If you memorize First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 comprehensively, you WILL ace step 1. It does contain errors, but many are obvious and few are misleading. Furthermore, FA is diligent about publishing a list of errata on their website.

I got this book at the beginning of my first year so I could get familiar with the format as well as the extent of material on the USMLE 1. GOOD IDEA! This book will not supplement your text or lecture, but it is really nice to dig out what are the most important concepts I need to understand. The book also offers very helpful ratings for study review books. This is awesome. I first read the ratings in this book and then went to Amazon for more reviews. The downside for me is that there is no color. I think that is so that you can draw the pictures yourself with just a pen, but sometimes it makes it harder to understand. But then again, that is why you use this book with another text. Definitely get this book from the start (especially if you are in problem based learning).

1st year medical student...this book is real nice for reviewing the important concepts when you get slammed with 300+ pages of detailed notes every 2 weeks. Get it early, use it often.

This is the best intro review book for your first board exams. Le has a great, succinct review of the material that has great mnemonics. I highly recommend getting this early during your training, and using it in conjuction with your course notes. It is very helpful for review for exams, as professors are in touch with current board questions to set you up for success. Also, in the back is a great rating/ranking of other study resources based on system. It gives a fair (and very accurate!) description of other helpful titles to help you do well on the USMLE.

If you are a med student, allopathic or osteopathic, GET THIS BOOK! You won't be sorry.

I am actually going to medical school soon and I decided to begin outlining what I need to do the ace the Step 1. This is not a book to simply skim or page through. Every piece of information in this book (sans the intro) seems to be a requirement for the Step 1. I think it would be an excellent foundation to build on.

Even though I am not in school yet, I found the text quite accessible and relatively easy to understand.

I recently entered a USMLE forum and found out that the book has some errors.... and I got from the forum the official correction link.... I'll have to take the test first to rate the book. As for the delivery time....amazon rocks!

I used this book in my step 1 studying and found it an extremely detailed and valuable resource.I recommend reading it over and over after you have gone over the reference books ie.Kaplan once.I initially did not want to get the book because of initial negative reviews, but once I started using it to study, It was something else...It pulls together high yield information in a concise and organized manner and I cant tell you how much I appreciated it after my exam especially as I had a great score three weeks later:) To get the best out of it you have to pay attention to little details....its not a summary book for nothing so if you gloss over it you probably will not get the best out of it.

This is a good review but it was full of errors. At least there is an online resource listing the errors and corrections. It took about 2 hours to make all the changes, but it was worth it. Good resource, I just wish there were not so many errors.

Use this book early, do a lot of q bank questions, get a good night sleep, and you'll rock the exam. Good luck doc.

To review FA in FA style:

All you need to PASS:
Memorize and Understand every page

All you need to be AVERAGE:
Above + Kaplan Qbank / USMLEWorld / NBME exams

All you need to ACE:
Above + Robbins Review of Pathology (big robbins) + 6 mos + 150IQ

On page 35 the book states,".....given the rising concern about an oversupply of physicians in this country...."

ABSOLUTE NONSENSE and dangerously UNTRUE!!!!

Go to the AMA website ( or Google) and search the following "physician shortage" and see for yourself.

I have reproduced the latest result from the AMA below.
February 18, 2008 (published)

San Jose Mercury News
Letter to the editor

To the Editor:

Patients around the country are feeling the effects of a looming physician shortage. The government predicts a shortage of 85,000 physicians by 2020, just as baby boomers are entering Medicare. The scheduled Medicare cuts would force physicians to limit the number of new Medicare patients they can treat. Cuts will begin in July unless Congress takes action. Already, 30 percent of Medicare patients who are looking say they are having trouble finding a primary care physician. Congress must stop these cuts, which would make an already bad situation worse.

Sincerely,

Dr. Cyril M. Hetsko
AMA Board of Trustees


I hope that the rest of the book is better... In the mean time I simply have to express my protest in the most effective way I can ...and yes I did write to the folks at First Aid. Was there an ulterior motive behind this? I don't know and maybe Yale Medicine and UCSF elitism and arrogance had some part to play. That's where the authors are from.

