The 'Taus' Method for Step 1

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For those of you who used the 'Taus' method for your Step 1 prep...

How long before your exam did you begin your first run through? How long did your first run through take you?

Did you begin practice questions from day 1, like Taus suggests (I think), or did you try to get a bit of a foundation first?

Is there anything you would have changed? Books? Timeline?

To Taus, thank you in advance for putting your study schedule together! From one future PM&R doc to another, I hope you match into a great program!
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I started about 6-7 wks prior to step 1. It wasn't enough time for me to really follow the plan so I went away from it after the first run through. But I thought the organization was really good and helpful. Once you go through once you can just tailor it to fit your strengths and weaknesses better. No sense in covering a subject for the second time if you are scoring 80+% on UW in that subject and have other stuff to work on in limited time. I did do fewer questions initially than he suggested because I felt like my foundation was weak. Best part about the guide to me was the organization and once you have that I think you can just figure out what works best for you, but the organization is definitely spot on.
 
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It's a study plan for Step 1 that one of our fellow SDNers designed that seems to produce some pretty darn good scores!
 
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Taus said:
I created this schedule/guide last year for the COMLEX & USMLE and a lot of my classmates and other SDN'ers seemed to think it was helpful. I recently edited it and added a FAQ section at the end that should clarify most of the common q's people asked me about it. Go kick some ***** on the boards.
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Follow the link on the quote above to a word doc detailing all the Taus goodness.
 
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Dumb question: how do I follow the link? I couldn't find the schedule anywhere, can anyone just give me the link?
 
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If you are lost on where to start, the Taus method is the best place to start to build your knowledge base.

DW gives it 2 thumbs up.
 
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I used his plan and think it was pretty good!

Not really answering your question, just wanted to throw some support out for Taus.
 
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I have the "Taus" document and all looks good...I bought the books and today I'm ready to rock. However, I don't know where to start. PCOM was supposed to have a meeting today which I was hoping would clarify everything but it's a snow day and I'm antsy!

How do I go about reading all the material for basic science and systems? Basic science first then systems? It says to consolidate all books into FA. This may sound stupid, but this just means I'm to write the additional information in the margins? Also, how many hours a day do you suggest that I devote to boards study?

I'll take all the advice I can get! :)
 
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I've been using the 'Taus method' so far in my board prep and I like the way things are progressing for me.

I started with the basic sciences and will then move on to the systems. As far as the annotating of FA goes, sometimes I jot down little notes and other times I just photocopy and entire page and put that in my 3-hole punched binder. For instance, when I was going through CMMRS, I made a few notes here and there on my FA pages, but the book also has awesome tables of all the bugs and the end of each chapter which I just photocopied and placed in my Boards Binder. When I was going through biochemistry, I liked some of the explanations in the Kaplan book and made notes in the FA pages, but I also photocopied a lot of the pathway figures or tables comparing diseases to put in my binder.

The basic sciences can seem to take forever for the first pass through, but I'm expecting (hoping) that the 2nd and 3rd passes will go much more quickly.

Hope any of that helps!
 
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The schedule looks solid. However, I must ask for the statistics! Who has used this program and what scores did you/they receive?
 
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sweet2th said:
I have the "Taus" document and all looks good...I bought the books and today I'm ready to rock. However, I don't know where to start. PCOM was supposed to have a meeting today which I was hoping would clarify everything but it's a snow day and I'm antsy!

How do I go about reading all the material for basic science and systems? Basic science first then systems? It says to consolidate all books into FA. This may sound stupid, but this just means I'm to write the additional information in the margins? Also, how many hours a day do you suggest that I devote to boards study?

I'll take all the advice I can get! :)
Click to expand...

Hey, I'm about to lose what little anonymity I had left on here....but I will be part of a panel of students giving a talk to your class tomorrow afternoon about this stuff. I'll hang around for a while after to answer any remaining questions. I'm pretty sure the meeting today was supposed to be a general intro to board preparation by Dr. W....hopefully she'll be able to re-schedule it soon.
 
