How do you utilize Boards and Beyond?

[DPTinthemaking15]

Long post ahead (TL;DR down below): Hey everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday off and having a Merry Christmas. Anyways, I am in a conundrum and I figured someone would be able to help. I hate giving a lengthy backstory, but I feel like it will be helpful with my predicament. We just finished up with our second block of medical school (First block was "basic sciences" and this past block was musculoskeletal) and I received a grand total of two C+'s. The first one was in Microbiology and that is the most frustrating one, because I made an A on the first exam and a B on the second one, but I BOMBED the final (Our final week was hell week and I'm honestly just happy I made it out alive). And my second C+ was in Biostats (You would think if I can pull an A/B in Anatomy/Pharm and Cell, biostats wouldn't have been the class I received a C+). ANYYWhooo... I take full responsibility for all of my poor grades, because it wasn't until the end of this block that I realized how much time I was spending on social media. That being said, there are still issues I am facing and hoping to see how you guys would handle our schedule.

I think anonymity has went out of the window with my account and I don't mind saying that I attend VCOM. We normally have two exams a week, some of which have anywhere from 40-80 questions (depending on the amount of lectures we have) and some weeks we will have 3-4. Do you have any suggestions on how you would tackle our schedule (I am going to post a screenshot of what our next block schedule looks like, because we start neuro)? If it helps, here is a schedule of what I normally do on a daily basis and a list of resources I have access to:

Resources available:

Anki (Use it religiously)
Pathoma (Used it a few times, long story)
Boards and Beyond (Used it 1-2 times)
Osmosis (Helpful for lecture specific practice questions)
First Aid (Never used it)
USMLE-Rx (Never used it)




Our Academic Calendar:

https://www.vcom.edu/sites/default/files/blocks/Block3_AC.pdf

How I study:

I usually NEVER listen to any of our lectures, with the exception of 3-4 professors because their teaching style doesn't help me at all. So, I will read through the powerpoint myself and teach myself or watch a YouTube video. Then I will re-read the powerpoint the next day and then tackle the new powerpoint/info (Rinse and repeat). I usually try and balance 2-3 classes at a time so that I don't fall behind and if I have time, I run through some practice questions. If I utilize practice questions, I usually score 85+ on most exams and it took me this long to realize that. Saying that, how the heck do you guys utilize resources and cut down on the minutiae?


My issues:

- I pay attention to detail and not the "big picture." For instance, if I am reading a PP, I spend a ridiculous amount of time on it and want to understand EVERY. SINGLE. WORD on the page. Stupid. I know.
- I never use any type of planner/schedule and I feel like that is my downfall.
- Not using any type of video source, except for when I am completely lost. I want to use B&B, but I don't know how.



TL;DR: Made 2 C+'s after two blocks in med school and I don't like it one bit. I have access to most resources, but I want to learn how to utilize B&B/Zanki/Lightyear because it seems very helpful. If I use practice questions I score anywhere from an 85+ and it took me to the end of this block to realize that. I pay attention to detail and need to learn how to skip the fine details and pick out the big picture stuff. And I want to incorporate a planner, because I feel like it would keep me on schedule. Trying to figure out how to use B&B with my schedule, because I feel like it would speed things up and I can't handle any more C's.


Yet again, sorry for the RIDICULOUSLY long post. I would reach out to our counselor, but I have heard it is a one size fits all model and SDN is usually spot on. Any help would be appreciated.

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[Deecee2DO]

When you say how do you use BnB can you be a bit more specific. Do you mean how do you fit into your schedule? Or like how do you use it mechanistically to study like study method wise?

edit: I took a look at your curriculum and it appears as if youre an M1 with a combined curriculum. This is so much different than mine was. So youre doing M1 and M2 combined am I right? If so I can tell you what I did for M2. I basically used BnB/First aid, Sketchy pharm, Pathoma, Robbins and Rx

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

Sorry! I forgot to expand on why I started this thread lol. My issue is how do you use it mechanistically. For instance, our schedule may say “Cerebrum” for neuroscience. But I have a difficult time trying to figure out which videos are relevant and which are better saved for another day. I just hate wasting time searching through videos.

That is correct. And I would love that!

 

[Deecee2DO]

Sorry! I forgot to expand on why I started this thread lol. My issue is how do you use it mechanistically. For instance, our schedule may say “Cerebrum” for neuroscience. But I have a difficult time trying to figure out which videos are relevant and which are better saved for another day. I just hate wasting time searching through videos.

