Choosing the Right Board Review Book!

If you choose not to do a Kaplan or other review course or maybe even if you do you’re going to need some books. The Step 1 medical boards are so comprehensive you really need to make sure that the books you choose cover all the topics. There are many, many, many, many review books that you can choose from so it is important that carefully evaluate the ones you decide to buy. The most important thing is that you find one book you like and trust it (and memorize it!)

By far the gold standard of Step 1 review books is First Aid for the USMLE Step 1: 2007 . Even if you are an osteopathic student taking COMLEX 1 this book is great choice. The book begins much like Board Aid with advice on the tests as well as study tips and answers to specific questions about the boards. Section II gets to the good stuff. The chapters are broken down into subjects such as pathology, anatomy, etc. and further broken down into a systems approach to each subject. First Aid also offers high yield clinical vignettes, high yield images, and a rapid review section. The last section of First Aid is a great review of every website and review book you could ever imagine. By far First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 is the most comprehensive and most popular review book you can get for your Step 1 Board review. An added bonus is its great price!

Another good review book is The Step-Up: A High-Yield, Systems-Based Review for the USMLE Step 1 (Step-Up Series). Much like First Aid it is very comprehensive. Step-Up takes advantage of charts, tables, and graphs to help you learn key concepts. The outline form of Step-Up is very easy to follow and makes for very concise understanding of the material presented. One feature that might be a pro or con depending on your preference of study is the fact that Step-Up’s “drug and bug indexes” are in chart form. Step-Up is clearly an excellent choice based on its very easy to understand format and completeness.

The Board Review Series, BRS, has been a companion to many of us. These books are in outline form and are extremely comprehensive. Actually, we believe they are too comprehensive. They are great for individual courses; however, if you wanted to use them for boards you have to buy up to 8 books. They go into more detail than what is needed for the boards. However, you can capitalize on that fact. Use these great review books instead of textbooks to cover topics that you want to know more about. If you can’t live without them use BRS Pathology and BRS Physiology . These two are great supplements to your board review.

The bottom line: it doesn’t matter what book you use! What matters is that you learn everything in that book. But make sure it’s comprehensive! Be faithful and trust your review book. Over the course of your studying you might look at another book and think, “why doesn’t my book talk about this?” Don’t let this make you lose trust in your book. Just like your boards are highly variable so are your books. Focus on one main book and you will meet your goals!

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