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I actually like it and have had good success with it so far. Plus it's very inexpensive. The questions are relevant to the learned material and it's been a great review for me so far. I would definitely recommend it and plan to use it this entire second year of med school in a designated format three times a week. I really like the fact that I can select the topic and the number of questions to "bank", then after reviewing the relevant material the test is very specific. Beats doing a bank of random questions. The explanations are very clear as well. There's lots of data to chart progress. I'm using it through second year as a basic review tool to correlate with my classes and so far so good.
:troll:Newberons. Dont use the new stuff that costs very little. Use the expensive stuff (Goljan, Kaplan) that actually has some backing to it. If its the only thing you've done, of course it seems awesome. Until you take Step 1 and get a 212. Then youre stuck with your score thinking "man, that test wasnt anything like the service i found ON FACEBOOK."
Since we know 90% of all facebook ads are legit. Like how to get ripped "300" (buy my product). Learn who's searching for you (buy my product). Get a degree in Fire Science (thanks, I'm actually an MD already, so....).
Dont use what you find on facebook, unless it starts with K and ends with aplan
I thought Kaplan was WAY harder than Rx. Haven't used world yet.i agree with using something tried-and-true. however step 1 has become more difficult over the last 10 years or so, and the practice should reflect that change. i've heard nothing but excellent things about USMLE world qbank. kaplan qbank questions (again, from what i've heard about people who've used BOTH qbanks at my school to prepare for boards) are too easy, and Rx is in between Kaplan and World. the nice thing about Rx is that the question explanations are accompanied by a page that corresponds to the subject in FA. from the anecdotal data i've gleaned speaking to MS-IV and MS-III at my school, USMLE World is far and away the best qbank to use to study for step 1.
may i ask what USMLERx is exactly ?
I'm adding questions as we cover the material in 2nd year, and when I have some extra time I add material from first year. I want to get everything "banked" before I start my dedicated Step 1 prep. I'm also using the USMLE questions that come with it as practice questions before my block exams. I figure doing more questions can't hurt, even if it is early in the game.
So is Gunner Training basically a huge database (>6000 questions I believe!) of both content questions for coursework and questions for the USMLE?
And are these sections (courses vs USMLE questions) separated? I ask since the above poster says "I'm also using the USMLE questions that come with it".
Finally, do you guys recommend this to use simultaneously with coursework in the M1/M2 year? AND any updates on people who used Gunner Training and took the Step this past summer?!?
yeah.. i just signed up for the beast.. May 19...yeah step 1 is crawling up, i always thought it would be far away, but it's really only months away now
Not sure if I completely understand the concept behind GT, but the idea of making some kind of study bank for Step 1 during M1 and early M2 seems highly questionable. For one thing, you are going to want to be studying from FA and Goljan and select other topic-specific resources when crunch time for Step 1 comes, not some random notes you took 1 year ago on gram negative bacteria or the physiology of the lung. Also, unless you have an unbelievably good memory, you are going to forget most of this stuff shortly after you learn it in M1. There were many topics that I knew inside and out during M1 that I almost had to completely relearn by the time I got to studying for Step 1... you want to do that re-learning from the time tested resources (with FA being the most important by far).
I can't comment on the questions that GT offers, and I'm generally in favor of trying new questions resources. But as for the actual study methods and learning resources, stick with what has worked for students in the past. Amongst my friends, almost anyone who did at least decently in their M1/M2 classes and then worked hard studying FA / Goljan / etc leading up to Step 1 did reasonably well.
Alright,
i was doing my daily review today, when i noticed something.... a score report was generated at the end of each section that details your proficiency. i was floored. i was able to see the topics that i was weak in, the topics i was strong in, and my over all progression for the questions answered. i found out i was really weak in distinguishing nematodes - and which specific ones - and that i'm pretty good with my gram negative bacteria. 'm goign to flat out say it now, THIS PROGRESS REPORT IS GOLD. doing hundreds and thousands of questions, through usmlerx, kaplan qbank, exam master wont make a difference if you dont have a good detail post game analysis. i wont say that im still not skeptical of this program. but i will say that i think this post score report is a game changer and another but a now extraordinary reason to look into this program.
Dude you just outlined the entire reason I use and love GT.
Learn something properly, get that long term memory working, and then you have to cram less, and study less, if you time it correctly.
Nobody's saying don't use Goljan, they just say that this is an excellent, brilliant tool to work on long term retention in the years leading up to the step. Then when you're grinding in the months immediate to the exam, not only do you know more of the material but the really ugly gritty stuff you've gone over and over again until it sticks.
That said, I think I'm a little bit stupider than their algorithm because I forget things faster than they give me credit for a good deal of the time.
Also the difference between passively reading FA and having to free-recall different types of toxins is massive. The conservative mindset is pretty stock for medicine but you gotta remember FA was new once too.
My original plan was to use FA & Rx to reinforce each other but Rx turned out to be a huge disappointment. GT really came in handy as a launching pad for my overall schematic. After GT, I finished Rx, and then now I'm moving onto USMLE World. I wouldn't tell anyone to use GT exclusively but it's by far the most important part of my test prep thus far, at least in terms of time. Caveat, I haven't tried UW yet. And I also wouldn't recommend GT for people who feel that they were really strong in the basic sciences, they might feel it's a waste of time. But for me, it's been a lifesaver.
anyone know how to only get physiology questions for the organ system customized exams? I'm a first year and we do physiology first but majority of the questions were patho-based..
I signed up for a trial but can some give me a quick tutorial of how GT works? I'm still trying to figure out how to use this thing.. do you create your own flashcards? Are flashcards randomly given to you by the program? How do I choose specific flashcards for systems that I have already covered instead of systems that I haven't learned yet? You guys seem to like it a lot so maybe I'm doing something wrong..
anyone know of any other questions banks that are can be customized to purely physiology concepts?
appreciate any help..thanks!
I am currently using GT and was thinking about getting kaplan Qbank. What do people think about GT's Qbank questions? I thought they are a bit straightforward and obvious but haven't used kaplan Qbank so I can't compared. Any insights please?
I agree, the new individual question analysis is gold
I thought this guy was just talking about the normal charts they display at the end of the 50 questions. But instead they just implemented this new thing where it goes through question by question, grouping them by rated retention and shows your relative improvement on that specific question material since the last time, and then your overall average on that question. It's ridiculously badass. Then it gives you the option to redo the cycle for those questions you flubbed.
I hate the term and I think it's overused, but "game changer" is very accurate.
Quick question to those using GIT:
How do you get it to count a flashcard as "completed"? For instance, it says 5 out of 806 flashcards completed but I have reviewed more than 5 flashcards so far in my free trial.
Is it only when you select "5" in the review quiz questions or something?
I'm checking GIT out for 1 month and will try to post my thoughts here on the program.
Has any one stuck with them for the long run? Im nervous..
because in terms of question banks, USMLERx >> GT, and UWorld > USMLERx from what I'm told. I'm saving UW for closer to Step, so I'm not sure from first-hand experience.
You're comparing apples and oranges, because GT is not primarily a question bank. It's much more similar to FA, translated into an online adaptive learning format.
I thought this guy was just talking about the normal charts they display at the end of the 50 questions. But instead they just implemented this new thing where it goes through question by question, grouping them by rated retention and shows your relative improvement on that specific question material since the last time, and then your overall average on that question. It's ridiculously badass. Then it gives you the option to redo the cycle for those questions you flubbed.
I hate the term and I think it's overused, but "game changer" is very accurate.