Gunner Training?

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hope2bpaindoc

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MS1 here. My understanding is that drugs and bugs are pure memorization. Personally, I plan on banking all the pharm and micro stuff I can, as well as reviewing everything we've covered first year that I have yet to bank. I'm hoping I can get up to ~40% banked before starting MS2. Currently sitting at ~20% banked since I took a month and a half GT hiatus when I decided to prioritize school > GT and stopped banking cards.

Theoretically, if I were to get through all of micro and pharm over the summer along with a review of first year courses, when could/should I begin Kaplan Qbank? Would it be a bad idea to start Qbank questions once school starts up?

I agree about pharm and micro being purely memorization. As I mentioned in the past on here, I pretty much just used GT to learn micro for school and did not podcast or read the lecture notes. Also, since micro is like 14% of GT, it probably isn't a bad idea to get it out of the way.

Lots of people like to do Qbanks along with class second year, but I didn't. I'm married with a now 10 month old son, so it was adding more review stuff vs spending time with them and I'm sure you can guess who won...anyways, from what I hear though, what I would've done is used something like USMLERx along with classes. I've heard (again, no personal experience with it) that Rx is more straight forward and really pounds FA into your head (similar to the way GT does but with just step-I style multiple choice questions I think). The next Qbank I'd use is Kaplan, because general consensus is that it is the second best Qbank out there (although it may be a bit nitpicky at times). Then last use UWorld. You want to use UW heading into your exam because it is apparently far and away the best Qbank out there. Now this is just what I would've done with Qbanks if I had all the time in the world (i.e. not married with child :p), but you can mix it up however you want. A lot of people say to do UW multiple times, but if you have a tendency to remember questions that may negatively impact its effectiveness the 2nd or 3rd time through. I guess you could always just do UW first and last, so you forget a lot of the questions in that time and it is like new again...I dunno. Anyways, there are a lot of different ways of approaching this beast, so this is just one idea.
 
hi

sorry but can someone please explain what "banking" a questions means, does that mean marking it low in terms of recall so that it shows up continuously?
 
Banking a card is just adding the quiz questions to your list of review questions for the first time (i.e. after your first time studying the card and hitting "add x questions")
 
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hi

sorry but can someone please explain what "banking" a questions means, does that mean marking it low in terms of recall so that it shows up continuously?

Best way to find out is to just try GT. Assuming you're a first year, you should be heading into (or already into) your summer break, so this would be a great time to test it out. They offer a 1 month free trial. You can PM me and I'll send you the link. Otherwise, LoveOfOrangic's explanation is the best you'll get without trying GT for yourself.
 
Nevermind, I wanted clarification on a GT card... turns out that I just misread it...lol.
 
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I was bored at work and stumbled upon this thread....

I'll be starting med school in the fall at a school which has a 1.5 year preclinical curriculum (1 semester of basic sciences, then a year of organ systems) before going into rotations for a year, and then finally taking step 1.

My question is, do you guys think GT can be used as an effective supplement in this system? I feel like it could be a good supplement to during the preclinical, but might lose a lot of value if I have to wait a year between the end of preclinical classes and step 1. Maybe it wouldn't be as useful for step 1 specifically, but would it still be a good way of developing a very strong knowledge base, which would be generally very valuable? Any thoughts?

Sorry for gunnin' a bit, but was wondering. thanks!
 
I was bored at work and stumbled upon this thread....

I'll be starting med school in the fall at a school which has a 1.5 year preclinical curriculum (1 semester of basic sciences, then a year of organ systems) before going into rotations for a year, and then finally taking step 1.

My question is, do you guys think GT can be used as an effective supplement in this system? I feel like it could be a good supplement to during the preclinical, but might lose a lot of value if I have to wait a year between the end of preclinical classes and step 1. Maybe it wouldn't be as useful for step 1 specifically, but would it still be a good way of developing a very strong knowledge base, which would be generally very valuable? Any thoughts?

Sorry for gunnin' a bit, but was wondering. thanks!

I think GT is useful not just for boards but also for class too; however, the spaced review method is intended for long term retention of material through your boards period. Fortunately or unfortunately for you, you have a year in between your class time and your boards during which you'll be spending lots of time in the hospital and what time you're not in the hospital you'll probably be spending preparing for shelf exam, so adding GT in on top of that may be tough. It would probably be very important for you to be diligent about GT during your 1.5 yr preclinical period, so that by the time clinicals start for you, you have most things in a longer-term review and you don't have a crap ton of daily questions to worry about.

