OMS2's, does your curriculum facilitate board studying?
Started by MRSAful Fate
Our classes are still technically going till the first week of May or so, but they've saved things till now that make it so we're all pretty much on autopilot.
I have been studying boards 100% for about 3 weeks now.
I have been studying boards 100% for about 3 weeks now.
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My school uses a systems curriculum so through each system I've been going through the related Uworld, FA, and Pathoma chapters. It's been helpful.
Ironically, we'd been told for months that our schedule is going to get much lighter after we finished our "real" systems but the opposite has occurred. It's not the end of the world by any stretch but it is kind of annoying.
Ironically, we'd been told for months that our schedule is going to get much lighter after we finished our "real" systems but the opposite has occurred. It's not the end of the world by any stretch but it is kind of annoying.
We finish with a little less than 2 weeks left in May, rotations start for most people in June. So around 2 weeks of dedicated board study if you don't have June as a vacation month/opt into a board study month instead of a vacation.
Sucks
Sucks
Pretty sure we go to the same school.....
Its very discouraging given that all the MD schools in the area have crazy board prep compared to us.... and we directly compete with most of MD schools in SoCal (unless you want to go Arrowhead. For me, no thanks)
UCLA, UCI, and USC come to mind. I overheard a few of our classmates talking about it last week and sharing what their friends at those schools told them.
UCI has a few months off? Apparently USC has a review course for 2 months and they get Fridays off starting in March with monday-friday classes going until noon most days....
Its no wonder the classes ahead of us had lower than expected board scores. We might do well on the COMLEX.... but as you know, most of our class is much more concerned with the USMLE.
Edit: Just found this on SDN from a UCI student
"We get a ton of time for Step 1.
8 weeks between the last 2nd year shelf exam and the first day of third year (which isn't rotations - you have a month of prep for being on the wards and then you start on the wards).
But you also have a week of spring break and then a week to study for the pharm and path shelves right before the end of 2nd year. So its sort of 10 weeks
We also host a 21 day Kaplan USMLE step 1 prep course here that is held during the time off. Different people do different things some take the course and the full time to study, some take it early and take a vacation before 3rd year."
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Only a first year, but I hear my school only gives about 2, maybe 3 weeks from end of 2nd year to start of rotations. Ridiculous.
I know, it kind of sucks and isn't something I put an emphasis on when deciding where to go. Have to just get after it and let the chips fall as they will.
I don't really understand why schools do this. They could easily get the material for the first 2 years done a couple weeks earlier if they wanted to. I don't understand why every school doesn't give at least 1-2 months board prep. I am pretty sure our school does 1 month off before step 1, but other schools only having 2 weeks off is horrible. Isn't it in the best interest of the school to have students do very well on the COMLEX/USMLE?
I agree. I think it's absolutely ridiculous and nearsighted to do this to students.
NYCOM gives a little over a month from the end of second year (beginning of May). Most people take boards in middle of June
Isn't that the AOA way though?
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My school has a systems-based second year curriculum. Throughout the year we have had only one exam every 3-4 weeks. I've done the corresponding Pathoma, BRS Phys and UWorld throughout the year.
We have PBL M/W/F for 2 hours, and lectures T/Th from 8am-noon (usually). This means tons of independent study time. It's been great.
Once we finish classes in 2 weeks, we have 2 months before third year rotations begin. This means we can take up to 8 weeks for ISP, but I'm only taking 6 weeks. I really appreciate the way MSU schedules our second year and dedicated board study time.
We have PBL M/W/F for 2 hours, and lectures T/Th from 8am-noon (usually). This means tons of independent study time. It's been great.
Once we finish classes in 2 weeks, we have 2 months before third year rotations begin. This means we can take up to 8 weeks for ISP, but I'm only taking 6 weeks. I really appreciate the way MSU schedules our second year and dedicated board study time.
Ah, didn't realize this was a thread intended for DO students until just now. Mea culpa!
Being a DO thread is somewhat irrelevant in this situation. USMLE and COMLEX are taken at the same time frame so hearing from an MD perspective should offer additional insight into other schools philosophy. Plus I plan on taking the USMLE anyways.
So much for the argument that our added time learning OMM means less time learning other things. I've heard people say " DO's dont learn everything MD's do plus OMM, because the time they spend in OMM we spend learning more (insert ramdom class here)." I guess the time we spend learning OMM comes out of board prep time lol
My good friends at MSU say that the PBL schedule is super-flexible and makes boards studying a lot easier.
Agreed, except that the title of the thread is: "OMS2's, does your curriculum facilitate board studying?" 😛
I know that tons of DO students take the USMLE as well, and I think it's crazy that some schools don't seem to set you guys up to succeed!
It's true, most MD schools, including most of the Caribbean schools, give a ton more time to prepare for Step 1 than any DO's give for any Level 1/2 stuff.
Skip lecture as much as possible, do just enough OMM to wing it through your tests and spend all your time on UWorld, FA, and Pathoma. If you're really inspired, copy the extra minutae from your lecture PowerPoints into FA so that you can get that one extra question right on your Step 1. Remember, their goal is to keep you in DO residencies by killing your USMLE-prep and making it almost impossible to get a good score on the COMLEX. You'll be stuck in Primary Care and they will have served their purpose. I see the same train-wreck happening every year.