That is correct. And I would love that!

Looks like you have 2 weeks of neuro block so break up the videos over 6-7 days by counting up the total number of video mins for BnB neuro and dividing by 7 then do that much video per day it doesnt need to overlap perfectly with school. Then as you watch BnB annotate into your first aid (BnB follows first aid almost identically). If you do it over 6 or 7 days youll still have several days to review and do Rx questions etc along with it. For Pharm figure out all the drugs your curriculum wants you to know by going through your lecture slides and creating a total list then do the sketchy vids for all of them over those 6-7 days. Break it up and do 1-2 sketchy vids per day and test yourself using anki pepper subdeck for sketchy pharm which you can find on reddit. Also do the neuro chapter for pathoma as well within those two weeks (pathoma chapter for each block usually takes me 2-3 days max). Annotate path from pathoma into the pathoma book as you watch. The last few days of the block gives you time to go over pathoma and First aid with your BnB notes in it a few more times to solidify along with doing your USMLE Rx questions for neuro. Do as many Rx questions as you can but if you dont have time to do them all dont sweat it. you should be prepping your schedule for the two weeks of the block the sunday before and start your vids sunday afternoon/night so you can get it all done. Take friday after your exam and all of saturday off after your exam since youll be grinding hard for basically 14 days. Hope this helps. For what its worth I used this method without studying barely any in house lecture stuff and got mostly As with a few Bs. The resources I have mentioned above will cover most if not all the crap in class lectures it is all so comprehensive

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

This is amazing. I just assumed I would have to watch 3-4 videos on BnB and then start looking over my actual lecture powerpoints (that’s actually what I already do lol). This is helpful knowing that you watch all BnB videos and then reinforce it with other resources.

if you do look at lecture specific material, when do you look over it? Also, do you use Zanki/Lightyear to review all of the info for BnB or do you strictly use the FA book? Sorry for all of the questions. I just refuse to make these grades again lol.

 

[Deecee2DO]

This is amazing. I just assumed I would have to watch 3-4 videos on BnB and then start looking over my actual lecture powerpoints (that’s actually what I already do lol). This is helpful knowing that you watch all BnB videos and then reinforce it with other resources.

if you do look at lecture specific material, when do you look over it? Also, do you use Zanki/Lightyear to review all of the info for BnB or do you strictly use the FA book? Sorry for all of the questions. I just refuse to make these grades again lol.

lol ok I actually left out a big part very sorry. I used zanki for each system but i never kept up with my reviews so i didnt use it properly but for the exams I literally felt like a god because zanki is so damn good at reinforcing. so basically for each block i used the associated zanki for that system (minus the pharm for each system since i did pepper pharm deck). I did all of the robbins questions for each system too but you dont have to do that since its overkill. I would use USMLE Rx for sure-see how many questions and break up the number of questions there are by First aid chapter over 7 days like everything else (when youre signed in to Rx go to questions broken up by first aid chapter its easier that way-should be about 30 questions or so per day-very manageable)Start zanki early in the week so you can get through all cards before the exam. If you do all of this (took me forever tho like 10 hrs of studying per day) youll most likely do really well as youll have seen everything so many times and at different angles (USMLE Rx helps you apply your knowledge you learn with zanki so the questions are very important). Only reason i am recommending board resources is because youre a combined preclinical curriculum so youre integrating a lot of board relevant material already and it seems like you are capable of popping As so I am not worried about you being the type of student that is barely scraping by which in that case I would say focus on class slides only). If you do this method boards will be less scary as youll have been through a first pass of Rx First aid pathoma and sketchy by pre-dedicated. Dont worry about grades just do your best to try and not get straight Cs-an 80 and above is fine if youre ripping board resources. this is what I did and it worked so dont take as gospel. Other people on here have different systems so see if this works for you and let me know how neuro goes

 

[Deecee2DO]

Also if i choose to look at lecture material I just review it 2 days before the exam

 

[risus_sardonicus]

Sometimes no matter what resource you utilize, it will not overlap with school content especially if your teachers are wack PhDs. My personal opinion after doing well on steps (only thing that really matters):

ditch school material, focus on board relevant stuff, cram school lecture bs last minute, profit


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[esob]

If you have BAB and RX360, I recommend taking your lecture topics and finding them in the "browse first aid" function of RX360. Then watch the associated express video. Next, highlight the key topics from the video in your included digital first aid within rx360 (this process of reading and actively highlighting helps reinforce the material in the rx video you just watched).