Speaking of doing GT during clinicals, has anyone heard anything else about GT for Step-II? Studying for step-I isn't stressful enough, so like a jackass I keep thinking ahead to the next major exam we have...:rolleyes:

Also, does any one know how to make GT show you your calender for more than just the month? I just want to be able to see what my GT schedule looks like currently up until I actually take Step-I, but it only goes up through May 26th right now.
 
I may put in a little extra work sometime this summer but don't want to do much.

Could someone prioritize seeing something like Pathoma (fundamental coverage of pathology - basic concepts) vs. sheer micro memory (i.e. doing GT micro cards).

What would you rather have going into 2nd year?
 
I may put in a little extra work sometime this summer but don't want to do much.

Could someone prioritize seeing something like Pathoma (fundamental coverage of pathology - basic concepts) vs. sheer micro memory (i.e. doing GT micro cards).

What would you rather have going into 2nd year?
Obviously path is a much bigger part of 2nd year and makes up something like 70-80% of the boards. If you could go through pathoma and understand it that'd be a heck of a leg up. However, I think I would get more out of pathoma if I had some background as it's a high yield source like rapid review, may not be the easiest to understand. On the other hand, you get used to the overall structure and lay down an initial foundation that will help with class.

If you did all of GT micro and read MMRS, you would be set for that subject and probably ace your class too.

Looking back, I wish I had all of anatomy, embryo, psych, biochem, and physio done before 2nd year started. If you can do that, I think you'll be in a great position.
 
I may put in a little extra work sometime this summer but don't want to do much.

Could someone prioritize seeing something like Pathoma (fundamental coverage of pathology - basic concepts) vs. sheer micro memory (i.e. doing GT micro cards).

What would you rather have going into 2nd year?

If you're really wanting to stick with GT, I'd say try to get everything from first year banked this summer. It will make using GT next year much more reasonable.

You can probably add an hour or so a day (or every other day) of Pathoma and get through it just fine too. As Alvarez13 said, it is more of a HY review, but he actually does a great job of explaining everything so I could see it being very beneficial as well. It would give you a great base to fill in all the minutiae of class with too.

If you do those things, you'll still have many hours each day to to whatever with your last summer ever.
 
Sorry for the repost

After some reading, can it be concluded that gunner training is basically an online-effective memory retaining version of First Aid? Both sources first and foremost are review sources and I agree they aren't meant to teach. But what I like the most about GT is the interface and I get to add notes and links of pics/youtube or kaplan clips/reference something to check out on a stuff that I do not understand for example so I can easily navigate and clarify my weaknesses. I think an online visual, quizzable interface in general facilitates my learning quite a lot. Yes I agree that GT doesn't teach, but neither does First Aid. At the same time, I do keep a set of background sources (ie.- pathoma, microcards) just to cover my initial bases.

I was wondering, is it a smart idea to annotate leftover tidbits from first aid and potentially lecture notes as well ONTO GT? Is GT that comprehensive because I hear so much of people who annotate lecture notes onto first aid, etc...and I was wondring if GT can simply suffice? I think what ultimately teaches is problems, whether that may be GT or problem books.

Thanks.
 
Sorry for the repost

After some reading, can it be concluded that gunner training is basically an online-effective memory retaining version of First Aid? Both sources first and foremost are review sources and I agree they aren't meant to teach. But what I like the most about GT is the interface and I get to add notes and links of pics/youtube or kaplan clips/reference something to check out on a stuff that I do not understand for example so I can easily navigate and clarify my weaknesses. I think an online visual, quizzable interface in general facilitates my learning quite a lot. Yes I agree that GT doesn't teach, but neither does First Aid. At the same time, I do keep a set of background sources (ie.- pathoma, microcards) just to cover my initial bases.

I was wondering, is it a smart idea to annotate leftover tidbits from first aid and potentially lecture notes as well ONTO GT? Is GT that comprehensive because I hear so much of people who annotate lecture notes onto first aid, etc...and I was wondring if GT can simply suffice? I think what ultimately teaches is problems, whether that may be GT or problem books.

Thanks.

I never bothered with the notes function on GT. It just never appealed to me or felt practical to use.

For annotating, I am annotating stuff from Qbanks into FA. GT's spaced review system is great for long term review and retention, but I have ~5 wks to go, so a fair number of things on my GT review schedule are pushed out past my exam date. That means if I had annotated into GT, I wouldn't see those annotations again until after my exam. FA on the other hand, I plan to get through 2-3 or more times in the next 5 weeks, so everything in there will be seen again.

