Micro first: the 28 immunology organisms, each with the defect that lets it in. Then active reading of First Aid pp. 94–119 on the First Aid Guide with the MCQs on every page, then the Mehlman Medical immunology playlist, then the FA Foundation Anki immunology cards, then UWorld immunology on Day 5 with the RPSR method.
Read this first. This plan is only for you if you have roughly 10–12 hours a day for studying, and you're either an intern or a graduate. Working, with 5–8 hours a day? Keep the same order and stretch the days: Step 1 while working →
Immunology feels abstract. Cytokines, CD markers, complement, 10 kinds of immunodeficiency, and none of it feels like a patient. So people read it 3 times and still can't answer a question on it.
Here's what changes it. Every immunology question is really 2 questions: which defect does this patient have, and which bug got in because of it. That's why micro comes first in immunology. Once you know the bugs by their defect, the chapter has something to hang on.
After the micro, it's the method I use for every system: how to study any system → Immuno is doable in 5 days.
Immunology starts with its own organisms: 28 organisms, each with the defect that lets it in. Immunology has no Pharm pill; its drugs, the immunosuppressants, are pp. 118–119, read on Day 3. These are the full guides.
Immunology is the 6th system, after endocrine and right before heme-onc (immunology → heme-onc is a fixed order). Cardio comes last. Tap a system to open its guide.
Open the First Aid Guide → Immunology in the Vault (what the First Aid Guide is) → the Micro pill. Every other system's micro list answers "which bug infects this organ". This one answers "which bug gets in when this defect exists". Learn every organism as a pair with its defect, or you've learnt half of it.
Open Immunology in the First Aid GuideFirst Aid pp. 94–119, page by page: Focus On, ELI5 and the MCQs on every page. Opens straight into immunology.
Micro · 28 organisms · the WRWRT method.Watch at 1x, no notes → Recall the story in order, and say the defect out loud with it → Watch again only the gaps at 1.5–1.75x → Read the Sketchy PDF → Test with the First Aid Guide MCQs for those organisms.
Antibody defects, asplenia: the encapsulated bugs: S. pneumoniae, H. influenzae type B, N. meningitidis, Klebsiella, Group B strep, Salmonella, Pseudomonas. Enteroviruses in Bruton's.
Complement C5–C9:N. meningitidis (recurrent), N. gonorrhoeae (disseminated).
The overlaps are on purpose.N. meningitidis sits under antibody defects and complement defects. Candida is mucocutaneous with T-cell defects and invasive with CGD. Same organism, different reason, and the reason is what the question turns on.
Immunology has no pharm list on the map. The immunosuppressants (pp. 118–119) are read on Day 3 like any other page.
Before Day 2: what the First Aid Guide is
First Aid was written to remind, not to teach. The First Aid Guide gives every page a Focus On, a Concept Walkthrough, an ELI5 for each heading, How is this tested?, and the Test Yourself MCQs on that exact page. It also tells you what to skip. Page 94, lymphoid structures, opens with this study note:
Study note, p. 94: "Not much important other than paracortex."
First Aid p. 114 (B-cell immunodeficiencies) in the First Aid Guide: Focus On, the ELI5s, the video guide, Concept walkthrough, Key takeaways, How is this tested? and Test yourself.
Day 2 → first half of Day 3
Active reading: First Aid pp. 94–119
1
Focus On → 2. Concept Walkthrough and ELI5s, explained out loud → 3. the actual First Aid page → 4. the Test Yourself MCQs. Any miss → back to that heading before you turn the page.
Pace:10–12 minutes a page. 19 pages on Day 2, 7 on the morning of Day 3. Understand, don't memorise.
Day 2 · pp. 94–112 (19 pages)
Pages
Topic
94–96
Lymphoid structures, lymphatic drainage, spleen and thymus
97–101
Innate vs adaptive, MHC I and II, NK cells, T-cell differentiation, T and B cell activation
For immunology, Mehlman is very good. Honestly amazing. He takes the immunodeficiency and hypersensitivity questions that all look alike and shows you the 1 clue that rules an answer in and the clue that rules it out.
1
Videos, not PDFs. The full immunology playlist, in order. Watch the walkthrough in the University section first.
2
Pause before he answers. Answer it yourself. Any gap → that First Aid Guide page, the same day.
The FA Foundation Anki immunology deck is 113 cards (as of October 2026), First Aid page by page, with the page number on every card. Answer before you flip. Hesitate → open that page, read the line and a couple above and below.
A FA Foundation Anki card (renal shown), flipped: First Aid p. 597 on the card, and “Study this in First Aid” under the answer. The immunology deck works the same way.
Run the FA Foundation Anki · Immunology deck113 cards (as of October 2026), First Aid page by page, with the page number on every card. Opens straight into the deck.
Unused · All subjects · Immune system only · Tutor, untimed · 20 questions. 2 blocks, then review every bookmark (wrong, or right by guessing) back in its First Aid line, 5–6 minutes a question at most. Then the next 2. You're not meeting immunology here. You're proving you own it.
Target:65% or above. Last 2 blocks under 60%? Back to the Mehlman videos for those topics, then the First Aid pages behind them.
Immuno is finished when every immunology question is attempted, every miss is traced to its page, and your last 2 blocks held above 65%. Immunology has about 120 UWorld questions on the Vault schedule: 6 blocks, all on Day 5. If that runs into Day 6, it runs into Day 6. When is a system actually finished? →
Later, for your NBMEs: NBME Booster Anki · ImmunologyThe immunology questions from retired NBME forms 20 to 34 and the Free 120, as cards. Not for now: open it when your NBME phase starts. What the Booster is →
Immunology → heme-onc is a fixed order. Immunology sets up the cell biology that heme-onc then applies. Before heme-onc, you also do the biochem of molecular, cellular and amino acid metabolism. Heme-onc in 6 days → · Where each piece of biochem goes →
What not to do
Do not learn the organisms without their defect. The defect is the half the exam tests.
Do not open UWorld before Day 5. Wrong order, wrong conclusion about yourself.
Do not memorise every CD marker on Day 2. Understanding is Day 2's job. Recall is Day 4's.
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