FCPS Part 1 Notes & Resources: SK Golden Files, First Aid, AA Notes — What's Actually Worth Using

Every FCPS Part 1 candidate ends up with the same stack of files on their phone: SK Surgery and SK Medicine golden files, a First Aid PDF someone's senior passed down, and a set of AA (Double-A) notes photocopied through three study groups before it reached you. These have become a fixture of FCPS Part 1 prep culture in Pakistan — not because CPSP endorses them, but because candidates keep compiling and re-sharing condensed notes to survive a syllabus this broad. Here's what each of them actually is, where they genuinely help, and where they quietly cost you marks.

SK Surgery and SK Medicine Golden Files

These are condensed, candidate-compiled short notes — usually scanned or photocopied, circulated as PDFs or CamScanner exports — covering high-yield facts subject by subject for Surgery and Medicine. They're popular for a reason: someone has already done the work of pulling out the facts that keep showing up, so a last-week read-through covers a lot of ground fast.

The limitation is built into the format. Golden files are notes, not questions — reading a fact and being able to pick the right answer under a CPSP-style distractor set are two different skills. And because these files pass through many hands with no editorial process, errors and outdated facts creep in and never get corrected. There's also no way to know, from a notes file, which of those facts you've actually retained and which you just recognized while reading.

First Aid

First Aid is the well-known USMLE Step 1 review book, and some FCPS Part 1 candidates cross-reference it for basic sciences — Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pathology, Pharmacology — since there's real overlap between USMLE Step 1 content and CPSP's Paper 1 basic sciences syllabus.

The overlap is real, but it's not a map. First Aid is organized around what USMLE tests, not what CPSP tests, so some sections go deeper than Part 1 needs while other CPSP-heavy topics get thin coverage. It's also, like the golden files, a reading resource — it doesn't tell you whether you can actually apply what you just read to a one-best-answer MCQ in CPSP's exact style.

AA (Double-A) Notes

AA notes follow the same pattern as the SK files — condensed, candidate-authored short notes that circulate widely as a last-revision resource. Same strength (fast, dense coverage), same limitation (no self-testing, no way to verify what's actually sunk in, and no correction process if something in the notes is wrong or out of date).

The Gap Every One of These Shares

None of these resources — golden files, First Aid, AA notes — let you actually test yourself against CPSP's one-best-answer format with instant feedback on what you got wrong and why. That's the part that determines your Part 1 result: not how much you've read, but how well you can apply it under the exact pressure and phrasing style of the real exam. Reading notes tells you what you were exposed to. Answering MCQs and reviewing the explanation for every wrong answer tells you what you actually know.

A Better Way to Use Them Together

The candidates who do well don't pick one resource over another — they use short notes (SK files, AA notes, or your own) for fast final-week revision, and drive the actual months-long study loop through MCQ practice with explanations, so every session tells them exactly which topic needs another pass. Notes compress; practice reveals gaps.

For both Paper 1 and Paper 2, HighYield's FCPS Part 1 Surgery and Allied and FCPS Part 1 Medicine and Allied question banks are built from past papers and verified recalls at the same postgraduate depth.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are SK Golden Files, First Aid, or AA Notes enough to pass FCPS Part 1 on their own?

Rarely on their own. Part 1 tests whether you can apply basic-sciences knowledge under CPSP's specific one-best-answer format, not just whether you've read the material — notes alone don't build or measure that skill. Most candidates who pass comfortably pair condensed notes with structured MCQ practice rather than relying on notes alone.

Should I use First Aid for FCPS Part 1 basic sciences?

It can be a useful supplementary read for the subjects that overlap with USMLE Step 1, but it isn't written to CPSP's syllabus or format, so treat it as a supplement to CPSP-aligned material and past-paper style MCQ practice, not a replacement for either.

Do golden files and short notes go out of date?

They can — since they pass through many hands with no correction process, factual errors and outdated guidance can persist for years. Cross-check anything that looks off against a current textbook or your syllabus before trusting it on exam day.