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Taus, thank you so much for that schedule. As someone else asked, any support/experiences to share from people who used this system and got great scores? (besides taus, maybe he's just awesome to begin with!)
Also, for those of you who have already begun are you doing this at the same time as learning info for your 2nd year courses? i like this plan but definitely wont have enough time to get through all the pass thrus if i start after second year ends. I guess i can slowly go through the first pass starting now?
 
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One month? No way! His schedule even has a section for the last 2 weeks... meaning u have to do the 3 passes in 2 weeks.
 
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maybe I'm stupid but what does this mean: "3) Paper question sources directly by subject after studying each subject (as specific as possible..ie cardio path, cardio phys, cardiac pharm...all individually)"
 
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Saradoc said:
I guess i can slowly go through the first pass starting now?
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that's a good plan

THE armada said:
How much time minimum do you think is required to adequately go through your plan?
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UVAgirl said:
is it possible to get through the taus method in a month?
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the full thing ~ 10 weeks
to cut it down a lot....you could just do the first run-through/ consolidation of info and then go directly to the "last 2 weeks" schedule

njshibby said:
maybe I'm stupid but what does this mean: "3) Paper question sources directly by subject after studying each subject (as specific as possible..ie cardio path, cardio phys, cardiac pharm...all individually)"
Click to expand...

Use the paper sources such as Qbook and Robbins review Q's to do questions in subject-specific blocks directly after you study that subject....ie after you study biochem - do biochem q's, after studying cardiac phys - do cardiac phys q's, etc. This is in opposition to later on in your studying where I rec'd using the computerized question sources to do random blocks of 50 questions w/ all subjects/systems mixed together.
 
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The legendary taus!

Why do you suggest paper sources? Why not a disposable Q bank like Kaplan's to play around with and then U world for the real deal?
 
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Just to be sure, do you suggest in your plan that I annotate ALL of the immuno portion in lange into FA? that's quite a bit of annotating!
 
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Taus said:
Use the paper sources such as Qbook and Robbins review Q's to do questions in subject-specific blocks directly after you study that subject....ie after you study biochem - do biochem q's, after studying cardiac phys - do cardiac phys q's, etc. This is in opposition to later on in your studying where I rec'd using the computerized question sources to do random blocks of 50 questions w/ all subjects/systems mixed together.
Click to expand...

Taus, the master!

At the start of my second-year I simply began using UW after studying each subject in class because it seemed like the best question bank out there. My scores have been less than encouraging (cumulative of 60% with about half of the bank done).

After finishing UW completely -- which I plan to do by the end of this month -- what would you recommend I use?

Should I go for Kaplan QBank or just repeat UW?

Thanks man.

BME
 
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ENThopeful said:
Why do you suggest paper sources? Why not a disposable Q bank like Kaplan's to play around with and then U world for the real deal?
Click to expand...

That would probably work out just fine. It's been a while since I put this thing together...but I think I did it that way b/c I was originally planning on using a lot more paper question sources before moving on to UWorld (Robbins review, Qbook, Lange, FA q's and I think a few more...only really used the 1st 2). Also, I used Qbook over Qbank to save $$ and b/c I felt the questions were less nit-picky (though kaplan may have improved that over the last 2 years...I don't follow this stuff anymore). I still think it's pretty important to use UWorld as you get closer to your test....not only to learn from, but also to get used to the computerized format/ timing/ staring at a screen all day/etc

bravotwozero said:
Just to be sure, do you suggest in your plan that I annotate ALL of the immuno portion in lange into FA? that's quite a bit of annotating!
Click to expand...

I think that you may have misunderstood the purpose of annotating. You don't need to write in every little topic/detail that FA doesn't mention. There's a reason that FA doesn't include some topics in smaller subjects like Immuno. You use these review books to refresh your memory and allow you to better understand/clarify what's in FA.

betamercapto said:
At the start of my second-year I simply began using UW after studying each subject in class because it seemed like the best question bank out there. My scores have been less than encouraging (cumulative of 60% with about half of the bank done).

