Other Boards/Step 1 Resources

Below are the boards resources subdivided into tiers. The ranking of these resources is informal and has come from reading internet discussions and talking to upperclassmen about which resources they preferred and thought were the best.



In the "Golden" tier are resources that include high yield information and that anecdotally many or all medical students consider to be amongst the best resources to use to prepare for boards. In the "Silver" tier are resources that are also very good but not every medical student uses. In the "Bronze" tier are resources that students can use when the other resources do not work as well for specific learning styles but are also thought to be useful.



Along with each resource is a link to purchase it

Golden Tier

-Boards and Beyond: Video series by Dr. Jason Ryan covering physiology and pathology with quizzes and slides available as PDF's/books included in subscription

-First Aid: Annual book created by material submitted by medical students that covers all high yield material for Step 1. Buy the most current edition

-Pathoma: Video series by Dr. Hussein Sattar covering pathology with companion book included in subscription

-Sketchy Med: Sets of video series covering microbiology and pharmacology that use drawings to reinforce material. Very good for learning microbiology and also useful for learning pharmacology. However, not everyone can learn using this style. The micro and pharm anki decks listed above heavily incorporate this resource into the decks and using them in conjuction is very potent

-UWorld: Question bank that contains >2,000 board style multiple choice questions that almost every medical student completes once or twice before taking Step 1. UWorld is regarded as the best of the available question banks and most similar to the style and difficulty of questions that shows up on Step 1.

Silver Tier

-BRS Physiology: Written by Dr. Linda Costanzo. Outline format book with 350 end-of-chapter questions that covers the high yield information for physiology. Dr. Costanzo has also written the full length text Physiology if one wants to delve deeper into physiology

-Rapid Review Pathology: Written by Dr. Edward Goljan. Similar to Pathoma, this is a review text for pathology. There is also an audio series by Dr. Goljan that exists out on the internet if you search for it.

-Firecracker: A product that includes >28,000 flashcards+multiple choice questions along with >1500 boards practice questions. The product is tailored towards individual use and creates a personalized study plan for users. Can be very time intensive and should probably only be used for studying for boards if you start using it early (i.e. not a good idea to start using it during dedicated study time).

-Kaplan Step 1 Qbank: A question bank created by Kaplan with over 2,000 boards-style questions. Generally thought to be more difficult questions that focus on minutiae.

-USMLE-Rx Step 1 Qmax: A question bank created by the authors of First Aid with >2,000 boards-style questions. Generally thought to be easier than the Kaplan qbank and focuses more on fact recall from First Aid.

Bronze Tier

-Pastest: A newer Q-bank with over 2,000 boards style questions. Consensus on it from students is limited since it is such a new resource, but it is free to sign up until August 2018 after which point they will start charging for their service. The questions tend to be shorter than the other Q-banks

-Medical Physiology: Written by Dr. Walter Boron. A full length text similar to Costanzo's "Physiology" text that can be used to dive deeper into physiology

-Doctors in Training (DIT): A structured study program that includes a video series and questions. Useful for those who have the time to devote to it (and the money, as it is pretty expensive)

-Memorang: A newer service that offers thousands of pre-made flashcards for different topics, including things as broad as the "USMLE Step 1" flashcard deck to as specific as the "Netter's Anatomy" flashcard deck. Includes free trials.

-Dr. Najeeb Lectures: Created by Dr. Syed Najeeb. A video series with white-board-talks delivered by Dr. Najeeb covering topics for boards. The videos are in depth and fairly long

First Aid for the Basic Sciences: Organ Systems: Written by students and reviewed by faculty. A text in the First Aid series that covers the high-yield info for the organ systems.