Block 4 Resources

This block is a “random” mix of topics! You will cover lots of repro, intro to immunology and intro to microbiology.

Update 3/17/2025: Per Dr. Furrer, there were multiple changes from 2024 to re-do lectures, test questions, etc. to reflect the material covered.

Resources

For PBL:

• Third Party Study Resources
  • Sketchy Micro – Update 3/17/2025 – Per Dr. Furrer, it’s an “option”, but it is also too big for Block 4 and a lot of it would be more applicable for Block 5.
  • Sketchy Pharm
  • Boards and Beyond
  • AnKing/Anki
    • Lizzy’s Block 4 immunology Anki decks for McKarns lectures*
  • First Aid
  • How the Immune System Works by Lauren Sompayrac – Simplifies immunology and many people seem to like this textbook
• Resources for objectives
  •  Statpearls
  • Amboss
  • UpToDate
  • AccessMedicine
  • Primary literature
• Practice questions
  • ABG Ninja
  • AMBOSS
  • Board Review Series
  • Boards and Beyond
  • USMLERx

For anatomy:

• Make Anki cards over the anatomy lectures (or use PrAnki anatomy – see General Study Tips)
• University of Michigan anatomy practice questions
• BlueLink Anki Deck: pre-made Anki deck with images of dissections from University of Michigan

For Histology:

• Lectures will have everything you need (make flashcards)
• Histology Self-Exam atlas (best for testing yourself): make flashcards from this atlas
• Blue Histology Quizzes – No longer accessible (use this link)
• Digital Histology – website that has slides, labels, and descriptions for the histology of all tissues and organ systems
• Anki decks:
  • PrAnki Histology deck* for block 4 
  • SAnki Block 4 Histology deck*
  • Liam Cler’s Krause Atlas Histology deck*

For IPC:

• Do the practice questions in Gordis Epidemiology for each of the chapters in the syllabus. Some will be out-of-scope, so do the ones that you learned about!
• Do the small group work, then do it again. Make sure you understand all of the equations, incidence/prevalence/PPV/NPV, relative risk, odds ratio, etc. 
• If you do the small group work and practice questions, you should be fine on the exam!

General Advice

1. Don’t leave Sketchy Micro and Pharm until the end! Watch the videos early and unsuspend the corresponding Anki cards. Update 3/17/2025 – See note above about Sketchy Micro
2. Immunology lectures are really important this block! Make sure you understand them.
3. Study virology more than you think you need to! Specifically orthomyxovirus, CMV, EBV, coronavirus, and general stuff about HIV and Hep B.

*Disclaimer: Students should know that these flashcards are not provided by nor sanctioned by the School of Medicine. We have not checked them for accuracy, nor for whether the questions represent an appropriate balance of information, so they may not be representative of everything the students are expected to know. We recommend that students create their own study materials and believe they will get far more learning and understanding if they make their own flashcards rather than if they use pre-made ones.