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Originally Posted by Frank Nutter

I don't mean to be a h4ter, but these questions kind of suck. They seem aimed at eliciting the most brain-dead of Pavlovian responses- "hemoptysis + hematuria = goodpastures." Boom, 1:1 reasoning. Most of these I know after reading the first sentence, but it's not like I am acing UWorld or Qbank. I've noticed several have been borderline untrue if not flat out wrong. I guess it is pretty cheap...but am I missing something here?

Admittedly, some Qs are better than others and they're almost exclusively straight recall Qs.. But in fairness, I think that's the role of Qbanks as opposed to GT. I want GT to help me build/retain a foundation of knowledge that I'll need to be able to answer the 2nd/3rd order Qs on Uworld/Qbanks etc.

Also, I started out rating things lower just for repetition, I never used 5s before, but i stopped doing that as things began to pile (as my % completion increased). Now I'm using 4s n 5s much more on things i'm comfortable with, this way i keep the focus on cards i'm less solid on (I guess, i'm finally using GT as designed ).

I've seen some discrepancies between cutoffs for normals between GT and other sources (classes, Qbanks etc) for things like % occlusion b4 anginal Sx or %FEV1/FVC for Dx of Obstructive Dzs etc, but I think that's a broader reflection of the derivation of these normals (i.e. population distributions/statistics)...

Personally, I just want to finish GT real bad so I focus more on Qbanks (and primary sources as needed) and my daily reviews.

as others have said. it's not a qbank, and doesn't make any pretensions at being one. it has one purpose: to beat FA into your head, verbatim. and it does it well. oh, does it.

Originally Posted by Bernoull

Admittedly, some Qs are better than others and they're almost exclusively straight recall Qs.. But in fairness, I think that's the role of Qbanks as opposed to GT. I want GT to help me build/retain a foundation of knowledge that I'll need to be able to answer the 2nd/3rd order Qs on Uworld/Qbanks etc.

Also, I started out rating things lower just for repetition, I never used 5s before, but i stopped doing that as things began to pile (as my % completion increased). Now I'm using 4s n 5s much more on things i'm comfortable with, this way i keep the focus on cards i'm less solid on (I guess, i'm finally using GT as designed ).

I've seen some discrepancies between cutoffs for normals between GT and other sources (classes, Qbanks etc) for things like % occlusion b4 anginal Sx or %FEV1/FVC for Dx of Obstructive Dzs etc, but I think that's a broader reflection of the derivation of these normals (i.e. population distributions/statistics)...

Personally, I just want to finish GT real bad so I focus more on Qbanks (and primary sources as needed) and my daily reviews.

for laying down a foundation.

Additionally. I fail to see how, as of yet, complex comprehension and problem solving is so emphasized. The whole convention of the writing of test questions with right and wrong answer choices favors discrete associative bits of knowledge.

There are certain salient features of disease X. Knowing them like a dead robot seems the most advantageous thing we could do.

The fact that a real person might have confusing bits of varying clues that requires experience and more importantly trial and error and following the patient over time does not lend itself to standardized testing.

I feel people over estimate understanding as the critical exercise in play. Maybe because the alternatives are sheer boredom. Or admitting that an autistic memorizing machine could do well on these exams.

I mean it's ok. Maybe the dude with an encyclopedic familiarity with details of pathology has an advantage as a physician.

GT is sweet. It takes all the daily professor buttkissery out of the pursuit of detail memorization. And puts it on my laptop. Like my own personal drill sergeant.

Amassing facts. Seems to be what we're doing here by and large.

Regarding the "customizable quiz feature" this seems to be the "feature request post" with the most votes. Let's make our voices heard, vote or die :!!

Srsly, this feature will be awesome, imagine being able to do cards only on your weak areas b4 an upcoming exam.. Even for boards, everyone has weak areas, being able to target JUST those areas and nail down the cards (for instance, anti-arrhythmics) will be awesome!! Yes, GT is great, but without this feature it's a blunt instrument; it's the difference between doing surgery with an axe rather than a scalpel!

Please vote!

http://gunnertraining.uservoice.com/...shcard-reviews

I have a test tomorrow and in preparation I created a new 2-wk account, added all the relevant cards, and am quizzing myself...

Glad I have that (sketchball) option, but, yeah, there has to be a better way...

I'm curious, isn't that what the "exam simulation" option is though? You pick the organ system and discipline to narrow the topics to what you want? Or am I missing something? Never tried it personally though.

