Exam Prep Orientation
What's on the USMLE Step 1 Pharmacology Exam?
USMLE provides an official content outline for Step 1, broken down by body system. Below is a summary of each system's pharmacology-related topics -- expand a system to see what's tested and which part of the course covers it.
As always, Catapult Pharmacology offers a comprehensive review of pharmacology, including video lectures, quizzes, written summaries, and flashcards to help you memorize drug names and facts.
Start learning todayDisorders Associated with Immunodeficiency
- Deficiency primarily of humoral immunity (e.g. common variable immunodeficiency, hyper-IgM syndrome, Bruton agammaglobulinemia, selective IgA/IgM/IgE deficiency)
- Deficiency/dysfunction primarily of cell-mediated immunity (e.g. adenosine deaminase deficiency, DiGeorge syndrome, SCID, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome)
- Complement deficiency (e.g. C2/C3b deficiency, C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency/hereditary angioedema, mannose-binding lectin deficiency)
- Deficiency of phagocytic cells and natural killer cells (e.g. Chediak-Higashi disease, chronic granulomatous disease)
HIV/AIDS
- HIV-1 and HIV-2; AIDS and its complications (neuropathy, dementia, renal insufficiency)
- Immune reconstitution syndrome (IRIS); secondary infections and noninfectious complications (e.g. Kaposi sarcoma)
Immunologically Mediated Disorders
- Hypersensitivity reactions: type 1, 2, 3 (including anaphylaxis), and type 4, including drug reactions and serum sickness
- Transplantation: rejection and graft-versus-host disease
Adverse Effects of Drugs on the Immune System
- Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction
- Drugs affecting the immune system (e.g. prednisone, azathioprine, cyclosporine, methotrexate)
- Monoclonal antibody drugs (e.g. abciximab, adalimumab, bevacizumab, infliximab, omalizumab, rituximab)
- Vaccine adverse effects
Ready to start studying?
Every system above is covered in the course, with video lessons, flashcards, and quizzes built around exactly these high-yield mechanisms and adverse effects.
This page summarizes topics from the publicly available USMLE Content Outline for exam-prep orientation purposes. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USMLE, FSMB, or NBME.