Suggestions for Review Sources for Step 1 of the USMLE
© 2002 – Institute for Professional Preparation
University of Missouri – Kansas City
Any source of questions is good to use as long as they have explanations. We have found that those published by "MAVAL" have a large number of errors.
Good Computer Based Testing questions are hard to find. Kaplan's Q-bank is very good and has a great deal of versatility.
If you have a PDA, Kaplan also has for purchase a set of questions that you can load and the last time I checked, you can download them and use them for free for 30 days or so.
Both Appleton and Lange (ALERT) and NMS computer questions are good practice.
A source of Pathology questions is Compton's Review, a paperback the uses Robbins as a source and has questions referenced to the textbook. A newer book of questions is the "Robbins Review of Pathology" by Klatt and Kumar. This is very good.
http://www.medrevu.com
also has questions for practice and purchase.We have at our web site,
http://www.umkc.edu/ipp both diagnostic tests and mockboards available for purchase and practice.Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, Self-Assessment Review has very good and well explained questions.
Don't forget to make use of the questions on the USMLE disk. My advice is to practice both the Step 1 and Step 2 questions.
There is nothing wrong with High Yield Facts and First Aid For The Boards, but my caution would be to not use these "factoid" review books as your only source of content information. This is not a test of how much you have memorized but rather a test of the extent to which you can use the information you have a handle on. I understand that the First Aid section on behavioral sciences is a good review just before you sit for the test (within a couple of days). The Pharmacology section is also a good overview. Be sure to review the second order drugs as well.
We are convinced that the first two chapters of Goodman and Gilman's Pharmacology textbook is essential reading for Step 1.
To get some practice looking at clinical scenarios, the "Underground Clinical Vignettes" are really quite good. There are no questions with the set.
Ethics questions are becoming more important for all three step exams and one of the better resources for general information is the Psychiatry Recall which addresses ethic issues in its last few chapters.
Clinical Biochemistry Made Ridiculously Easy by Goldberg has the last part of the book dedicated to clinical applications. No questions but concise explanations. My favorites are the Clinical Correlations in Devlin's Biochemistry Textbook.
One of the best web sites I have seen is the Gold Standard Multimedia page.
http://www.imc.gsm.com and it is free. You just register and choose a password and go for it. Questions are not yet in NBME format but the information is solid and extensive.For those with PDA's go to
http://www.handheldmed.com and get the reader for free and look around for other free stuff like the Merck manual. Eponyms is a great quick reference and remember that http://www.epocrates.com is useful and free as is its companion program qId.Another reference to be sure to take a look at, at least skim thru it with a couple of friends is Sobota's Histology Atlas.
http://www.md4sure.com/
is another good site put together, I think, by medical students.A web site with several links to more information and question sources is at:
http://www.creighton.edu/Pharmacology/USMLE.htmhttp://usmleguide.com/
and http://www.mededcd.com/USMLEStepExams/USMLE.htm are two more sites which have references or questions available (generally for purchase).One of the best pathology review sites with an incredible number of links and assorted information can be found at pathguy.com.
Be sure to visit the "webpath" site at the University of Utah. Get to it by using a search engine and look for "webpath".
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