After finishing UW completely -- which I plan to do by the end of this month -- what would you recommend I use?

Should I go for Kaplan QBank or just repeat UW?

BME
Click to expand...


I really don't have a good answer for that...sorry. Maybe you can use Qbank while you are studying and then just do the UWorld q's that you got wrong the 1st time. Or you can just stop using it now....

toothless rufus said:
Is the Kaplan Biochem by Hansen the Lecture Notes or something else?
Click to expand...

I've never seen the actual lecture notes, but she is the author of the book in the kaplan series (at least she was a few years ago)
 
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On a side note....

I'm probably not the most up-to-date person in terms of preparing for step 1 anymore. I'll gladly answer q's about the principles in my plan, but others can probably offer better (and definitely more current) advice for specific sources and other aspects of board prep.
 
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Yes, Hansen is the author of the kaplan notes.

they are quite swell and I plan to go over them again.


Good advice Taus, I plan to start U world 100 days before my exam.. 30 q a day, should be done in 70, enough time to redo it. And I don't feel the Q bank has improved that much, esp the micro section. Its obvious who wrote the questions - PhDs...
 
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can we get some taus method users to post scores when they come back after the test...even if you didn't do as well as you would have liked to have done.
 
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GreenLedbetter said:
can we get some taus method users to post scores when they come back after the test...even if you didn't do as well as you would have liked to have done.
Click to expand...

Also indicate how closely you felt you followed the program as written. please
 
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GreenLedbetter said:
can we get some taus method users to post scores when they come back after the test...even if you didn't do as well as you would have liked to have done.
Click to expand...

Check the 2008 experiences thread, a number of people followed the plan or close to it and many did really well.
 
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I got a question, what book should I use for gross anatomy and which edition of CMMRS is better one 3rd or the 4th one?
My med school don't offer a behavioural sciences course how should I study it for boards, HY is enough for it?
I got a couple of years before I ll' be taking the exam coz I am an FMG.
 
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Taus said:
On a side note....

I'm probably not the most up-to-date person in terms of preparing for step 1 anymore. I'll gladly answer q's about the principles in my plan, but others can probably offer better (and definitely more current) advice for specific sources and other aspects of board prep.
Click to expand...


Hello Taus,
I am new to the SDN and am seeking tons of info. I stummbled across others saying great things about your study method so I think this may also be the solution for me. I have graduated from med school a few years now and have taken step 1 previously, but have not been successful. I am looking to revamp and try something new. I know you have said you're not that up-to-date, but any advice will surely be appreciated. Do you think your method will work in my favor---out of med school for a few years. Thanks in advance.
 
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peace zealot said:
I got a question, what book should I use for gross anatomy and which edition of CMMRS is better one 3rd or the 4th one?
My med school don't offer a behavioural sciences course how should I study it for boards, HY is enough for it?
I got a couple of years before I ll' be taking the exam coz I am an FMG.
Click to expand...

I didn't use anything except an atlas to review some of the sketches in FA in more detail and read some of the blue boxes in Moore. Beyond that, I wouldn't know what to recommend for a specific review book...sorry. You can try the forum's search function to see what others say...but I don't think you should go nuts studying anatomy.

If you've never learned behavioral sciences or biostats I don't really know what would be best. HY behavioral is a good review...but might be tough if it's all brand new to you. HY biostats might be worthwhile for the stat/research stuff.

drpenny said:
Hello Taus,
I am new to the SDN and am seeking tons of info. I stummbled across others saying great things about your study method so I think this may also be the solution for me. I have graduated from med school a few years now and have taken step 1 previously, but have not been successful. I am looking to revamp and try something new. I know you have said you're not that up-to-date, but any advice will surely be appreciated. Do you think your method will work in my favor---out of med school for a few years. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


All my study plan really does is give you an idea of how to coordinate using several different review books to understand what's in First Aid. If you are several years removed from learning the basic sciences (ie the stuff most of us forget during the clinical years) and have already failed once, maybe you should consider doing one of those in-depth review courses that are targeted for folks in your position. If you think you could remember/re-learn subjects like biochem/molecular/immuno/genetics/physio/etc...then by all means give this a try....there's really no way I could say whether it would work or not.
 