Originally Posted by secants

I'm curious, isn't that what the "exam simulation" option is though? You pick the organ system and discipline to narrow the topics to what you want? Or am I missing something? Never tried it personally though.

Thanks for pointing this out!! I'm a complete IDIOT!!! ; I never knew you could narrow down topics with the exam feature!! (it's obvious that i've never used it b4)

Thanks!! I have an exam tomorrow, I can definitely use it

my experience with exam simulator was that it only gave you the multiple choice questions. so it won't be a comprehensive review.

Originally Posted by Nasrudin

Additionally. I fail to see how, as of yet, complex comprehension and problem solving is so emphasized. The whole convention of the writing of test questions with right and wrong answer choices favors discrete associative bits of knowledge.

There are certain salient features of disease X. Knowing them like a dead robot seems the most advantageous thing we could do.

The fact that a real person might have confusing bits of varying clues that requires experience and more importantly trial and error and following the patient over time does not lend itself to standardized testing.

I feel people over estimate understanding as the critical exercise in play. Maybe because the alternatives are sheer boredom. Or admitting that an autistic memorizing machine could do well on these exams.

I mean it's ok. Maybe the dude with an encyclopedic familiarity with details of pathology has an advantage as a physician.

GT is sweet. It takes all the daily professor buttkissery out of the pursuit of detail memorization. And puts it on my laptop. Like my own personal drill sergeant.

Amassing facts. Seems to be what we're doing here by and large.

My favorite poster

Do you have a monthly newsletter that I can subscribe to?

nm... frustration post.

Originally Posted by Nasrudin

Additionally. I fail to see how, as of yet, complex comprehension and problem solving is so emphasized. The whole convention of the writing of test questions with right and wrong answer choices favors discrete associative bits of knowledge.

There are certain salient features of disease X. Knowing them like a dead robot seems the most advantageous thing we could do.

The fact that a real person might have confusing bits of varying clues that requires experience and more importantly trial and error and following the patient over time does not lend itself to standardized testing.

I feel people over estimate understanding as the critical exercise in play. Maybe because the alternatives are sheer boredom. Or admitting that an autistic memorizing machine could do well on these exams.

I mean it's ok. Maybe the dude with an encyclopedic familiarity with details of pathology has an advantage as a physician.

GT is sweet. It takes all the daily professor buttkissery out of the pursuit of detail memorization. And puts it on my laptop. Like my own personal drill sergeant.

Amassing facts. Seems to be what we're doing here by and large.

The simple amassing and regurgitation of facts is in keeping with the role of a medical school, which exists to produce skilled medical professionals, just as the challenging process of writing a dissertation fits in with the more cerebral nature of graduate school (in its various forms), which exists to produce skilled academics.

Originally Posted by CatFactorial

The simple amassing and regurgitation of facts is in keeping with the role of a medical school, which exists to produce skilled medical professionals, just as the challenging process of writing a dissertation fits in with the more cerebral nature of graduate school (in its various forms), which exists to produce skilled academics.

I agree. Good point.

Which is another reason why I wonder why some people on here tend to esotericize it. And also why I think GT is a superb tool.

Originally Posted by CatFactorial

The simple amassing and regurgitation of facts is in keeping with the role of a medical school, which exists to produce skilled medical professionals, just as the challenging process of writing a dissertation fits in with the more cerebral nature of graduate school (in its various forms), which exists to produce skilled academics.

I totally agree, but...assuming one is not using a tool like GT, how much do we retain once we are in residency?

Hey, what are you guys using for Neuro back up? I know some have said notes, are any review books good or should I stick with GT only?

e.g. BRS for physio, RR for path

Originally Posted by Jack is Back

Hey, what are you guys using for Neuro back up? I know some have said notes, are any review books good or should I stick with GT only?

e.g. BRS for physio, RR for path

HY Neuro seems to be a fan favourite. It's pretty good if you already have a decent idea of the basics of neuro.

Some feel it is a bit detailed, but just pick and chose your topics I guess. I looked through kaplan neuro and it seems way too verbose for my liking.

Originally Posted by Jack is Back

Hey, what are you guys using for Neuro back up? I know some have said notes, are any review books good or should I stick with GT only?

e.g. BRS for physio, RR for path

HY Neuro. Very quick read.

