Top Review Books for 1st Year Medical Students

Medical students are often swamped with enormous amounts of material and need efficient ways of studying to sort everything out. Hundreds of different review books have been published to help aid these students drowning in piles of convoluted notes and thick textbooks. Some of these review texts are excellent and offer great study tools while some are simply a waste of time and should not be bothered with. Here are some of my suggestions for great review books helpful in the first year of medical school.

Board Review Series: Physiology

BRS is an incredibly popular series of review books for medical students. I found the BRS Physiology, by Costanzo, to be an exceptionally good one in the series. Subject material was broken down in a useful, organized fashion, yet it did not feel too dense to be covered. It also helped immensely when taking the mock board (mini board) for physiology. The practice questions are fairly decent too and are super helpful in reviewing key concepts.

USMLE Road Map: Gross Anatomy

I really, really enjoyed the Gross Anatomy Road Map review book. It was not too hard to read but still covered a lot of material. Concepts were covered in a logical fashion and focused on the high yield, important facts. I used this book extensively for the mock board anatomy and wished I had used it for more in-house exam studying. Honestly, gross anatomy is one of the heavy classes, in terms of amount of material covered and a good review book is a must. Definitely pick up this book if you are taking a medical school anatomy course. Do no rely on it for the lab and cadaver dissection stuff (get a good atlas for that, such as Netter's), but for lecture material and USMLE stuff, it is great.

First Aid for Step 1

First Aid is a must-have for medical students. It covers the most high-yield topics from each subject on the Step 1 USMLE exam. I have been using this material extensively for the board preparation and have found it light and easy to digest. Of course, other materials are needed to prepare for this as well, but the First Aid text is really vital for such studying. Not only does this book cover subject material on Step 1, but it gives an amazing ratings section on different medical review textbooks available. Check out this book as soon as you can if you are a first or second year medical student.

These are just some of the review books I have found useful for the 1^st year of medical school. Of course, every person has a different way of studying and may or may not find these review books useful. Check out several different ones and find what works best for you. Remember, medical school can be rough, but there is loads of helpful material available in print and online!