I'm not sure if that exactly answers your question, but basically, I think GT is sufficient for reviewing throughout the year leading up to your dedicated step-I time during which you can use FA for more frequent reviews (you should probably familiarize yourself with FA at some point before too).
 
This might sound silly, but would it be fine to solely use GT as my source for well...everything??- board prep, classes (all i want to do is pass) and just annotate stuff...little by little I start realizing how I learn more from digital stuff i.e.- ackland anatomy and mich website or kaplan vids for embryo, shotgun histo + blue histo for histo stuff etc...this coupled with a buttload of problems were enough...

I think I've concluded that my style of learning is really effective when there is a reduction in redundancy (i.e.- using so many different sources all at once) and having as many visual references possible. I do like make references to pages in books or finding a google image for something.

What are your thoughts on such an approach?
 
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This might sound silly, but would it be fine to solely use GT as my source for well...everything??- board prep, classes (all i want to do is pass) and just annotate stuff...little by little I start realizing how I learn more from digital stuff i.e.- ackland anatomy and mich website or kaplan vids for embryo, shotgun histo + blue histo for histo stuff etc...this coupled with a buttload of problems were enough...

I think I've concluded that my style of learning is really effective when there is a reduction in redundancy (i.e.- using so many different sources all at once) and having as many visual references possible. I do like make references to pages in books or finding a google image for something.

What are your thoughts on such an approach?

I wouldn't. I view GT as a way to remember Step 1 material.

I don't see it as something that gives me a birds-eye view (reading BRS physiology is a good example, there are many others). I don't see it as a useful place to annotate things for the exam (First Aid does this alongside qbanks). I don't see it as a problem solving/application tool (qbanks).

I would use GT for what's it's best at, remembering facts. If you use it right, from my understanding, you can keep your daily use below 2 hours driving right up to exam day.
 
How does GT fair as a single source for 2nd year stuff based on how you took exams? I think my goals just to pass and gear myself just on boards prep since I'm starting to realize its either hard to appease both med school and board prep and being at a P/F school is pretty nice.

For PATH: Do you think GT Path alone (with some pathoma and goljan audio and BRS phys on my side) and maybe using WebPath can replace RR path, robbins, and class lecture notes if all I'm trying to do is pass while learning path well enough for boards? I think I'm starting to appreciate the learning stuff and doing as many problems approach than learning a bazillion things and spending less time learning the fundamentals and testing myself strategy.

For Pharm, Neuro, Behavioral Sciences, and remaining courses: Can GT-alone suffice for classes maybe with some annotating?

Thanks. It'd be great to hear from people who've integrated GT into coursework because it was hard for me to do both and now I'm thinking it might just be easier to annotate onto GT and fill in any gaps from FA, lecture notes, etc... since GT is vast in itself while keeping the fundamental teaching tools in mind (i.e.- pathoma for path, kaplan for behavioral and pharm, and maybe even going to class)
 
Holy crap. Just pick a strategy based on your own trial and error already. No one can tell you if you will pass medical school using only GT. If you try GT and find that you fail your first test of second year, adapt and do something different.
 
Holy crap. Just pick a strategy based on your own trial and error already. No one can tell you if you will pass medical school using only GT. If you try GT and find that you fail your first test of second year, adapt and do something different.

+1.


I did 2 passes of Goljan audio along w/ 2nd year classes, w/ 2 more during the study period (while at the gym). This is great because he completely emphasizes the HOW and WHY of pathology, which is much more useful then trying to memorize his book, which was garbage IMO (except for the pictures, which I used along w/ the audio). As I explain later, understanding the how and the why is essential, as they love to ask questions about classic diseases but w/ a new twist that makes it very difficult to just memorize the answers.

I was putting together my resources for path and came across this, I'm curious what other GT users have thought of RR path. I have the book, but I've heard people to begin to say it's overly detailed and even some saying it's not worth it (as above). Would you guys recommend RR path during 2nd year? I'm already sold on Pathoma and will be using it, but it's hard to imagine not using RR path which so many swear by.
 
I was putting together my resources for path and came across this, I'm curious what other GT users have thought of RR path. I have the book, but I've heard people to begin to say it's overly detailed and even some saying it's not worth it (as above). Would you guys recommend RR path during 2nd year? I'm already sold on Pathoma and will be using it, but it's hard to imagine not using RR path which so many swear by.

If you already have it, then why not read it along with class at least one time through the chapter. You could compare to what's in FA and annotate anything that seems important. If you don't already have it, then it's probably not necessary to get, unless you have some extra money, then why not? I definitely think you need to see your resources all the way through, but multiple resources seems good me. Each source you use will come at things from a slightly different angle, and based on what I've seen on here, it seems as though step-I LOVES to come at things from different angles than what you may expect to test on various things. The more ways you've seen things presented, the better prepared you should be to handle the ****-storm the NBME people will be throwing at you.
 