Well, when people say it's Bible for Usmle Step 1...you don't need to elaborate it's qualities.
Only thing I can say is if you don't use this book for your Step 1, you are gonna regret for sure.

This book is an amazing tool for my all Medical School class collectively, it will be a vital piece of my USMLE study regimen.

Thank you so much for this book. It was in perfect condition and arrived on time.

All I can say is that every DO/MD student needs this book. I use it in class and for Step prep. It's great.

This GPS works great with a little room for improvement. I think that this is probably the best bang for buck (400) for an upper end GPS unit that has many additional features. The bluetooth functions worked well for me (blackberry pearl . . . showed my entire contact list on the GPS screen)as well as the FM transmission capabilities (loud and clear . . .the unit even scans the local radio stations and finds a station that will work best). I drove around locally and put in a few destinations. I tried both the fastest and shortest route settings, but neither came up with what I thought were better routes . . . same thing when I drove a two hour trip that I routinely make. Nonetheless, the routes were accurate and delivered me to my destination in a timely and effecient manner. I love that the unit tells me the side of the street that my destination is on.

Main gripes:
Map accuracy has been off a few times (backroads of GA . . . also new construction areas) but that is a problem that is to be expected with GPS units.
Sometimes I have noticed a slight difference/lag between my actual location and my on screen location; it has caused me to miss a few turns. I used to use TOMTOM on my PDA/PPC phone and I did not have this problem.
Overall I love the unit.

I returned the item within 12 days after i recieved it ,and until now i didn't recieve any refund ,i returned 6 weeks ago?????????????/

First things first: This book = PURE GOLD

You HAVE to study before turning to this book. But once you do that, this book really points out extremely high yield info. ANYTHING in this book is in it for a reason. Don't start reading something and say "oh well i know that isn't important" BECAUSE IT IS!

Also - this book is great for shelf exams, especially if you take them right after you finish the course. You'll already have been studying throughout the year, and going through First Aid will definitely suffice.

I never really believed people, started listening to the negative reviews of the book....until I ran out of time...turned to this book and WOW

If you just want ONE source for STEP 1, get this book, and know it front to back. Another good source is the Pharm, Micro, Path, and Phys BRS cards set.

I havent read all of it but its structure isent as good as the older edition. also i have found some errors. hopefully you buy a used older edition.

I haven't gotten a chance to actually use this book yet, but I have skimmed through it though. There are already some things that I am disappointed by. 1.) The book is only 580 pgs and the 1st 60 and last 91 are useless info. For example, the 1st 60 pages has a bunch of how-to stuff on studying and preping for an exam. The last 91 is a ton of stuff on different resources other than the First Aid book that people might be interested in and they also rate those resources. In my mind I can't use it for the exam, so that 26% of the book is useless. 2.) The other thing is that it's broken down into systems, not subjects. My personal preference is by subject because that's how I was taught, but that is a minor thing. It could be good thing for me to see it in a different way.

Some people have complained about the pages being really thin...they really are! It's not a problem for me because I don't highlight, but if you do it could be distracting when your reading on the other side of the page. Actually, you can see shadows of the text on the other side as it is. Hope this helps!

A must have for the Step 1 and also a great review for current classes. Buy it early and start reading

This is an excellent review book if you are taking the Step I within the year. Amazon also does an amazing job getting it to you in a timely fashion if you order directly from them!

a quick review for usmle step1 and a must read before heading for the big one!

This is a great book to use as an outline for guiding your step 1 studying. I used it as my main study aid. It is by no means exhaustive, and it is not meant to be. It's role is to list the main concepts and facts important for step 1. For each subject, I used at least one or two other books as well, that went into more detail, and inscribed everything I thought was important into my edition of First Aid. That way I could have it all in one place and help sort out my own thoughts about what I knew/needed to know. Some of the mnemonics are not the most amazing, but you can always make up your own if you like mnemonics as a study aid.

Yeah, like you I listened to people who said FA was not enough. They told me to read 15 review books including Goljans Rapid Review and all the BRS books. Now looking back at things, this book was all you needed. It has everything. It's very underrated and people want to bash it because it's so popular. They corrected most of the errors in the 2007 version and this one is nearly free of errors.