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Thanks Taus for reply, we do study Community medicine course where we study Biostats and epidemiology and other few topics related to research also. So learning these won't be a big problem but I am worried about topics related to ethics etc.
About gross I am happy now.
 
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HamburgerHelper said:
The schedule looks solid. However, I must ask for the statistics! Who has used this program and what scores did you/they receive?
Click to expand...


I used the Taus method as a general guideline for what resources to use and what information to cover. I studied for about 6 weeks, and tweaked the general schedule based on feedback from NBME's, etc. I ended up only going through the material once, and then did the 2-week thing at the end.

250/99
 
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Taus said:
I didn't use anything except an atlas to review some of the sketches in FA in more detail and read some of the blue boxes in Moore. Beyond that, I wouldn't know what to recommend for a specific review book...sorry. You can try the forum's search function to see what others say...but I don't think you should go nuts studying anatomy.

If you've never learned behavioral sciences or biostats I don't really know what would be best. HY behavioral is a good review...but might be tough if it's all brand new to you. HY biostats might be worthwhile for the stat/research stuff.




All my study plan really does is give you an idea of how to coordinate using several different review books to understand what's in First Aid. If you are several years removed from learning the basic sciences (ie the stuff most of us forget during the clinical years) and have already failed once, maybe you should consider doing one of those in-depth review courses that are targeted for folks in your position. If you think you could remember/re-learn subjects like biochem/molecular/immuno/genetics/physio/etc...then by all means give this a try....there's really no way I could say whether it would work or not.
Click to expand...



Hi Taus,
Thanks so much for your speedy response. I think I will study using your method first and then look into a review program. I took Kaplan previously and felt as if it wasn't the best for me. Are there any review courses out there that you would suggest that wont take me to the cleaners. I have already exhausted tons of cash, as you know in my med ed and am currently experiencing a drought:) Something that has gotten great reviews--in NY or Florida would be ideal. Also, how long would you suggest studying per day and overall; just a rough idea. Lastly, do you think that the 2008 FA is cool or would you suggest getting the '09 edition? Thanks again.
 
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drpenny said:
Hi Taus,
Thanks so much for your speedy response. I think I will study using your method first and then look into a review program. I took Kaplan previously and felt as if it wasn't the best for me. Are there any review courses out there that you would suggest that wont take me to the cleaners. I have already exhausted tons of cash, as you know in my med ed and am currently experiencing a drought:) Something that has gotten great reviews--in NY or Florida would be ideal. Also, how long would you suggest studying per day and overall; just a rough idea. Lastly, do you think that the 2008 FA is cool or would you suggest getting the '09 edition? Thanks again.
Click to expand...


Hey Taus...it is the 2007 FA sorry that was a typo.
 
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i started about 3 weeks ago... doing the first pass and I'm struggling to retain information. My scores on UWorld are not good! I went through the basic sciences fairly quickly and I'm onto systems and now I'm requiring so much more time to cover everything. I'm also concerned about pharmacology. I see ppl walking around school with their pharm cards and I'm a little freaked out that I haven't covered drugs, really at all.

So- is anyone in the same boat as me? Am I doing something wrong? :(
 
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Cryogos said:
I used the Taus method as a general guideline for what resources to use and what information to cover. I studied for about 6 weeks, and tweaked the general schedule based on feedback from NBME's, etc. I ended up only going through the material once, and then did the 2-week thing at the end.

250/99
Click to expand...

Since Step 1 has changed a little, is there anything you'd add/take away from content?
 
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Cryogos said:
I used the Taus method as a general guideline for what resources to use and what information to cover. I studied for about 6 weeks, and tweaked the general schedule based on feedback from NBME's, etc. I ended up only going through the material once, and then did the 2-week thing at the end.

250/99
Click to expand...

Pretty much exactly what I did. I didn't get through all the material twice before the final 2 weeks like stated - only once, but I did consolidate all stated resources into FA.