I personally loved RR path. I did not use Pathoma, however, so I'm not sure how much overlap there may or may not be.

Pros of RR path: great for conceptual and in depth understanding of pathophys, covers certain organ systems that my med school curriculum pretty much ignored (e.g. derm). Is *awesome* if you are looking for some TLC for your weak areas (e.g. if you suck at GI, read the GI chapters and you will likely suck much less).

Cons of RR path: very long and painful to read at times because of the details. I recommend trying to get through this beast only *after* you have a solid first pass through a less detailed source (e.g. GT or FA, or read relevant sections along with class when things are fresh). That way, you can breeze through certain sections and feel like you are accomplishing something... even if that something is only 10 pages in a sitting :laugh:
 
Hey GT users...

Is GT + FA enough for Biochem/Cell, Molecular Bio/Genetics?

I have not yet started solving question banks and so am not able to decide whether I will be needing another resource.

Also what book do you suggest for Genetics?

Will be helpful to know your opinions.

Thanks
 
Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll use it during 2nd year, I already own it and like you guys said, I can just fly through it faster if I start to feel the details building up.

It's going to be a tough year I can tell already! :)

Hey GT users...

Is GT + FA enough for Biochem/Cell, Molecular Bio/Genetics?

I have not yet started solving question banks and so am not able to decide whether I will be needing another resource.

Also what book do you suggest for Genetics?

Will be helpful to know your opinions.

Thanks

Yes, it is definitely enough. I've never seen anyone recommend a book for genetics.

I do like either lippincott's or rapid review biochem, BUT I use them only as a reference when necessary to flesh out GT/FA (<25% of the time). If you understand the material, then FA/GT + qbanks is plenty, IMO.
 
Thank you @Jack

Could you possibly also tell me what you think about the following....

Anatomy GT+ FA +/- HY Gross Anat
 
@Jack and Loveoforganic...

Thanks for the replies. Will be doing as you have suggested.

On the other hand I am trying to reason why HY Gross Anat is preferred by some. I tried reading just one chapter and had to open two other sources just for pictures.
 
I thought I'd check in with all my fellow GTers who are taking Step-I this year and see how your studies were coming along?

My scores on Kaplan Qbank have been rising nicely, so what I once thought was great is now alright. My last 7-8 blocks have all been in the 80's (except for a 70 that had to find it's way in there early this morning :mad:), which is a pretty solid increase from where I started (mid 60's). My overall percent correct is now at a 72% with 79% completed. I attribute a lot of that to learning how to better sift through a question stem, figure out what the hell they're getting at, and then integrate things in my knowledge to answer the question. I'm going to take a practice NBME in a week, so I'll have a better idea where I stand at that point though I guess...

I've been surprised to find out though that a 12-14 hour day of studying is a lot shorter than I thought it would be, so I haven't been getting through everything I wanted to get through on most days (~3 blocks of 46, random questions answered and reviewed, GT (still ~300/day unfortunately), 1-2 hrs Pathoma, and a chapter of FA).

Anyways, I hope everyone else's studies are coming along nicely as well!
 
Just curious - q for those further along

I attached an image below of my question schedule for the month. I'm at 22.1 banked, 19.4 mastered. The image makes it look like I barely have any questions per day, but my average is probably 90ish/day because the unmastered 2.7% hit me pretty frequently, so there's what I guess you'd call frequently rolling cards that make the future schedule fairly deceiving.

Do you all still have this issue? Does the calendar become more or less predictive of how many cards you'll have that day as you progress?

Thanks :)
 

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Irk - great job keeping up the pace :thumbup: Glad qbanking is going so well for you. I agree that there doesn't seem to be enough time in a day...

loveoforganic - you've probably already figured this out, but the calendar is always in some state of flux. Once you push out more questions beyond the 30-90 day mark, your calendar for the next 30 days becomes increasingly more predictive of the actual number of questions you'll be doing per day.
 
How would you guys rate the Immunology section on GT with regards to using it for board review?...is it overkill and too detailed or is it fine? any feedback will be appreciated. thanks.
 
Irk - great job keeping up the pace :thumbup: Glad qbanking is going so well for you. I agree that there doesn't seem to be enough time in a day...

loveoforganic - you've probably already figured this out, but the calendar is always in some state of flux. Once you push out more questions beyond the 30-90 day mark, your calendar for the next 30 days becomes increasingly more predictive of the actual number of questions you'll be doing per day.