Yes, FA doesn't explain the why or reasoning behind the concepts. But guess what, neither does any other book! If you think you can pick up a set of Kaplan Review Books and know it all, you will be mistaken. Most other text books are loaded with minutae and non-essential information. Some gunners think the more they read the better they will do. Yes, that works well except most of us have to deal with a little thing called TIME so reading minutae can impair your studying.

The problem is most people who criticize FA don't know it cold. They think they know the book well because they read it a couple of times but to know this book well means you really have to commit to it and most don't do that because they are reading 20 other sources at the same time. If you genuinely memorize this book and do thousands of practice questions, you will do well. You don't need to read Rapid Review by Goljan and all the BRS text books etc. It's overkill and you will waste your time.

This book has been helping students to pass step 1 for many years - many thanks to the authors! However, it does not reflect the content of the new Step 1 anymore - do not rely on it too seriously for your prep! In addition, it is not well organized, not well cross-referenced, and contains mistakes. Unless there is a major update to this book, it will become not that useful very soon. Good luck on your exams!

This book is going to be my best friend for the next 6 months!! The high yield sections and the scenarios are particularly helpful, everyone I know who has done well on the USMLE and COMLEX has recommended this book, I am also using it for my clinical courses as it is concise and hits the major points you need to know in an easy to understand way. Highly recommended resource for boards! As with any frequently used text, you might want to get it spiral bound and the cover laminated if you really want it to last.

This book is going to be my best friend for the next 6 months!! The high yield sections and the scenarios are particularly helpful, everyone I know who has done well on the USMLE and COMLEX has recommended this book, I am also using it for my clinical courses as it is concise and hits the major points you need to know in an easy to understand way. Highly recommended resource for boards! As with any frequently used text, you might want to get it spiral bound and the cover laminated if you really want it to last.

this is gold standard....its no secret, however, the quality of the paper is so poor--"see thru". Information is quiet organized for the most part, but you have to draw your own tables, which is funny---they have huge amounts of information in table "format" with NO lines dividing the information---& this is the 18th edition?

The other thing is that they DO not necessarily incorporate student feedback from their exams...couple of my friends last year wrote to the authors (on their website) regarding some concepts that were on their exam ---all of which are missing from first aid, and what do you know--none of them are incorporated in the new edition.

good luck ya'll

this is gold standard....its no secret, however, the quality of the paper is so poor--"see thru". Information is quiet organized for the most part, but you have to draw your own tables, which is funny---they have huge amounts of information in table "format" with NO lines dividing the information---& this is the 18th edition?

The other thing is that they DO not necessarily incorporate student feedback from their exams...couple of my friends last year wrote to the authors (on their website) regarding some concepts that were on their exam ---all of which are missing from first aid, and what do you know--none of them are incorporated in the new edition.

good luck ya'll

Great book as you all know. Colour image section is kinda annoying yet, tolerable. Almost 40 new pages and several new pictures. Contents are neately organized, and even some minor-crude drawings have been revised.
I'd like to give 5 stars but, unfortunatly there's no modify function on star score. Must have for step1!

I totally agree with C. Mason "AZCOMstudentdoc" that this book is a must have, but this 'misplaced images' gets 'really' annoying when you start studying the resp.section. Publisher should send a new corrected copy of this book to everyone who bought this flawed copy.

The CONTENT of this book is tried-and-true...it is a MUST HAVE for board prep! Over 30 additional pages of content for 2008!

HOWEVER...the high yield images section of this book has been placed between pages 462 and 463...interrupting the respiratory section. In past editions, the high yield images section appears just before the rapid review most common tables.

Despite the fact that the TOC correctly tells you where the high yield images section is...it is obviously in the wrong place.

If this won't bother you, order now. If it might, then wait until I update this review (or add one, whichever works) with feedback from the publisher. I should know something by Tuesday, 08 January.

The CONTENT of this book is tried-and-true...it is a MUST HAVE for board prep! Over 30 additional pages of content for 2008!

HOWEVER...the high yield images section of this book has been placed between pages 462 and 463...interrupting the respiratory section. In past editions, the high yield images section appears just before the rapid review most common tables.

If this won't bother you, order now. If it might, then wait until I update this review (or add one, whichever works) with feedback from the publisher. I should know something by Monday, 07 January.