Skip lecture as much as possible, do just enough OMM to wing it through your tests and spend all your time on UWorld, FA, and Pathoma. If you're really inspired, copy the extra minutae from your lecture PowerPoints into FA so that you can get that one extra question right on your Step 1. Remember, their goal is to keep you in DO residencies by killing your USMLE-prep and making it almost impossible to get a good score on the COMLEX. You'll be stuck in Primary Care and they will have served their purpose. I see the same train-wreck happening every year.
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They both test >90% of the same material. Know your stuff for USMLE and then throw in a bit of OMM (if you need it) for COMLEX.
It's not that big a deal, at least it doesn't seem like a big deal to me.
I have heard this too. I Guess time will tell.... next month when i start trying COMQUEST questions
Re "trainwreck".
Not sure if its my school specifically or DO specific but A lot of things in my two years of DO training have just not felt right and my expectations were cut short between the complete disappointment in what OMM actually turned out to be and the horrible curriculum/teaching. The lack of board prep is the cherry on top though. I really get sick of people on SDN saying your board scores are 100% up to you. (although to be fair its usually pre-meds arguing for DO). Yes, a lot of it is. However, your foundation coming into dedicated study time and the amount of time you can study are also a large factors. Maybe its just where I am, but my school is by far at the biggest disadvantage of the 5 MD schools in my area in terms of dedicated study time and course load in the last two months before dedicated study time. I swear its either a conspiracy to force us into primary care
😛 or DO schools just have incompetent/ inefficient curriculums. Oh well, I guess I picked this route and should have studied harder in undergrad😛.... now back to studying OMM (joy!)
I have heard this too. I Guess time will tell.... next month when i start trying COMQUEST questions
Re "trainwreck".
Not sure if its my school specifically or DO specific but A lot of things in my two years of DO training have just not felt right and my expectations were cut short between the complete disappointment in what OMM actually turned out to be and the horrible curriculum/teaching. The lack of board prep is the cherry on top though. I really get sick of people on SDN saying your board scores are 100% up to you. (although to be fair its usually pre-meds arguing for DO). Yes, a lot of it is. However, your foundation coming into dedicated study time and the amount of time you can study are also a large factors. Maybe its just where I am, but my school is by far at the biggest disadvantage of the 5 MD schools in my area in terms of dedicated study time and course load in the last two months before dedicated study time. I swear its either a conspiracy to force us into primary care
For the record, I thought my curriculum was awesome and I have plenty of study time, for both exams.
I have heard this too. I Guess time will tell.... next month when i start trying COMQUEST questions
Re "trainwreck".
Not sure if its my school specifically or DO specific but A lot of things in my two years of DO training have just not felt right and my expectations were cut short between the complete disappointment in what OMM actually turned out to be and the horrible curriculum/teaching. The lack of board prep is the cherry on top though. I really get sick of people on SDN saying your board scores are 100% up to you. (although to be fair its usually pre-meds arguing for DO). Yes, a lot of it is. However, your foundation coming into dedicated study time and the amount of time you can study are also a large factors. Maybe its just where I am, but my school is by far at the biggest disadvantage of the 5 MD schools in my area in terms of dedicated study time and course load in the last two months before dedicated study time. I swear its either a conspiracy to force us into primary care
This.
Ironically, I thought that our system/block schedule was making things almost "too easy." Now seems to be the time when they realized that they have to add in a bunch of extra stuff.
Maybe it's a Western thing more than a "DO" thing?
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I am not applying for competitive specialties because I feel that to match something like ortho or derm, you need more than just scores on a multiple choice exam. Since I am aiming for noncompetitive specialties, I will only apply for MD residencies. So I have absolutely no reason to study for comlex.
Study for both, apply to both matches, then be picky and narrow down the choices when you can afford to. Would blow to suck on the comlex and then only get a handful of MD interviews. You could be stuck then.
The exams are relatively easy to study for simultaneously. You suck on one you are probably gonna suck on the other. But if you do well on one, odds are youll do well on the other.
Nows not the time to get lazy.
As a DO you have to pass at minimum. Would suck to mess up when it's your own board.
I've heard multiple program directors say that they want to see consistency on board scores. It's not going to look good if you ace the USMLE and do substantially worse on the COMLEX.
uh DO program directors? Because no acgme program is going to care...
One of was dually accredited, the others were AOA programs.
Right, they likely won't care but you want to cover your bases just in case.
Right, they likely won't care but you want to cover your bases just in case.
Hell ACGME PDs were asking if >700 was good on comlex. They don't know how to interpret it.
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Haha. Yeah. I heard that they don't really follow the COMLEX-USMLE conversion either.
At Touro NV, we get about 5 weeks off which I think is pretty sufficient. Some people also elect to take their first clerkship month off as vacation to study more. Also, I don't know anyone that is not taking USMLE and COMLEX... I am sure there are some people in my class, but no one that I know.
Are there any downsides to taking that time off? Do you get behind?
In 3rd and 4th year you have 11 rotations each year and one month of vacation each year. It doesnt really matter when you take your vacations, although there is some strategy to it.
If you take your 3rd year vacation at the beginning you can potentially get a better score. However, the downside is that you cant take a break in the middle of 3rd year if you start to get burned out..... or take a month off at the end of 3rd year to study for the Step 2