Definitely aware of the flux, was just wondering whether it got more or less fluxy as you progressed. Thanks!
 
How would you guys rate the Immunology section on GT with regards to using it for board review?...is it overkill and too detailed or is it fine? any feedback will be appreciated. thanks.

I think the immunology section is pretty solid. It seems to be hitting the right level of detail, which I certainly could NOT say about the immunology section at my school...missed HUGE areas and delved into excessive detail in others. It probably was the worst area at my school, but thanks in large part to GT, I have been doing just fine in immuno on the qbanks.

Definitely aware of the flux, was just wondering whether it got more or less fluxy as you progressed. Thanks!

It gets less "fluxy" as you get more mastery. If you're at 50% completed and 50% mastered, then your calendar should be about dead on for the next 30 days. If you're at 30% completed and 15% mastery, then your calendar will have lots of flux. For me, I am at 99.2% complete (thanks to new cards being added) and over 60% mastery, which leaves a lot of cards to be popping up more than once every 60-90 days. In fact, when I went on my massive banking spree, I wound up with so much fluctuation in my daily schedule that I basically had to use the "custom review schedule" feature to spread it out a little bit. If you have a day a week out that is loaded with questions, then you can use that feature to move questions to the day before or after it so you don't keep piling all onto one crazy day.
 
If any of you guys further into want to comment on my plans for the summer, I welcome input.

I have 9 weeks of summer. For GT, I've currently knocked out biochem, the various phys sections, all the neuro I've been taught (some remaining path), and a third of pharm (just the concepts).

I'm planning to do the 1st lecture of pathoma asap and bank the relevant cards just to get the concepts engrained. Over the 1st 3.5 weeks, I'm going to work through Levinson microbio/immun (starting with the immun sections, and this works out to about 20ish pages a day working 6 days a week), banking the relevant cards as I go, along with 6 cards from 1st semester each day. For the remainder, I plan on watching 4 pathoma vids a week (not banking anything related to it, just going through it), and banking 6 new cards from 1st semester on vid watching days, 10 new cards from 1st semester on nonvid days.

That should get me through microbio/immun, anatomy, embryo, behavioral science, and psychiatry (except the pharm) with about 2.5 weeks left in the summer (and that's all I plan on banking until 2nd year starts up - will be about 60% banked).

Constructive criticism appreciated (including "it's too much" - I'll probably try it to test how it feels anyway, but will be more likely to change the workload if it starts to feel like too much to me).

Thanks in advance!
 
Hey thats awesome man, I think annotating FA + Levinson (some of the disease Path) to micro and referring some of the clinical stuff might be helpful...I've actually been annotating GT a ton..while its a baby notes box on the side, there's not going to be a ton to add. But in doing so, you won't have to pick up FA again and just stick to GT (why have the hassle of so much redundancy?) It would IDEALLY be sick if GT could just have the notes card appear while you do your questions so you can retain that added info as well.

Aside from that, maybe spending time adding review questions of USMLE type (kaplan, GT qbank) might be helpful to review while you do it and saving your errors. It lets you take a more board-application approach than just pure retention. I'm just assuming 2nd year will get hard and you'll be mad busy.

Also, could you PM me your thoughts on how you've integrated GT with Pathoma video only? I like your approach for the M1 summer and its something I'm planning on doing as well.

Thanks.
 
If any of you guys further into want to comment on my plans for the summer, I welcome input.

I have 9 weeks of summer. For GT, I've currently knocked out biochem, the various phys sections, all the neuro I've been taught (some remaining path), and a third of pharm (just the concepts).

I'm planning to do the 1st lecture of pathoma asap and bank the relevant cards just to get the concepts engrained. Over the 1st 3.5 weeks, I'm going to work through Levinson microbio/immun (starting with the immun sections, and this works out to about 20ish pages a day working 6 days a week), banking the relevant cards as I go, along with 6 cards from 1st semester each day. For the remainder, I plan on watching 4 pathoma vids a week (not banking anything related to it, just going through it), and banking 6 new cards from 1st semester on vid watching days, 10 new cards from 1st semester on nonvid days.

That should get me through microbio/immun, anatomy, embryo, behavioral science, and psychiatry (except the pharm) with about 2.5 weeks left in the summer (and that's all I plan on banking until 2nd year starts up - will be about 60% banked).

Constructive criticism appreciated (including "it's too much" - I'll probably try it to test how it feels anyway, but will be more likely to change the workload if it starts to feel like too much to me).