Do you all read first aid or anything before looking at whatever notecard topics for the day you choose? Or do you just review the notecards then quiz? Does FA offer much more information on the topics than the cards do? Haven't cracked it open yet

They might not explain things as clearly as other sources but I have to say they are a LOT more verbose than FA.

On a side note I got sick and slacked off for more than a week. I got caught up this weekend but had to rate a ton of cards lower than normal due to neglect. My mastery % took a nosedive. I feel like Sisyphus here.

Originally Posted by loveoforganic

Do you all read first aid or anything before looking at whatever notecard topics for the day you choose? Or do you just review the notecards then quiz? Does FA offer much more information on the topics than the cards do? Haven't cracked it open yet

I did 100% FA micro, biochem, path, immuno, and big dents in a few other subjects. GT has just about everything FA does and then some. GT goes more in depth and sometimes you get some better pictures.

The only thing I'm using FA for now is a few of the diagrams/tables and some old notes I added back when I was annotating. I'll open up FA when I go to add new cards to see if there's anything I'm missing, but rarely does it give me in extra info. I annotate if very little these days.

I am however really enjoying opening up the corresponding cards when I watch pathoma. They compliment each other well.

Great, thanks for the input. Have done about two weeks and wasn't looking forward to going into FA to catch up on missed stuff

For a lot of topics I don't crack open my FA, because everything I read on the notecards I recall it and recall it being high yield. Plus you can't add extra questions anyway if they are missing any points.

For some topics where it's like wtfff what is all this info? Do we need to know all these nit-picky details??? Then I open up my FA to see if the details really are in first aid... if they are not I don't kill myself over them and sometimes I just totally skip them and tell myself that I'll learn them from another book or Uworld if it comes up and if not then it might just not be that important.

I kind of think they might be getting the extra details from the supplemental Basic Sciences books of First Aid - Organ Systems and General Principles.

I've been studying out of those and notice some info on GT derived from those books that are absent in FA.

Do you guys go straight to quiz or do you do notecards?

I don't really get how to utilize this in the best way possible.

Originally Posted by JP2740

Do you guys go straight to quiz or do you do notecards?

I don't really get how to utilize this in the best way possible.

What's so hard to understand? You clear the number of cards scheduled for you every day, and then you add more at your own pace/discretion.

Do you start out by just adding questions and then doing them or do you review the notecards before doing the questions?

Originally Posted by JP2740

Do you start out by just adding questions and then doing them or do you review the notecards before doing the questions?

1. For a topic/card that you've never read, you should read it first, add the associated Qs to your quiz and take then the quiz.

2. Once you're done with the quiz, those cards will be added to your review schedule and they will appear based on how you rated them (1-5).

3. For ur review Qs, you should do them without reviewing the associated cards and rate them according to how well you remembered the material.

Originally Posted by Bernoull

1. For a topic/card that you've never read, you should read it first, add the associated Qs to your quiz and take then the quiz.

2. Once you're done with the quiz, those cards will be added to your review schedule and they will appear based on how you rated them (1-5).

3. For ur review Qs, you should do them without reviewing the associated cards and rate them according to how well you remembered the material.

thanks

On the dashboard, what's the difference between overall progress and percent mastery? Or well, I think percent mastery is pretty clearly defined - what is overall progress? Because it doesn't seem to be either the number of cards banked nor the number of cards mastered

Originally Posted by loveoforganic

On the dashboard, what's the difference between overall progress and percent mastery? Or well, I think percent mastery is pretty clearly defined - what is overall progress? Because it doesn't seem to be either the number of cards banked nor the number of cards mastered

% progress: % of cards you've banked and taken a quiz on.
% mastery: % of cards you scored 4 or higher

Ohhhhh, brainfart, thanks. I was confusing the number of questions I had available for review with the number of cards I had done

Are any of those 1 month free trial codes still floating around? Kind soul help me out?

Also, looks like their prices went up from when this thread was initially started? Used to be $50 once then $10/month, now it's $30 a month? Did y'all early adopters who locked in at $10 keep that grandfathered rate after the price increase?

Either way probably going to try it and based on the reviews here hopefully will find it really helpful.

Thanks,
Bean

Just PMed you a free trial, Bean. And yeah, the prices have gone up...sucks! But if you get a higher number of months, the price per month goes down I guess. Anywho, hope you like it!

