That being said, I don't think Pathoma is the greatest to strictly listen to necessarily only because he does a lot of helpful drawings/diagrams. I've switched to listening to Goljan while driving. Original Poster 4 years ago. Thanks for the reply. I was thinking of using it for videos I've already seen. Your ultimate study buddy for USMLE, MCAT, PANCE, NCLEX, PCAT, or NAPLEX. Memorable videos, interactive images, and quizzes. Start Sketchy today for free.

A survey of the top study resources for the first two years of med school.

My newest project is Pharm450.com, the easiest way to learn pharmacology for USMLE Step 1. Pharm450 packs an entire course on medical pharmacology into a set of entertaining videos that leverage your visual, spatial, and emotional memory so you learn faster and retain more.

There are hundreds of resources available to help you study with new onespopping up every year, so it’s important to narrow in on the best. Here is ashort list of the best resources I used during the didactic portion of medschool. I cover various approaches to learning: review texts, memory palaces,video lectures, spaced repetition software, physical note cards, and more.

STEP1: Tactical Test-Taking Strategies // Med School Resources // Med School Study Strategy // Memorize Anything

Every student uses

There is no resource that will cover 100% of the NBME STEP1 exam, so you’llpull from various sources. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking your gradeswill improve if you have more resources; you’ll get spread thin. Better tofocus on knowing a few good resources thoroughly, and then picking pieces fromother resources as needed. That said, here are three resources every medicalstudent uses for the boards.

First Aid for STEP1

Content review for entire exam
Everyone taking STEP1 purchases a copy of this.
Everything you need to know to pass. Not a good primary learning tool, butan excellent outline review.
Often referred to simply as First Aid or FA
New editions come out every January. This is the book you will likely spendthe most time with in the months leading up to STEP1.
Consolidate resources: annotate other resources (Pathoma, Firecracker, etc)into this so you’re not spread among five review books.
- Don’t write every random fact or you’ll clutter out the important things.This book is already distilled down to high concentration; only add a factif it really helps clarify or was a key to some practice question.
You’ll definitely want a hard copy to annotate, but also a digital copy fortext search
You’re going to spend a lot of time with this book and carry it everywhereyou go. Consider cutting off the binding so you can put it into a 3-ringbinder for protection and to easily lay flat. Staples/OfficeMax will punchholes for $3, but be sure to ask them to slice very close to the binding,otherwise you lose some of the inner marginal text.
- For each module in school, pull out only the relevant section and use aslim folder.
- Since I had a PDF of the original, anything that wasn’t actual studymaterial was thrown away: all pages from front cover until BehavioralScience, all pages after Rapid Review. This cut out over a hundred pages.

Pathoma

Concise video lectures covering all relevant pathology along with a slimreview text
- About 1.5 - 2.5 hours of video per organ system
Highly, highly recommend (you’ll also see it highly recommended in First Aidresource recommendations appendix)
Purchase the longest possible subscription (eg. 21 months) because you’llkeep coming back to these videos during your modules and especially in therun up to STEP1.
Record audio so you can listen while you commute or exercise
Combine with Goljan’s lectures to get multiple views of keytopics. Sometimes one explains it better than the other. Goljan givesgreat cross-cutting explanations, particularly with respect to nutrition andbiochemistry, topics Pathoma does not cover.
During each block, watch each video three times. Watch at 1x to learn,and then a week later at 1.3x or 1.7x to review, and finally once morebefore the exam. Whenever I get tired of doing questions, popping up aPathoma video is an easy step down that still keeps me productive.
In your 1x pass, underline in your book the things Sattar emphasizes in hisslides. If he draws a diagram, draw it in your book’s margin. Forsubsequent passes at 1.3x and 1.7x, just sit back and absorb the slides.
Read more on other pathology resources.

USMLE World

The official practice question bank of USMLE
2618 questions total
- bank of 2250 questions
- two self assessment exams (184 questions each for a total of 368 questions)
Explanations are of the highest quality
various purchase options
- Purchase about 30-90 days out from your STEP1 date
- Organize your classmates to get a group discount
When you hit dedicated STEP1 study time, you must do every question in thisqbank at least once. Many students go through twice.
For your modules, you’ll want to purchase theUSMLE-Rx or Kaplan qbanks
Tips:
- Under “Utilities → Preferences”, set your defaults to “Tutor”, “Unused”,and pick a font.
- It’s a buggy Java app, so be sure to close and restart every day. If youleave it open for days in a row it’ll start bogging down.

Most students use

The three resources above will provide the most comprehensive coverage in thefewest number of resources. You should be spending the vast majority of yourdedicated STEP1 study time focused on those three. Everything else here is tolearn throughout your regular curriculum or hit your hot spots during yourdedicated period.

Beyond those, nearly all students pull from a few additional resourcesthroughout their coursework. The following is a survey of resources. Choicesdepend on your weaknesses and learning style.

Firecracker

Flashcard software prepoplated with STEP1 material (a combination of FirstAid, Goljan, etc.)
Spaced repetition algorithm to optimize when to reviewwhat information. Simply reviewing your books and notes from the first pageonward is terribly inefficient; spaced repetition algorithms optimize yourreview schedule.
As you cover material (daily) you add it to the question pool (flag it).
The “practice simulations” are very low quality; stick to Rx/Kaplan/UWorld
Learn the keyboard shortcuts (when you’re doing a quiz, there’s a littlelaptop icon on the bottom right)
Anki is a similar and better tool for its design and feedback metrics, butFirecracker is better overall for medical students because it isprepopulated saving you hundreds of hours of reinventing the wheel by makingyour own cards or hassling with those from others.
A big downside to Firecracker is the lack of figures and images:everything is text-based. This makes it especially hard when it comes tobiochemical pathways or anything in First Aid with a diagram. Think of allthe figures First Aid has; Firecracker has none of those. Any figures theyhave are picked off random websites, likely to avoid copyright fees.
While comprehensive, another downside of Firecracker is moderate quality,relative to some of the more highly edited resources like First Aid, UWorld,Kaplan, Rx, Goljan, etc. Firecracker is written by senior students andresidents, and as such it uses inconsistent formatting and very oftenincludes extraneous detail. I was often frustrated by what seemed like itsfocus on pedantic details. The spaced repetition algorithm is absolutelythe best strategy; however, the content of Firecracker needs improvement.That said, Firecracker appears to be evolving and improving faster than anyother resources in this list. They listen to customer feedback and dailymake edits and improvements.
I probably spent half of my pre-boards time in medical school learning withFirecracker, although for various reasons, I would not spend that much timeif I had to do it again. Read more onhow I use Firecracker.
Ken Noguchi writes about his use of Firecracker.The Firecracker blog has a lot of (biased?)casestudiesfromcustomers.

Lippincott’s Microcards

Flashcards that show a vignette, key symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, andhigh yield facts.
Covers about 140 bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, and helminths.Everything is relevant for STEP1.
Underline and annotate to emphasize key facts. As with adding to any reviewresource,

Pathoma Mp3