Thanks in advance!

Seems reasonable enough to me. I'm really in no position to call something "too much" based on the hell I put myself through in the past and am currently putting myself though. If you can come into 2nd year with 60% banked, you should be in a great position. I was way below that.

It sounds like you don't plan on killing yourself to get things done, which I think is key. You definitely do not want to go into second year already burnt out.

How many hours do you think you'll be spending on this each day? Are you doing research or anything else along with it?
 
If any of you guys further into want to comment on my plans for the summer, I welcome input.

I have 9 weeks of summer. For GT, I've currently knocked out biochem, the various phys sections, all the neuro I've been taught (some remaining path), and a third of pharm (just the concepts).

I'm planning to do the 1st lecture of pathoma asap and bank the relevant cards just to get the concepts engrained. Over the 1st 3.5 weeks, I'm going to work through Levinson microbio/immun (starting with the immun sections, and this works out to about 20ish pages a day working 6 days a week), banking the relevant cards as I go, along with 6 cards from 1st semester each day. For the remainder, I plan on watching 4 pathoma vids a week (not banking anything related to it, just going through it), and banking 6 new cards from 1st semester on vid watching days, 10 new cards from 1st semester on nonvid days.

That should get me through microbio/immun, anatomy, embryo, behavioral science, and psychiatry (except the pharm) with about 2.5 weeks left in the summer (and that's all I plan on banking until 2nd year starts up - will be about 60% banked).

Constructive criticism appreciated (including "it's too much" - I'll probably try it to test how it feels anyway, but will be more likely to change the workload if it starts to feel like too much to me).

Thanks in advance!
It sounds doable and really just comes down to how much you want to work. No one can tell you whether not it is too much. I know I wouldn't have been able to do it when all my friends were at the pool last summer, but it probably won't take more time than you study during the school year so if you think it is doable then it probably is.

My advice would be to plan on doing what you said then adjust if it becomes overwhelming. It will be easy to adjust it based on how much you want to do. Don't bank the Pathoma stuff or parasites if you (correctly imo) realize that your time would be better spent enjoying your summer.

If you want to match into a competitive specialty or a top program you should probably consider getting involved in research. My school told us the only reason we had so much time after MS1 here was so we would have as much time for research over the summer as people do at other schools.
 
Thank you all for the input. I am going to be doing research this summer, but without getting into the nitty gritty, I don't expect it to be anywhere near full time (although that is just the impression I've gathered, and another variable in whether or not I'll feel comfortable doing this stuff). It's also not the type of project I could take significant initiative on independent of the initiative of the PI due to the nature of the work. I will however be taking a gap year between 2nd and 3rd year to finish up a MPH and based on prior discussions with another PI, it looks reasonable for me to undertake some 1st author level work under her supervision during that time.

As far as not banking the micro stuff, after thinking about it a bit, I think that's really my primary goal (along with banking 1st semester stuff). I'm not sure it would hold much value to just read through it without the memorization aspect of the cards. If I decided what I set up is too much, I'll probably drop the pathoma videos and space micro out over the summer, along with the other banking

Thanks again
 
Thank you all for the input. I am going to be doing research this summer, but without getting into the nitty gritty, I don't expect it to be anywhere near full time (although that is just the impression I've gathered, and another variable in whether or not I'll feel comfortable doing this stuff). It's also not the type of project I could take significant initiative on independent of the initiative of the PI due to the nature of the work. I will however be taking a gap year between 2nd and 3rd year to finish up a MPH and based on prior discussions with another PI, it looks reasonable for me to undertake some 1st author level work under her supervision during that time.

As far as not banking the micro stuff, after thinking about it a bit, I think that's really my primary goal (along with banking 1st semester stuff). I'm not sure it would hold much value to just read through it without the memorization aspect of the cards. If I decided what I set up is too much, I'll probably drop the pathoma videos and space micro out over the summer, along with the other banking

Thanks again

I'd say definitely do not read micro and not bank the cards with it. If anything, skip the reading and just get straight to reviewing and banking the micro cards. That is by far the largest section on GT and seemed to me to have sufficient detail on its own. I used the micro section of GT and nothing else to prepare for the bacteriology and fungal sections of micro at my school and passed the final just fine. If you can knock out micro this summer, then that's like 15% of GT right there...
 
Hey thats awesome man, I think annotating FA + Levinson (some of the disease Path) to micro and referring some of the clinical stuff might be helpful...I've actually been annotating GT a ton..while its a baby notes box on the side, there's not going to be a ton to add. But in doing so, you won't have to pick up FA again and just stick to GT (why have the hassle of so much redundancy?) It would IDEALLY be sick if GT could just have the notes card appear while you do your questions so you can retain that added info as well.

