The Finseth Review

Brief Cases in Clinical Neurology

The Finseth Review was developed in 2011 as a medical student project to develop a more concise and efficient neurology shelf exam preparation tool. It has been an underground success and has been a clutch resource for students at Ohio State, where it was created, and spread by word of mouth to schools around the country by sharing PDF files. The Finseth Review app was created in 2025, with question revisions to add newer content and revise/update old content and allow additional features such as easy access to all and quizzing.

This review is intended to supplement your medical education in neurology with the primary purpose of preparing you for the Clinical Neurology NBME “Shelf” Exam and the Neurology portion of USMLE Step 2 Exam. Some students solely use this as their preparation tool while others supplement other resources and use this as a last minute "rapid fire" way to secure their knowledge before the test. The Finseth Review was created by focusing on "testable" material - 1)common problems, their pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment 2)emergent problems and the next step and 3) clinical syndromes that have pathognomonic characteristics, making them easily testable. We hope that seeing these clinical syndromes in vignette format will help you recognize them on your shelf and accurately diagnose them in your future patients. While the diagnostic workup and treatment plans referred to in the review should suffice for your test and are up to date to the best of our knowledge (as of 3/2025), you should refer to medical references when diagnosing and treating patients. Best of luck to you in your clerkship and beyond.