Efficient USMLE Preparation: Rethinking First Aid Usage

Students should use First Aid as a checklist after studying other resources, not as their primary learning tool.

### Smart Strategies for Using First Aid in USMLE Preparation
* 📚 The First Aid book is a comprehensive **900-plus page resource** that covers about **95% of the concepts tested** in the USMLE exam, but simply rereading it multiple times is **not the most effective study method**.
* 🔍 Instead of relying solely on memorization techniques like flashcards, **understanding the underlying principles** behind the concepts can significantly enhance **retention and comprehension**.
* 🧮 For example, recognizing **patterns or formulas** can help you remember complex information without rote memorization, much like deriving a sequence of numbers through a **simple addition rule**.
* 📊 The First Aid book often lacks detailed explanations, making it **crucial to seek supplementary resources** to grasp complex ideas, such as the differences between **competitive and non-competitive inhibitors**.
* 📝 Students often waste time bouncing between resources and taking notes, which has been shown to have a **minimal impact on long-term memory retention**, leading to a **false sense of understanding**.
* ✅ A more effective approach is to use **First Aid as a checklist** at the end of your study process, verifying that you have **learned all necessary concepts** from other resources.
* 🔔 This strategy allows you to **efficiently confirm your knowledge** without excessive review, ensuring you are **well-prepared for the exam** while minimizing reliance on **memory alone**.
* 👍 If you found this advice helpful, liking the video will **encourage the creation of more educational content** in the future.

If you want to take the USMLE, the first thing you probably heard regarding study resources is the First Aid. It is this 900-plus pages book that covers almost 95% of the concepts that show up on the exam. So, reading it as many times as needed to really grind those concepts into your memory seems like a very logical thing to do, right? Well, no. And in today's video, I'm going to tell you why it's not a good idea and how you can use it more intelligently to improve your score. So, let's get to it. Okay, to explain the point I want to make, let's look at this sequence of numbers. Let's say this represents some enzymes you absolutely need to know for your exam because you're a hundred percent sure they're gonna pop up on the test. Now, if you're like most people, to remember them, you're gonna reach for memorization techniques such as flashcards, rereading them multiple times, that kind of stuff, and you'll probably need several reviews to really grind them.

into your head since there are so many and so random, so you're screwed, right? Well, you're screwed because I'd made you think that you had no other choice but to learn these numbers by memory. If I had taken the time to explain that every number out of the sequence is obtained by adding 2 to a sequence that starts with 6 and ramps up accordingly, you would get every one of those numbers by just remembering the first one, the formula, and doing simple math afterwards. A very similar thing happens with the first state you see. To keep a book with the amount of concepts that the first date has short, you have to cut out most of the explanations out of the book. By doing this, the book creates the illusion that this is all you need to know to perform well on the exam, which is partially true since the concepts are always gonna be tested on the real deal, but it's partially false as well since the behind-the-scenes of why every concept is the way it is has

great significance to help you understand everything, not just based off of memory. To make my case, let's look at this page taken from the first date for many students. The concepts displayed over here are going to be very hard to wrap their heads around, and not surprisingly, very little explanation is given to make sense of those graphs. So, you have two choices to learn this material. First, go to a complementary resource to learn. For example, why the hell is a competitive inhibitor overcome by more substrate while a non-competitive isn't? Or, as a second choice, just re-read this page several times to remember everything. If you're like the first type of student, more power to you, but you can still be a little bit more efficient, and I'll show you how in a couple of seconds. But if you're like the second type of medical student, you're making the exam much harder than it needs to be, and you're making it harder because most of the concepts on the exam can be easily remembered by just understanding the why behind everything.

those why are like your magic formulas to come up with the numbers without actually having to remember the numbers, if that makes sense. The best solution for this problem is very straightforward. You have to learn the formulas before you start reading the text. Students have tried to sort of address this issue by first reading a page, then going ahead and seeing a video, and then annotating the stuff they learned to make sense of the concepts on their first date. But this approach has two big issues. First time, after all, you're jumping between two resources, comparing, contrasting, trying to make sense of one of them with the information on the other, and then annotating back and forth, and that just takes forever, especially considering that most notes are taken by hand. And secondly, those notes you're taking won't help you retain the material any longer. In fact, this has been heavily studied, and all of the evidence points to the same direction, which is taking notes and rereading those notes has a negligible effect on memory, especially long-term memory. The only thing taking notes and

reviewing them has shown to improve familiarity, and familiarity is also known as false comprehension, or in other words, you think you know until you actually get tested. So, what can we do to take full advantage of this compendium of medical facts? Use it as a checklist. That's right, in my opinion, the best way to use the first state is not at the beginning of your prep, but at the end of your prep. It's a checklist to see if every concept you learn through other sources like cubans and videos has been learned. If you learned all the concepts that the book shows you, great. It means you had a good prep, and you know everything, and you have the additional advantage of having extra exposure to the concepts. But if a concept shows up that you didn't learn, that's a red flag. You have to spend some time on it because it may show up on your exam. By using the first date like this, you take full advantage of the book's content without having to spend so much time reviewing.

it over and over again, and you also bypass the problem of having to rely solely on memory to learn the content. Anyways, that was it for the video. If you found it useful and want me to continue uploading more free content such as this one for you, all you need to do is like this video. Thanks for tuning in. See you guys in the next video.

Why Everybody is Misusing The First Aid for the USMLE

Santiago AQ

Using First Aid Effectively for the USMLE

First Aid is a 900-plus page book that covers 95% of the USMLE concepts, but simply rereading it is not the best approach.

Memorization techniques like flashcards may seem necessary, but understanding the underlying patterns and formulas can be more effective.

The book's lack of detailed explanations creates the illusion that it's all you need to know, but understanding the concepts' origins is crucial for success on the exam.

Efficient Learning Strategies for Medical Students

Medical students often struggle to understand complex concepts due to minimal explanations and overwhelming material.

There are two common approaches to learning: seeking complementary resources or re-reading the same material, with the latter being less effective.

The best solution is to learn the underlying formulas before reading the text, as this approach can significantly improve understanding and retention of the material.

Using Medical Fact Compendiums Effectively

Reviewing medical facts can create a false sense of comprehension.

The best way to use the compendium is as a checklist at the end of your preparation.

This approach helps identify any missed concepts that may appear on your exam, allowing you to focus your study time effectively.

Encouragement to Like for More Free Content

The video emphasizes the importance of repetition in learning and offers a solution to bypass relying solely on memory.

The creator requests viewers to like the video if they found it useful, as a way to encourage more free content in the future.

The video concludes with a thank you and a promise to see viewers in the next one.