Aside from that, maybe spending time adding review questions of USMLE type (kaplan, GT qbank) might be helpful to review while you do it and saving your errors. It lets you take a more board-application approach than just pure retention. I'm just assuming 2nd year will get hard and you'll be mad busy.

Also, could you PM me your thoughts on how you've integrated GT with Pathoma video only? I like your approach for the M1 summer and its something I'm planning on doing as well.

Thanks.

I don't know if ditching First Aid is smart. It's readily considered the best preparation book by nearly every test taker.

Also, I found the thread you started amusing, saying GT > FA. Really? You have no expertise to offer such an opinion.
 
dude all FA is a book of information, i think its put up on a pedestal a bit too much. What really needs to be put on a pedestal is the actual process (methods of retention, annotating, other sources etc...) of information from first aid
 
dude all FA is a book of information, i think its put up on a pedestal a bit too much. What really needs to be put on a pedestal is the actual process (methods of retention, annotating, other sources etc...) of information from first aid

Dude. It's not what you're using to study. It's how you study and your innate intelligence. You can get 260 using Gunner Training for 2 years straight and you can get 260 from using First Aid and Pathoma staring in the second semester of your second year.
 
dude all FA is a book of information, i think its put up on a pedestal a bit too much. What really needs to be put on a pedestal is the actual process (methods of retention, annotating, other sources etc...) of information from first aid

Please tell your % banked / % mastery and how many GT questions you do each day (+ time needed to do those Q's).

I think it's important to know considering your claims.
 
LoOrganic, I think adding the micro sounds like a good idea. It could give more time to focus on path during 2nd year. I think BRS physio is a good read for summer though, keeping with the why/how of the information is something I'm trying to focus on.
 
I'd say definitely do not read micro and not bank the cards with it. If anything, skip the reading and just get straight to reviewing and banking the micro cards. That is by far the largest section on GT and seemed to me to have sufficient detail on its own. I used the micro section of GT and nothing else to prepare for the bacteriology and fungal sections of micro at my school and passed the final just fine. If you can knock out micro this summer, then that's like 15% of GT right there...

Oh wow, that would cut down big time on the time commitment. I definitely need to read the intro chapters of micro because frankly I have no sense of even gram+/-, but I'll try to get a feel for how much the text and cards overlap and consider dropping the text based on that. Thanks!

Jack - that's part of my rationale. First semester 2nd year is supposed to be dreadful - literally not enough hours in the day to learn a significant amount of the information - and I function much better psychologically when there's not a ton of crap I don't know, so it should hopefully ease that burden and free up some path time. As far as BRS, I'm doing a condensed 2.5 day read of it now for shelf and am planning on reading it along with corresponding modules 2nd year, so I'm not sure about doing it again over the summer. If I find I can't make time for the pathoma vids, it might be something I could see working in in place of it.



As far as FA, what I've personally decided to do is a compromise of cost and reward, like most things. I'm not going to use FA at all until dedicated study time. At either the very start of dedicated study time or at the very end of it (haven't decided), I'm planning on making a hardcore quick as I can pass through it. Even if it has less than GT and zero new information, it will be a condensed quick pass through everything that could possibly reintegrate the memorization from GT. I'm hoping 5 days or less to do it.

I won't have annotations or anything, which is definitely a loss (although small imo), but frankly I hate annotating. And I think simultaneously going through FA with GT and coursework etc is beneficial, the cost/benefit isn't there for me.

Anyway, this is as much or more a guessing game to me as everyone else, so I guess we'll see :)
 
I don't know if ditching First Aid is smart. It's readily considered the best preparation book by nearly every test taker.

Also, I found the thread you started amusing, saying GT > FA. Really? You have no expertise to offer such an opinion.

:thumbup: Especially since he's usually on here asking detailed questions about how to use the program and what subjects to use it for.
 
Oh wow, that would cut down big time on the time commitment. I definitely need to read the intro chapters of micro because frankly I have no sense of even gram+/-, but I'll try to get a feel for how much the text and cards overlap and consider dropping the text based on that. Thanks!

Jack - that's part of my rationale. First semester 2nd year is supposed to be dreadful - literally not enough hours in the day to learn a significant amount of the information - and I function much better psychologically when there's not a ton of crap I don't know, so it should hopefully ease that burden and free up some path time. As far as BRS, I'm doing a condensed 2.5 day read of it now for shelf and am planning on reading it along with corresponding modules 2nd year, so I'm not sure about doing it again over the summer. If I find I can't make time for the pathoma vids, it might be something I could see working in in place of it.



