11/24/2008 Step-Up to USMLE Step 1: Succeed and excel on the boards

Step-Up to USMLE Step 1

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We are the authors of Step-Up to USMLE Step 1, a comprehensive review text written for medical students preparing for the USMLE Step 1 Examination.  As the first national licensing exam encountered by medical students, the USMLE Step 1 can often be a source of anxiety.  We envisioned a high-yield, systems based review text that contains core concepts and heavily tested facts on the boards organized into an easy-to-read outline format.  This book is the first of its kind to organize the basic science disciplines into organ systems presenting clinically relevant information on the anatomy, physiology, and pathology of an organ system all in one chapter instead of in several books.  In our latest edition, we added clinical vignettes to help students integrate and apply basic science concepts in clinical scenarios, much like the USMLE Step 1 exam tests students.  Supplemented with numerous study aids from high-yield tables and figures to mnemonics and quick hits, this book is designed to help students succeed and excel on the boards.

Sonul Mehta, MD
Sonul Mehta received her doctorate in medicine from Drexel University College of Medicine in 2007 and is currently an ophthalmology resident at Georgetown University-Washington Hospital Center.

Sonia Mehta, MD
Sonia Mehta received her doctorate in medicine from Boston University School of Medicine in 2007 and is currently an ophthalmology resident at the University of Pennsylvania.

Student suggestions and feedback are always welcomed and appreciated by the Step-Up team.  Please send feedback and suggestions for new study material and test taking strategies by writing the authors at the email address below.   Students can also directly submit new mnemonics, quick hits, tables, and figures.  For each entry incorporated into the text, students names will be listed and personally acknowledged in the next edition.  If duplicate entries are received, the first to submit will be acknowledged.

To make an entry, or to provide feedback and suggestions, contact Sonia.Mehta@uphs.upenn.edu

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Disclaimer: Please note, submissions become the property of LWW.

There are so many different resources out there for Step 1. What makes Step-Up to USMLE Step 1 different?
That is a great question and one that we answer regularly.  You are correct – there are a myriad of resources out there for the Step 1 examination.

Step-Up was conceived to optimize your study time.  It was and has continued to be written and edited by medical students — so the content is fresh and succinct.  Step-Up is also comprehensive – one-stop shopping, if you will.  With your time constraints, having to find and organize multiple resources is not easy.  Furthermore, to make sure that with those multiple resources, you have not missed any important facts is hard to do (especially, when you don’t know what you don’t know).  Finally, Step-Up is organized just like the Step 1 Examination – by system.  It was the first Step 1 book on the market that was systems based – a format that others have attempted to duplicate.  Because it was the first systems-based Step 1 review book, it has been through many iterations and has been vetted to give you the most comprehensive product available.

Supplementing Step-Up with questions and cases can also only benefit your studying and score.  And, creating and sticking to a study schedule is also very very important.

Ultimately, there are many resources available to you — but Step Up provides a concise, comprehensive, systems-based, one-stop book which you can utilize throughout your course work and to book-end your Step 1 study schedule! —Samir Mehta, MD

Is this book recommended for students in the United Kingdom?
The book was designed around the United States Medical Licensing Examination.  However, understanding the content of what is in the text is essential to any individual within the medical profession.  One of the wonderful things about medicine is that it is universal — the language, the disease, and the treatment options.  While there may be some geographic variation, the foundation is the same.  Therefore, this book is valuable to any indvidual who is early in their study of medicine. —Samir Mehta, MD

As a Physician Assistant student doing rounds with 3rd year medical students, you can imagine all we hear about is “the Step 1!” In the past, I’ve had good experience studing for the PA exams with books designed more specifically for med students. In your opinion, do you think this book would be as invaluable to other types of students in the medical field as it is to med students? I appreciate your imput.
Step-Up to Step 1 was originally geared towards medical students.  However, we have heard that many individuals within the medical profession — particularly the allied health fields like physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and nursing students — have utilized both Step-Up and Step-Up the Bedside.  The first provides a foundation and the second (To the Bedside) has practical, clinical cases which implement those funds of knowledge.  Step-Up should provide a physician assistant engaged in clinical activity an excellent vocabulary and understanding in an effort to enhance communication and patient care. —Samir Mehta, MD

Does Step-up to USMLE Step 1 shed some light on the various radiological images like CT, X-ray, MRI, Angiogram…etc?
Step-Up and even more so, Step-Up to the Bedside, do have content related to diagnostic imaging.  The content relates to when certain imaging modalities are useful and what the common findings on imaging modalities may be based on the disease process being discussed.  There are no dedicated chapters to diagnostic imaging as one would find in a radiology textbook … the content is incorportated into the chapters or into the clinical cases where appropriate. —Samir Mehta, MD

Thank you for such a wonderful textbook. I used one of the previous editions when I was studying for Step I. Are there any plans to add practice questions to the book?
Thanks for the post! We are in the midst of releasing online practice questions for the USMLE Step 1 with the next edition of Step-Up. We are very excited about their addition to the Step-Up line. —Samir Mehta, MD

What is the number one tip you have for taking the boards and passing your first time?
There are a number of factors that will influence performance and passage of the USMLE Step 1.  Here are two factors which stand out in our minds:

1. Performance and persistence during the first two years of medical school. The USMLE Step 1 tests basic science knowledge that has been amassed over the first two years of medical school. It is difficult to “cram” all that knowledge in a few weeks’ span right before the Step 1 examination unless a foundation already exists.
2. Creating a reasonable study schedule and sticking to it is important. A suggested study schedule is available on this website and can be modified to fit your needs. But, it is important that it is realistic and that you stick to it. —Samir Mehta, MD