Originally Posted by hrain

Just PMed you a free trial, Bean. And yeah, the prices have gone up...sucks! But if you get a higher number of months, the price per month goes down I guess. Anywho, hope you like it!

^^ awesome, thank you! Look forward to trying er out.

I'm sure this has been discussed at some point in this thread, but for those of you taking Step-I this year, how is your GT coming along right now?

Right now I'm at 43.0% completed with 27.1% mastery. I'm stressing a little bit right now though, because at 43% complete I have done 452 of 1052 cards. That means I have 600 to go. At a pace of 10-15 cards a day I am looking at 40-60 more days before I've finished everything, which puts me into late April (if I can even keep up that pace)...

1 month free trial code if anyone still needs:

http://www.gunnertraining.com/free_trial/1011183

Originally Posted by lrkoehle

I'm sure this has been discussed at some point in this thread, but for those of you taking Step-I this year, how is your GT coming along right now?

Right now I'm at 43.0% completed with 27.1% mastery. I'm stressing a little bit right now though, because at 43% complete I have done 452 of 1052 cards. That means I have 600 to go. At a pace of 10-15 cards a day I am looking at 40-60 more days before I've finished everything, which puts me into late April (if I can even keep up that pace)...

Yea, I asked the same question back in December, so we're overdue for updates!

I'm at 51% right now with a mastery of 16% (i intentionally rated several systems very low as we covered them in class). I'm really gunning to finish up by end of of March ; if I maintain 10 cards/day (and GT doesn't undo my efforts by adding a tons of cards )
then that should be doable. I'm also doing Qbank which I'm trying to finish that by April.

Are u also doing a Qbank? Just keep chugging at the cards it's doable!

Originally Posted by Bernoull

Yea, I asked the same question back in December, so we're overdue for updates!

I'm at 51% right now with a mastery of 16% (i intentionally rated several systems very low as we covered them in class). I'm really gunning to finish up by end of of March ; if I maintain 10 cards/day (and GT doesn't undo my efforts by adding a tons of cards )
then that should be doable. I'm also doing Qbank which I'm trying to finish that by April.

Are u also doing a Qbank? Just keep chugging at the cards it's doable!

I really wanna get started on a Qbank (my school is providing us with a 12 month Kaplan and a 1 month Uworld Q bank), but I just haven't had time. I have a wife and 8 month old son at home, so that has made it tough with doing just GT and class. I think this last block of MSII is supposed to be easier though, so hopefully I can make a dent in Kaplan, then finish it in the first part of my dedicated time, and then power through Uworld leading up to the big dance.

It's funny you bring up GT adding more questions/cards. I think since I started last summer they've added over a 100 new cards! I hope that is all high yield stuff, but based on the stuff I read about GT around this time last year, it didn't sound like it had too many glaring weaknesses for last year's test takers.

I hope over spring break I can knock out a bunch of new cards.

Keep the progress reports coming people!

12% Banked, 5% Mastery - I'm going for 50/50 by end of summer.

Free month if anyone wants it to try it...

http://www.gunnertraining.com/free_trial/11364668

Originally Posted by lrkoehle

I really wanna get started on a Qbank (my school is providing us with a 12 month Kaplan and a 1 month Uworld Q bank), but I just haven't had time. I have a wife and 8 month old son at home, so that has made it tough with doing just GT and class. I think this last block of MSII is supposed to be easier though, so hopefully I can make a dent in Kaplan, then finish it in the first part of my dedicated time, and then power through Uworld leading up to the big dance.

It's funny you bring up GT adding more questions/cards. I think since I started last summer they've added over a 100 new cards! I hope that is all high yield stuff, but based on the stuff I read about GT around this time last year, it didn't sound like it had too many glaring weaknesses for last year's test takers.

I hope over spring break I can knock out a bunch of new cards.

Keep the progress reports coming people!

they've added over 200 cards since last summer. a lot of that was the new anatomy section, which i personally think is overkill for Step based on the UWSAs and NBMEs that i've done. we'll see....

For those who are very familiar w/ GT, should I get it? I just found out about it and am not sure if I'll have enough time as my step 1 is at the end of August. Given that I'm the type of person who needs to go over the stuff many more times than the average med student, I feel like this program may be very beneficial for me. If I had found out about it during my MS1 year or even during the summer before my MS2 yr, I would certainly have given it a try. But right now, as an MS2 and expecting to take the Step 1 at the end of August, I'm not sure if i'll find it beneficial. I'm worried that joining the program this late may actually be detrimental for me cause it may prevent me from giving enough time to USMLEWorld and Pathoma. Any thoughts?

