Medical Student Course Guide: MS1 Basic Sciences

* = UC Irvine access only
Required Textbook:

Other Suggested Textbooks, Atlas, and Dissector 

Online Practice Exam

• *Exam Master Online [electronic resource]: USMLE and medical specialty board exams 
  • Available online, access is Restricted to UCI.  Register individually on site.
    • Note: When registering, be sure to use your UCI email. Otherwise, your registration will be denied. For instruction, watch a short video here.
       
  • Anatomy exam questions are available under two groups in Exam Master: Biomedical Sciences and USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
    • Select Biomedical Sciences, then Anatomy (486 questions)
    • Select USMLE
      1. Click on USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
      2. Click on the side triangle to expand the Basic Sciences (1916 questions)
      3. Click on the side triangle to expand the Anatomy (103 questions)

• *BoardVitals - USMLE and Shelf Exam Prep 

BoardVitals is an interactive, high-quality, and effective board review tool that is available through the UCI Libraries subscription. BoardVitals is a collection of test banks that can help you to prepare for the USMLE Steps 1, 2, 3, and Shelf Exams.  The USMLE Step 1 includes 3,304 questions in three difficulty levels (Hard, Moderate, and Easy) with 29 subject topics such as  "Anatomy", "Behavioral Health", "Biochemistry", "Biostatistics and Epidemiology", etc.  In Anatomy, it includes 327 questions. 

• Click here to register.  Note: You MUST first login through the VPN and use your @uci.edu email address when registering for access. 
• Already register, Click here to Log in.

• *Thieme Test Prep for the USMLE®: Clinical Anatomy Q&A. Hankin M, Morse D, Venuti J, Barremkala M, ed. 1st Edition. New York: Thieme; 2019. doi:10.1055/b-006-161186.
  • Access is restricted to UCI. VPN login is requred. 

Course Textbooks: 

Online Practice Exam

• *BoardVitals - USMLE and Shelf Exam Prep: an online exam review tool that students have access to test banks to help prepare for the USMLE Step 1, 2 and 3 and Shelf Exams for eight medical specialties.
  • Under USMLE Step 1, students have access to the Customized Exam for the subject, Behavioral Health with 132 questions and Social Science with 64 questions.  
  • To access, go to BoardVitals and select Register to create a free user access account.  For authorized access, you must use your UCI email when registering for a user account.  If done remotely, be sure to go through the VPN with your UCInetID and password.  After initial registration, click here to login.
     
• *Exam Master Online [electronic resource]: USMLE and medical specialty board exams
  • Available online, access Restricted to UCI.  Register individually on site.
    • Note: When register, be sure to use your UCI email. Otherwise your registration will be denied. For instruction, watch a short video here.
       
  • Behavioral Sciences exam questions are available under USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
    • Select USMLE
      1. Click on USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
      2. Click on the side triangle to expand the Basic Sciences (1916 questions)
      3. Click on the side triangle to expand the Behavioral Sciences (103 questions)

Study Guides

• Histology Guide - Virtual Microscopy Laboratory by Robert L. Sorenson and T. Clark Brelje, Ph.D.
  "Histology Guide teaches the visual art of recognizing the structure of cells and tissues and understanding how this is determined by their function. Rather than reproducing information found in a histology textbook, a user is shown how to apply this knowledge to interpret cells and tissues as viewed through a microscope."

Core Note:

Online Practice Exam

• *Exam Master Online [electronic resource]: USMLE and medical specialty board exams
  • Available online, access Restricted to UCI.  Register individually on site.
    • Note: When register, be sure to use your UCI email. Otherwise your registration will be denied. For instruction, watch a short video here.
       
  • Histology exam questions are available under two groups in Exam Master: Biomedical Sciences and USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
    • Select Biomedical Sciences, then Cytology and Histology (1185 questions)
    • Select USMLE
      1. Click on USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
      2. Click on the side triangle to expand the Basic Sciences (1916 questions)
      3. Click on the side triangle to expand the Cytology and Histology (126 questions)
          
• *BoardVitals - USMLE and Shelf Exam Prep 

BoardVitals is an interactive, high-quality, and effective board review tool that is subscribed by the UCI Libraries. This is a collection of test banks that can help you to prepare for the USMLE Step 1, 2, 3, and Shelf Exams.  For USMLE Step 1, BoardBitals provides access to 3,304 questions in three difficulty levels (Hard, Moderate, and Easy) with 29 subject topics including  "Anatomy", "Behavioral Health", "Biochemistry", "Biostatistics and Epidemiology", etc.  

• Click here to register.  Note: You MUST first login through the VPN and use your @uci.edu email address when register for access. 
• Already register, Click here to Log in.

Online Practice Exam

• *BoardVitals - USMLE and Shelf Exam Prep 

BoardVitals is an interactive, high-quality, and effective board review tool that is available through the UCI Libraries subscription. This is a collection of test banks that can help you to prepare for the USMLE Step 1, 2, 3, and Shelf Exams. For USMLE Step 1, BoardVitals provides access to 3,304 questions in three difficulty levels (Hard, Moderate, and Easy) with 29 subject topics such as  "Anatomy", "Behavioral Health", "Biochemistry", "Biostatistics and Epidemiology", etc.  Biochemistry includes 164 questions. 