As far as FA, what I've personally decided to do is a compromise of cost and reward, like most things. I'm not going to use FA at all until dedicated study time. At either the very start of dedicated study time or at the very end of it (haven't decided), I'm planning on making a hardcore quick as I can pass through it. Even if it has less than GT and zero new information, it will be a condensed quick pass through everything that could possibly reintegrate the memorization from GT. I'm hoping 5 days or less to do it.

I won't have annotations or anything, which is definitely a loss (although small imo), but frankly I hate annotating. And I think simultaneously going through FA with GT and coursework etc is beneficial, the cost/benefit isn't there for me.

Anyway, this is as much or more a guessing game to me as everyone else, so I guess we'll see :)

That sounds similar to me right now. I didn't really do the whole FA along with class thing. I am annotating things that I don't know from Qbanks into it that aren't already there, and then my plan is to go through all of FA in the couple days leading up to my exam. That way everything I annotate in there is from the qbanks and thus high yield (in theory anyhow). Plus, I tried annotating early on and some of the things I put in there are super obvious to me now after months of GT pounding it into my brain, so they're just a distraction on the page now. If you're going to do a pass through FA, trying that way might make it more beneficial for you (and you shouldn't lose too much time annotating).
 
Thanks for the input - I may annotate in UWorld, but I don't think I'd do it for Kaplan/Rx if I do manage to do either of those along with classes.

I also forgot to answer your question from earlier - I'm hoping to keep it around 4 hours a day tops over the summer. I have a feeling my review cards/day might get pretty high fairly quickly, so I won't be surprised if I end up having to space out the micro. I guess I'll see fairly soon
 
Did 700 GT questions today thanks to stupid exams. It was a long
censored-015.gif
day.
 
"Re: Step 2 – YES! We are working on it as I type! We have about 15+ residents, students, residency directors, etc. working on it! :)

Since there is so much overlap between the two tests, we are going to have them be 1 program
but with the ability to filter out topics and questions that are only Step 1.

We are planning on releasing bits and pieces to current members as soon as possible (possibly next month!) Then, we aim to have the complete program ready to go by this September (2012 of course!)."



"We're also going to add hundreds of USMLE-like questions (sequential item sets w/ clinical vignettes, matching sets, etc.) for both Step 1 and Step 2.

So if we're like First Aid on Steroids now, we will soon be...

Like if FA and UWorld had a baby... and gave that baby steroids. Yea, that would be us. ;) Soon guys! Thanks to all your great ideas! Keep em coming! We can't wait to show you what we're building (and we have a new and greatly improved platform on it's way too!)."
 
Did 700 GT questions today thanks to stupid exams. It was a long
censored-015.gif
day.

Brutal. I hate those long days of never ending GT questions. I messed up the past couple days and now I'm trying to figure out how to get caught back up along with everything else.

"Re: Step 2 – YES! We are working on it as I type! We have about 15+ residents, students, residency directors, etc. working on it! :)

Since there is so much overlap between the two tests, we are going to have them be 1 program
but with the ability to filter out topics and questions that are only Step 1.

We are planning on releasing bits and pieces to current members as soon as possible (possibly next month!) Then, we aim to have the complete program ready to go by this September (2012 of course!)."



"We're also going to add hundreds of USMLE-like questions (sequential item sets w/ clinical vignettes, matching sets, etc.) for both Step 1 and Step 2.

So if we're like First Aid on Steroids now, we will soon be...

Like if FA and UWorld had a baby... and gave that baby steroids. Yea, that would be us. ;) Soon guys! Thanks to all your great ideas! Keep em coming! We can't wait to show you what we're building (and we have a new and greatly improved platform on it's way too!)."

Awesome! I'm really interested to see what they have in store for us. As I said before though, I am quite nervous about the potential time commitment of GT along with long hours in the hospital.
 
Brutal. I hate those long days of never ending GT questions. I messed up the past couple days and now I'm trying to figure out how to get caught back up along with everything else.



Awesome! I'm really interested to see what they have in store for us. As I said before though, I am quite nervous about the potential time commitment of GT along with long hours in the hospital.

Exactly, honestly I probably won't use the step 2 because it seems GTs goal is to include everything. I'd be fine with GT being FA without steroids. Clinical years, grades matter. GT takes time, for step 1 that is fine but not for step 2 which has marginal significance.

I don't like the vision to be everything. That's why we have Uworld and other sources.
 
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