Deja Review Pharmacology, Second Edition

I struggled to find a resource to help me wade through and memorize drugs, but found it with this book. Short and to the point, it's got most of what you need for Step 1, and I can't say enough good things about the format. Perfect for absorbing rote information and helping you sort out answer choices on the exam. I got a reasonable grip on pharm concept from courses and FA, but still found myself stumbling on pharm stuff in the qBanks (don't get me started on the dense uselessness of the Lange deck). I needed to find a resource that would let me quickly and repeatedly hammer home drug information, and this book had exactly what I was looking for. I became a believer in the Deja Review series after I found this book and bought most of the series (most are awesome, a few are bad). The key here is to not over-utilize this book, and to recognize it for what it is. It is a way to help you rote memorize drugs, mechanisms, side effects, etc. But it is not a text designed to help you understand pharmacology or drugs. So, if you find yourself struggling with concepts, this book is probably not for you. If you find yourself struggling with the drugs themselves, you've just found what you're looking for.

This book is how I became (and still am) proficient at the “drugs” aspect of “bugs and drugs” in medical school without using Sketchy. Every medical student knows microbiology and pharmacology are essentially rote memorization after you learn the basic concepts, and the Deja Vu Review series is a top-tier product toward that end. I was put in charge of microbes and antibiotics knowledge for review within my test prep group, and I attribute a large part of that to coming back to these books periodically. The series utilizes some of the most effective strategies in educational learning theory through its question and answer style format, a bit of interleaving, and helpful mnemonics. Simply cover the one side of the page as you quiz yourself; repeat PRN. As a tutor, I recommended them to my students struggling with bugs and drugs. Since the book was already several years old at the time, some of the information was outdated and some more was missing for new drug classes, e.g. anticoagulants or diabetes medications. 80-90% of the information included, however, was still current, and it was still helpful in augmenting the fundamentals of pharmacodynamics as it applied to each class. The pharmacology book in the Deja Vu Review series falls just short of the extreme helpfulness of the micro chapters of micro/immuno book, though it still has a place in any serious review lineup for long-term retention. For the price (was single digit dollars amount at the time), this darkhorse is a steal.

Used this book for various classes so far and it is an extremely fast and simple way to learn important facts about the drugs that most commonly appear on the NBME/USMLE tests. Some sections are stronger than others (CNS agents being one of the stronger sections, illicit drugs being weaker, for example). The facts are not specific to physiology/biochemistry, but do a great job of integrating the tidbits with actual medicine. The vignettes at the end of each chapter focus heavily on pharmacology rather than treatment/protocol so I wouldn't recommend it for anything beyond Step 1. It's not as long as other pharm-specific review texts (say, BRS) and I would imagine it is possible to go through the book 2 or 3 times in the course of Step 1 studying. My one complaint is that sometimes the answer to one question is in the next one, so you have to use a little discipline to avoid seeing it.

There are definitely things in here that are overkill for step 1, but it's easy enough to get through and a great way to learn drugs. I waited until the last 2 weeks of step studying and blew through this my pharm when from in danger of failing to off the chart on test day. If you feel you can learn pharm from the charts in FA, that's enough, but I preferred the q and a format of Deja Review.

I am stuck on how to really learn the pharm for step 1 and thought this was going to be my answer. Maybe I had my hopes up too high but I am actually quite disappointed. Although some of the book has important points a lot of it is made up of fillers with the kind of random facts that about drugs that only a pretty bad lecturer in medical school would ask. This makes the book longer than it should be and harder to pick out what you need to know. I guess I will still try using it together with First Aid and only look at the ones that are covered by it but honestly you would not miss out at all if you don't buy it.

It's small, light, easy to read and easy to study from. It's a perfect little guide for high-yield pharmacology questions you can easily read and memorize before a test.

It's a quick review for pharmacology. I don't recommend studying solely from this book obviously, but it is an easy book to read on the go. It uses a Q & A format that you can cover the answer and just quiz yourself on the go when. The questions are all short and so are the answers. I used this book whenever I am on a bus or before I go to sleep. I think it's pretty helpful to highlight some of the important points in lengthy pharm books. It is reasonably "high yield" for step 1 but I don't think it is a necessary book to have if you want to achieve a high score...

I love the double columns of question and answer. It's a nice thin book I can read during breaks from qbanks and hardcore study sessions. Helped solidify pharm from First Aid that was just not sticking. Only caveat is that some of the info seems to be overboard (i.e. geared to Step 2 CK, and MS-3 year). Ignoring that, the rest is nice, organized, and concise.

Easy concise info in a simple way.........though rich in content and in meaning.............can be used to test yourself in an easy rapid way.........

Muito útil para professores e alunos. Os casos clínicos cumprem sua função de provocar o raciocínio sobre o assunto, além de ajudar na fixação dos mecanismos e nomes de fármacos.

Very good consiced book