - Temporal Arteritis affects medium and LARGE arteries Pg 325 - Cox-2 inhibitors: the IMPORTANT toxicity is an increased risk of thrombosis (stroke or MI). Pg 326 - Etanercept: Mechanism - inhibits BOTH TNF-Ü AND TNF-â Pg 404, Testicular non-germ cell tumors, Leydig cell: "androgen producing leads to gynecomastia in men, precocious puberty in boys." While it is true that Leydig cell tumors are androgen-secreting (at least initially) and it is also true that later in life they can lead to gynecomastia, it is incorrect to say that these two facts are related to each other. Not only does this not make any sense, but it turns out that adults with leydig cell tumors actually have DECREASED levels of androgens. Pg 485 - ALL is Acute LymphoBLASTIC Leukemia, not "lymphocytic" leukemia Rating: - Best Step 1 first bookGreat book ! The classification of the existing books on different topics was also helpfull ! Rating: - Great quick guideI read it in the last 3 weeks before my test - it's pretty much all of the info covered in Kaplan's Step 1 review course. It's just condensed very well, the font is a lot smaller than Kaplan's and there's a lot fewer (space taking) pictures and diagrams. Great guide to consider if you suddenly realize that your exam's here and you haven't done any reading yet, or if you've done all your prep and just wanna carry one book to the library to revise from (as against the whole lot of course books or kaplan's prep guides)... In association with Amazon.com | |