• Click here to register.  Note: You MUST first login through the VPN and use your @uci.edu email address when register for access. 
• Already register, Click here to Log in.

• *Exam Master Online [electronic resource]: USMLE and medical specialty board exams 
  • Available online, access Restricted to UCI.  Register individually on site.
    • Note: When register, be sure to use your UCI email. Otherwise your registration will be denied. For instruction, watch a short video here.
       
  • Biochemistry exam questions are available under two groups in Exam Master: Biomedical Sciences and USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
    • Select Biomedical Sciences, then Biochemistry (1310 questions)
    • Select USMLE
      1. Click on USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
      2. Click on the side triangle to expand the Basic Sciences (1916 questions)
      3. Click on the side triangle to expand the Biochemistry (68 questions)

Online Practice Exam

• *BoardVitals USMLE and Shelf Exam Prep [electronic resource]:  This resource provides medical students with advanced board preparation and review resources, which includes high yield questions banks and practice exams for USMLE and Shelf Exam. The NBME Shelf Exams question banks have been specifically adapted for the Medical School Student Level. They include thousands of multiple-choice questions (MCQ), vignettes, and long-form questions for use during clerkship rotations.  For USMLE Step 1, Genetics includes 145 questions. 

  • To access, go to BoardVitals and select Register to create a free user access account.  For authorized access, you must use your UCI email when registering for a user account.  If done remotely, be sure to go through the VPN with your UCInetID and password. 
  • After initial registration, click here to login.
    • After login, select the green Go button for USMLE Step 1. 
    • Select the box for Genetics (145)

PubMed@UCI

• Accessing PubMed at UC Irvine (video)
• PubMed Search Basics at UC Irvine (video)
• Using the UC-eLinks in PubMed (video)
• PubMed® Online Training

Recommended Course Text

Study Guides

Online Practice Exam

• *Exam Master Online [electronic resource]: USMLE and medical specialty board exams

  • Available online, access Restricted to UCI.  Register individually on site.

    • Note: When register, be sure to use your UCI email. Otherwise, your registration will be denied. After the registration, please check your email to activate your access. For instruction, watch a short video here.

  • Immunology exam questions are available under two groups in Exam Master: Biomedical Sciences, USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review, and the USMLE Step 1 Board Preparation. 

    • [Note: Recently updated, this module is designed to emulate the look and feel of the actual Step 1 exam in accordance with the USMLE blueprint. As with the actual exam, the majority of questions will be case-based, while a small percentage of General Principle, factual recall questions will be available.]

• Select Biomedical Sciences, then Immunology (218 questions)

• Select USMLE

  1. Click on USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review

  2. Click on the side triangle to expand the Basic Sciences (1916 questions)

  3. Click on the side triangle to expand the Immunology (21 questions)

• BoardVitals - USMLE and Shelf Exam Prep 

BoardVitals is an interactive, high-quality, and effective board review tool that is available through the UCI Libraries subscription. This is a collection of test banks that can help you to prepare for the USMLE Step 1, 2, 3, and Shelf Exams. For USMLE Step 1, BoardVitals provides access to 3,304 questions in three difficulty levels (Hard, Moderate, and Easy) with 29 subject topics such as  "Anatomy", "Behavioral Health", "Biochemistry", "Biostatistics and Epidemiology", etc.  For USMLE, Immune System includes 204 questions. 

• Click here to register.  Note: You MUST first login through the VPN and use your @uci.edu email address when register for access. 
• Already register, Click here to Log in.

* = UC Irvine access only

Course Required Text:

Study Guides

The week before the exam

The day before the exam

Online Practice Exam

• *Exam Master Online [electronic resource]: USMLE and medical specialty board exams
  • Available online, access Restricted to UCI.  Register individually on site.
    • Note: When register, be sure to use your UCI email. Otherwise, your registration will be denied. After the registration, please check your email to activate your access. For instruction, watch a short video here.
       
  • Physiology exam questions are available under two groups in Exam Master: Biomedical Sciences, the USMLE Step 1 Board Preparation. and USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
    • Select Biomedical Sciences, then Physiology (1482 questions)
    • Select USMLE
      1. Click on USMLE Step 1 Medical Subject Review
      2. Click on the side triangle to expand the Basic Sciences (1916 questions)
      3. Click on the side triangle to expand the Physiology (172 questions)

• *BoardVitals - USMLE and Shelf Exam Prep 

BoardVitals is an interactive, high-quality, and effective board review tool that is available through the UCI Libraries subscription. This is a collection of test banks that can help you to prepare for the USMLE Step 1, 2, 3, and Shelf Exams.  The USMLE Step 1 provides access to 3,304 questions in three difficulty levels (Hard, Moderate, and Easy) with 29 subject topics such as  "Anatomy", "Behavioral Health", "Biochemistry", "Biostatistics and Epidemiology", etc. In USMLE 1,  Physiology includes 343 and Cardiovascular System includes 435 questions.    

• Click here to register.  Note: You MUST first login through the VPN and use your @uci.edu email address when register for access. 
• Already register, Click here to Log in.

Online Supplemental Texts

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