First Aid - when should I buy it?

[podiatrytime]

Hey guys! I start first year this August, and was just curious as to when I should buy the First Aid book.

I've heard mixed reviews from friends in medical school. Some say to start using it from day one, and others say to wait until you actually begin studying for step 1 of APMLE.

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[dtrack22]

my vote would be for the latter. It may depend on which school you are at though, as it may help you do better in biochem, phys, etc. at some programs and may actually hurt you at others. I used First Aid and thought it was helpful (certainly not necessary), I didn't open it up until 2-3 weeks before part I and I still think that's where its use is (quick, high yield review).

I don't think anyone will disagree, but if you ask me the best thing you can do to prepare for part I is to do well in your classes the first two years, especially lower extremity anatomy (25% of the graded questions will be LEA). Study hard while in those classes and do well on those exams in school and you can pass part I with minimal studying.

 

[podiatrytime]

my vote would be for the latter. It may depend on which school you are at though, as it may help you do better in biochem, phys, etc. at some programs and may actually hurt you at others. I used First Aid and thought it was helpful (certainly not necessary), I didn't open it up until 2-3 weeks before part I and I still think that's where its use is (quick, high yield review).

I don't think anyone will disagree, but if you ask me the best thing you can do to prepare for part I is to do well in your classes the first two years, especially lower extremity anatomy (25% of the graded questions will be LEA). Study hard while in those classes and do well on those exams in school and you can pass part I with minimal studying.

Thanks for your input! I'll see what students recommend once school starts, and I definitely agree that doing well the first two years should be my priority.

 

[heybrother]

MD/DO students are in a slightly different situation because in theory the editions of the book can be updated from the time they buy it to better represent the material present on their ever changing boards. A few years ago I believe one edition to the next may have had as many as ~40 new pages and significant revisions.

My personal experience is that I would probably buy the book first year and not fret about the year to year updates. I don't believe our board is changing that much year to year to suffer the expense (it isn't a cheap book). I would attempt to integrate casual reading of First Aid into my course studying - it can be a location of potentially high yield information and sometimes can help you get to the heart of differentiating issues or recognizing key points. More than a few times I found myself answering a question posed on a test because of a relevant fact from the book. That said, during my courses I never viewed it as a primary source of material or something to be memorized as MD students are wont to do. The edition of First Aid I had purchased was a little bit more complicated in its layout then I had expected - how the material was dispersed throughout the book. There is a case to be made for familiarizing yourself with the book so that you understand where things are within the book for when the time comes to cram. Last of all, some material is going to be presented over and over again - for instance the clotting cascade. First Aid could easily be annotated as a place for you to return to. Draw out the pathways and processes you want to remember and review here to relearn them as necessary as opposed to trying to dig out all of your notes from throughout the year.

 

[burritodoc]

I bought it to use during my first semester of pod school and found it useful. I didn't reference it as much as I could have, but if you highlight a few things here and there (as it pertains to your classes) it will likely help you retain it better when you are board prepping. I don't think it is too pricy and the mnemonics are useful so I'd say go ahead and buy it