253/99
 
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I'm not a big fan of annotating, I feel like it's just a waste of time. The point of having FA is that it's a review book. By annotating, you're making it into a much more comprehensive book than it has to be.

sweet2th said:
i started about 3 weeks ago... doing the first pass and I'm struggling to retain information. My scores on UWorld are not good! I went through the basic sciences fairly quickly and I'm onto systems and now I'm requiring so much more time to cover everything. I'm also concerned about pharmacology. I see ppl walking around school with their pharm cards and I'm a little freaked out that I haven't covered drugs, really at all.

So- is anyone in the same boat as me? Am I doing something wrong? :(
Click to expand...

Don't expect to retain details on first pass. My UW scores started around 50%, but by the time I finished, my overall was 70%. For pharm, focus on mechanism of action and side effects, rather than indication.
 
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ZagDoc said:
Pretty much exactly what I did. I didn't get through all the material twice before the final 2 weeks like stated - only once, but I did consolidate all stated resources into FA.

253/99
Click to expand...

Ditto. I actually followed it pretty closely until the last two weeks which I thought was not possible to do in the given amount of time. I ended up just not reading goljan for the third time but other than that, I stuck with it.

256/99
 
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I basically used Taus as a basic outline as well, to kind of figure out how to schedule my time and definitely for what materials to use. In the end though you just have to adapt to how well you are learning particular subjects and review what is necessary. It's pretty hard (at least for me) to stick to a schedule as specific as the Taus plan, but it is a great general guideline to make sure you are spending adequate time on every subject. I got through everything twice and then repeated my worst subjects and the "memorizable" subjects a third time the week or two before the test.

255/99
 
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sweet2th said:
i started about 3 weeks ago... doing the first pass and I'm struggling to retain information. My scores on UWorld are not good! I went through the basic sciences fairly quickly and I'm onto systems and now I'm requiring so much more time to cover everything. I'm also concerned about pharmacology. I see ppl walking around school with their pharm cards and I'm a little freaked out that I haven't covered drugs, really at all.

So- is anyone in the same boat as me? Am I doing something wrong? :(
Click to expand...


The info builds as you refamiliarize yourself with all of the pieces. Once you step back and see all 2 years together, it will become much more manageable. The key is to keep doing questions to reinforce your reading.

As for pharm, it isn't bad at all. Like someone said, know the mechanisms, loose grouping and mainly the sides/toxicities/rescues and then make sure to look at specifics closer to the exam.
 
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I already have the Goljan book and all the kaplan books. When I went through Taus schedule I thought I would substitue any book I don't have with kaplan, I don't know if that's a good idea? I assume the schedule is set for 10 weeks with the 2 final weeks run so does that mean the first time through all the material should be done in 1 month? the second run through in 2 weeks and the 3rd run is in 2 weeks ? that's where I'm confused. Another thing by using goljan's audio, do you use it while reading his book so you listen to him while you read the book or alone? How about questions? should I just stick to subject questions as Taus suggested from kaplan Q book n other paper testing and then by the 2nd run through I get USMLE World? because, before finding Taus schedule I was reading kaplan books then doing UW Q's subject wise and I only finished like immuno, genetics and biochem in it. So Should I stop doing Uworld and wait until I finish my first run? your input would be appreciated.
 
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A had a question about the overall timeline.
It seems like most say this plan takes about 10 weeks.

Is that 10 weeks of full-time studying?

We have a 2 week "review" block and then 4 weeks of dedicated time.

Not sure how much I'll be able to do before that, as regular class studying takes up almost all my time.

I could take an extra 4 weeks of dedicated time if needed.

Some suggest just starting with the time we have and then changing your schedule to extend if you aren't doing as well as you would like based on practice exams etc.

My only problem with that is that I really want to plan things in advance.
So if I need 10 weeks, I'd like to plan for that now.

I'm a pretty average student, with one little hiccup already. I want to ensure I give myself the best chance I can for Step 1.

Any comments/ideas would be appreciated.
 
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