Step I best way to improve micro & biochem w/ just over 1mo to go

kdburton · May 25, 2009

I just took my first NBME (#3) this morning and scored 30 points higher than I did on the diagnostic CBSE exam that my school administered before we finished MS2 - I've studied for 3 weeks. I'm happy with the improvement, but I've studied both biochem and micro already (using Kaplan notes and CMMRS respectively) and both of those scores are consistently my lowest on USMLE World as well as being my lowest scores on the NBME today. When I finish my first pass through everything in a couple weeks I'll still have a little over two weeks for strictly review and ideally I'd like to nail these subjects since it seems like most of the questions require rote memorization... Can anyone else who struggled (is struggling) with these subjects and then began seeing improvement in their USMLE World/NBME scores share their study methods for either subject? I'm looking for something that is efficient as possible since I'll have just over 2 wks and still want to go back through FA a couple times as well... For example, is FA good enough for micro or should I try reading CMMRS again quickly? How about watching the Kaplan DVDs for biochem along with the notes I've already read (maybe having someone tell it to me will help haha)? Any ideas for quick improvements would be much appreciated.

Noeljan · May 25, 2009

kdburton said:
I just took my first NBME (#3) this morning and scored 30 points higher than I did on the diagnostic CBSE exam that my school administered before we finished MS2 - I've studied for 3 weeks. I'm happy with the improvement, but I've studied both biochem and micro already (using Kaplan notes and CMMRS respectively) and both of those scores are consistently my lowest on USMLE World as well as being my lowest scores on the NBME today. When I finish my first pass through everything in a couple weeks I'll still have a little over two weeks for strictly review and ideally I'd like to nail these subjects since it seems like most of the questions require rote memorization... Can anyone else who struggled (is struggling) with these subjects and then began seeing improvement in their USMLE World/NBME scores share their study methods for either subject? I'm looking for something that is efficient as possible since I'll have just over 2 wks and still want to go back through FA a couple times as well... For example, is FA good enough for micro or should I try reading CMMRS again quickly? How about watching the Kaplan DVDs for biochem along with the notes I've already read (maybe having someone tell it to me will help haha)? Any ideas for quick improvements would be much appreciated.

I watched the kaplan videos for micro and used FA. I dont like the look of MMRS so I am not going to use it, which kind of scares me since everyone uses itm However, I have really learned micro better from kaplan videos
as for biochem, i watched the videos but I feel like they brush over the pathways (the point out stuff but more defects etc), thus I am started reading high yield biochem to supplement and first aid. For micro I also watched the faculty review, which is kind of more of an overview than a review, but I feel like I pick up little things here and there from every source
good luck
xo

cgscribe · May 26, 2009

These two are kind of the bane of boards studying. It's pure memorization, no and's/if's/but's, you just have to put the time in with FA. FA's biochem is really solid, but provides no explanations really, so I did lots of questions to supplement. Micro, I used CMMRS, but I agree this is a bit overkill, and FA should definitely suffice. In your time-limited situation, I would stick with a couple passes of FA and lots of q's, this should be plenty. Kaplan is pretty extensive and detailed, but if you can learn their stuff you'll be golden.

Noeljan · May 26, 2009

cgscribe said:
These two are kind of the bane of boards studying. It's pure memorization, no and's/if's/but's, you just have to put the time in with FA. FA's biochem is really solid, but provides no explanations really, so I did lots of questions to supplement. Micro, I used CMMRS, but I agree this is a bit overkill, and FA should definitely suffice. In your time-limited situation, I would stick with a couple passes of FA and lots of q's, this should be plenty. Kaplan is pretty extensive and detailed, but if you can learn their stuff you'll be golden.

I agree about FA being good. I miss q's on micro but thats just bc I cannot remember like all the time which one has no envelope ss, etc, but everything I miss can be found in first aid. The kaplan videos were golden though

harrisonIM · May 26, 2009

kdburton said:
I just took my first NBME (#3) this morning and scored 30 points higher than I did on the diagnostic CBSE exam that my school administered before we finished MS2 - I've studied for 3 weeks. I'm happy with the improvement, but I've studied both biochem and micro already (using Kaplan notes and CMMRS respectively) and both of those scores are consistently my lowest on USMLE World as well as being my lowest scores on the NBME today. When I finish my first pass through everything in a couple weeks I'll still have a little over two weeks for strictly review and ideally I'd like to nail these subjects since it seems like most of the questions require rote memorization... Can anyone else who struggled (is struggling) with these subjects and then began seeing improvement in their USMLE World/NBME scores share their study methods for either subject? I'm looking for something that is efficient as possible since I'll have just over 2 wks and still want to go back through FA a couple times as well... For example, is FA good enough for micro or should I try reading CMMRS again quickly? How about watching the Kaplan DVDs for biochem along with the notes I've already read (maybe having someone tell it to me will help haha)? Any ideas for quick improvements would be much appreciated.

Biochem: older kaplan videos with raymon are better than the ones with seastone if u decide to watch the dvds. if i had two weeks to review idk if i'd spend 2 days just watching biochem videos though.

Micro: if you've already been through the material. BRS flashcards for quick daily review of facts. add the missing facts from FA and UW into them and you're set. someone commented on the micro videos being golden...i'd have to disagree. they aren't bad but they aren't great. muscattello doesn't really integrate across topics. she basically just reads the slide. might as well read it them yourself and be more efficient.

kdburton · May 26, 2009

harrisonIM said:
Biochem: older kaplan videos with raymon are better than the ones with seastone if u decide to watch the dvds. if i had two weeks to review idk if i'd spend 2 days just watching biochem videos though.

Micro: if you've already been through the material. BRS flashcards for quick daily review of facts. add the missing facts from FA and UW into them and you're set. someone commented on the micro videos being golden...i'd have to disagree. they aren't bad but they aren't great. muscattello doesn't really integrate across topics. she basically just reads the slide. might as well read it them yourself and be more efficient.

Someone else mentioed the BRS cards too.. I've got a set of them, but I haven't really done much with them yet. I think I'll try to knock out a big chunk of those at night (and reading through FA micro) until I get done with path/pharm and then by that time hopefully I won't need to use much of my ~2 weeks of review to spend on micro. I do have the old Kaplan lectures too, so maybe I'll see if I can soak it in at 1.5 speed or something then it won't take too much time. Thanks for the advice

Step I best way to improve micro & biochem w/ just over 1mo to go

kdburton

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Noeljan

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cgscribe

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Noeljan

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harrisonIM

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kdburton

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