First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2017 27th Edition

First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 2017 is finally here! The new edition represents thousands of hours of coordinated effort over the past ten months by dozens of student authors and editors, faculty experts, illustrators, and editorial staff. Some of the more notable highlights include:

• 30+ entirely new facts and better organization of related facts throughout the book, such as the neurodegenerative disorders (p. 490), cellular changes (p. 214), and gallstones and related pathologies (p. 379)
• Continued expansion of quality improvement principles, safety science, and healthcare delivery to align more closely with the USMLE Content Outline and student feedback.
• Complete reorganization of the Neurology chapter to better distinguish normal physiology from neuropathology and to emphasize the special senses.
• Improved Rapid Review section now fully cross-referenced to the text, to quickly find these high-yield concepts in context.
• Almost 5,000 specific textual updates culled from more than 50,000 comments and suggestions by experienced medical students and board review experts.
• Over 50 new full-color photos to help visualize various disorders, descriptive findings, and basic science concepts.
• Many imaging photos have been relabeled and optimized to show both normal anatomy and pathologic findings.
• Over 75 new or revised line diagrams that integrate pathophysiology, therapeutics, and diseases into memorable frameworks for annotation and personalization; examples include pages 96 (MHC I and II), 534 (psychiatric diagnoses by symptom duration), and 595 (estrogen).
• Thick, embossed cover and heavy-duty binding for increased durability and longevity.

We are sharing some example redlined pages on our blog:

firstaidteam.com/2016/12/30/whats-new-in-first-aid-for-the-usmle-step-1-2017/

so you can better appreciate the nature and extent of revisions throughout the text. Some edits involve only a few words, but hinge on a subtle yet frequently tested point that students felt was not adequately explained in the 2016 edition.

We hope you enjoy using the 2017 edition as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Verified errata (when yet available) can be found exclusively on our blog FirstAidTeam.com. First Aid for the USMLE Step 1 is a perpetual “work in progress,” and we invite you to share your thoughts and ideas on our blog to help us continually improve the book for future learners.

Best wishes for your studies in the new year,

The First Aid Team