Microcards: Review Cards for Medical Students

Rating:
Summary: End your search for a good Step I Micro review source!
Review: I am not a big fan of published flash cards, because they are always sparse and poorly organized. Not these little gems! There is a single card for each of the major bugs (including fungi, protozoa and helminths) and each card has a brief vignette on the front with an image of the microscopic appearance of the organism and a family tree of where the bug fits into the big picture. The back of each card gives information on clinical presentation, pathobiology, diagnosis, and treatment, as well as useful quick facts and study tips.

I found that micro was the single subject on Step I that was most difficult to locate a good study resource for. These cards ended my search, and I subsequently crushed Step I. Cheers to Microcards!

Rating:
Summary: THE MOST CONCISE MICRO REVIEW CARDS ON THE MARKET
Review: The first 7 cards are on the organ systems and the various microbes that infect the system. Example is the card for the Gastrointestinal System Infections: it includes a line drawing of the entire system with pins to the organs along with a list of the microbes that infect that organ and the card number of said microbe. Before each microbe section there is a dichotomous key for biochemical test reactions/antibiotic reactions and on the back of that card all the key things you need to know for the group of microbes. There are 22 cards for Gram Positive, 21 for Gram Negative, 13 cards in "other bacteria" (this includes acid-fast, spirochetes, rickettsia, and chlamydia), 26 cards for the RNA viruses, 11 cards for the DNA viruses, 9 cards for the fungi, 9 cards for protozoa, and 11 cards for helminths. The set also contains a card with a spread sheet on the the Hepatitis Virus and a card on HIV and AIDS listing clinical info and opportunistic infections. Each microbe card contains the following information: Clinical Presentation, Pathobiology, Diagnosis, Treatment, Quick Facts, and a Clinical Case Study (thats 122 medical case studies in all, better than most books on the market). The set is 140 cards total. The cards are printed on top quality heavy card stock. These cards are perfect for anyone in the Allied Health Field, Medical Laboratory Science, Microbiology, and for anyone interested in Infectious Disease.

Rating:
Summary: Great to review
Review: These cards were very useful while studying for my microbiology test (in medical school). While the cards are not comprehensive, they do cover the material you are likely encounter on tests. The cards are very well organized by types of organisms, which helps in memorizing. There are also a few summary cards, which gives you a kind of "road map" so that you know how a specific organism is related to others.