Originally Posted by 894rty

For those who are very familiar w/ GT, should I get it? I just found out about it and am not sure if I'll have enough time as my step 1 is at the end of August. Given that I'm the type of person who needs to go over the stuff many more times than the average med student, I feel like this program may be very beneficial for me. If I had found out about it during my MS1 year or even during the summer before my MS2 yr, I would certainly have given it a try. But right now, as an MS2 and expecting to take the Step 1 at the end of August, I'm not sure if i'll find it beneficial. I'm worried that joining the program this late may actually be detrimental for me cause it may prevent me from giving enough time to USMLEWorld and Pathoma. Any thoughts?

i covered ~90% of GT in six months. it will require multiple hours a day, nearly every day of those six months to cover what i did. so it's a matter of whether you are willing to make that kind of time commitment with second year classes, etc. i feel that many people who commit to GT at this level are going to have to make a choice between honoring their classes and making good progress in GT. others would have to see if it's even possible to do GT in six months and still pass.

that said, its going to benefit you at whatever level you can commit to it. as you come into Step study time, you'll find that you don't have to spend nearly the amount of time with FA for the topics you've mastered with GT as opposed to those you haven't covered.

Originally Posted by 894rty

For those who are very familiar w/ GT, should I get it? I just found out about it and am not sure if I'll have enough time as my step 1 is at the end of August. Given that I'm the type of person who needs to go over the stuff many more times than the average med student, I feel like this program may be very beneficial for me. If I had found out about it during my MS1 year or even during the summer before my MS2 yr, I would certainly have given it a try. But right now, as an MS2 and expecting to take the Step 1 at the end of August, I'm not sure if i'll find it beneficial. I'm worried that joining the program this late may actually be detrimental for me cause it may prevent me from giving enough time to USMLEWorld and Pathoma. Any thoughts?

While a lot of people on here that start early plan on finishing every last card before their exam, I think there's still valid use in using only part of the program. While of course you won't get quite as much out of it, you also wouldn't be putting as much into it (hopefully you've been putting that other effort toward other areas like coursework or something until now). I only found GT about two weeks ago, but I've enjoyed it so far. If you still have significant coursework left for the year, I'd say it's useful to use it alongside your test blocks. Over two weeks just doing that (and adding a few random micro cards that I know I've forgotten), I've banked 10%, and since it's so relevant to course materials, my mastered % is up there, too.

Plus, it has already decreased the additional time I need to study for exams. Last week I noticed multiple questions that I got correct on a course exam only because GT had made me memorize some facts. And once these exam blocks are done, i'll still have GT telling me when to review.

What I'm really trying to say is - at this point I think it's beneficial to follow along with ALL the cards that are relevant to your coursework, try to get 4-5s on that category before your exam, and then use it to re-memorize all those little details of whatever your least favorite subject was from the past. Then you can use it more if there's still time.

Just my 2 cents

whats the maximum trial period i can get at this time? do i need any passcodes? If so, can someone send them to me. thanks.

894rty, check your PM. Maximum trial period is 4 weeks with the code.

Originally Posted by jumpdiscontinui

894rty, check your PM. Maximum trial period is 4 weeks with the code.

thanks for the link. now, the question is lite mode vs. comprehensive mode?...My main goal is board review vs. med school course review. What do you guys think? thanks again.

Originally Posted by 894rty

thanks for the link. now, the question is lite mode vs. comprehensive mode?...My main goal is board review vs. med school course review. What do you guys think? thanks again.

Free 1 month trial for anyone else interested:
http://www.gunnertraining.com/free_trial/1251176

I've been doing GT for a few months now and love it. I try to bank the relevant GT cards after reading First Aid, and it's really helped me remember the material. I definitely recommend comprehensive mode if you're trying to get through most/all of the cards.

Originally Posted by 894rty

thanks for the link. now, the question is lite mode vs. comprehensive mode?...My main goal is board review vs. med school course review. What do you guys think? thanks again.

You gotta go comprehensive mode. There is no "lite" version of Step-I. I honestly don't understand the point of the lite mode, except maybe at the very beginning while you get things figured out. I think step I is easy if you just follow one simple rule: just know everything, always. Do that, and you'll be golden.You can't do that on lite.