Then, download the hoopla deck from reddit (which is just the rx360 flash facts). I like to screenshot the section of first aid and add it to the section in the hoopla deck, then unsuspend the cards. Do the anki for the sections you have learned.

Finally, use BAB to stitch it all together. My personal experience has been that trying to do BAB cold feels rather dense and puts me to sleep. If I follow the above cycle, however, I feel like I have 95% of the material he is covering and am able to synthesize most of what he is covering with only a single pass per BAB videos.

OFC, YMMV with this (or any other) strategy, but I feel this strategy makes sense because the RX videos are much more bite-sized and doing the anki reinforces the concepts before trying to tie everything together in a 20 minute boards and beyond video.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

lol ok I actually left out a big part very sorry. I used zanki for each system but i never kept up with my reviews so i didnt use it properly but for the exams I literally felt like a god because zanki is so damn good at reinforcing. so basically for each block i used the associated zanki for that system (minus the pharm for each system since i did pepper pharm deck). I did all of the robbins questions for each system too but you dont have to do that since its overkill. I would use USMLE Rx for sure-see how many questions and break up the number of questions there are by First aid chapter over 7 days like everything else (when youre signed in to Rx go to questions broken up by first aid chapter its easier that way-should be about 30 questions or so per day-very manageable)Start zanki early in the week so you can get through all cards before the exam. If you do all of this (took me forever tho like 10 hrs of studying per day) youll most likely do really well as youll have seen everything so many times and at different angles (USMLE Rx helps you apply your knowledge you learn with zanki so the questions are very important). Only reason i am recommending board resources is because youre a combined preclinical curriculum so youre integrating a lot of board relevant material already and it seems like you are capable of popping As so I am not worried about you being the type of student that is barely scraping by which in that case I would say focus on class slides only). If you do this method boards will be less scary as youll have been through a first pass of Rx First aid pathoma and sketchy by pre-dedicated. Dont worry about grades just do your best to try and not get straight Cs-an 80 and above is fine if youre ripping board resources. this is what I did and it worked so dont take as gospel. Other people on here have different systems so see if this works for you and let me know how neuro goes

This entire method seems 10x better than what I have been doing. I will definitely be using this technique, because it seems you see all of the high yield material and then you cram the random minutiae some professors want you to learn. Thank you for the explanation because I only have one classmate that uses BnB and he is like me, we both don’t really know how to utilize

Sometimes no matter what resource you utilize, it will not overlap with school content especially if your teachers are wack PhDs. My personal opinion after doing well on steps (only thing that really matters):

ditch school material, focus on board relevant stuff, cram school lecture bs last minute, profit


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

Here is my only question, how long does it take for you guys to cram the bs info for each lecture? I know this sounds stupid, but I am trying to make sure I don’t spend too much time on lecture info.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

If you have BAB and RX360, I recommend taking your lecture topics and finding them in the "browse first aid" function of RX360. Then watch the associated express video. Next, highlight the key topics from the video in your included digital first aid within rx360 (this process of reading and actively highlighting helps reinforce the material in the rx video you just watched).

Then, download the hoopla deck from reddit (which is just the rx360 flash facts). I like to screenshot the section of first aid and add it to the section in the hoopla deck, then unsuspend the cards. Do the anki for the sections you have learned.

Finally, use BAB to stitch it all together. My personal experience has been that trying to do BAB cold feels rather dense and puts me to sleep. If I follow the above cycle, however, I feel like I have 95% of the material he is covering and am able to synthesize most of what he is covering with only a single pass per BAB videos.

OFC, YMMV with this (or any other) strategy, but I feel this strategy makes sense because the RX videos are much more bite-sized and doing the anki reinforces the concepts before trying to tie everything together in a 20 minute boards and beyond video.

I decided to forgo on the rx360, because a few friends of mine said “it wasn’t helpful.” But I’m learning that their study strategies are completely opposite of mine lol. I’ll be sure to look into this strategy, because it looks like I need to start utilizing my FA book.

 

[getfat]

Here is my only question, how long does it take for you guys to cram the bs info for each lecture? I know this sounds stupid, but I am trying to make sure I don’t spend too much time on lecture info.

Use review sheets from previous classes. Coordinate w/ classmates and trade review sheets for lectures that are new. The point isn't to be top of the class but to be average.

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

Use review sheets from previous classes. Coordinate w/ classmates and trade review sheets for lectures that are new. The point isn't to be top of the class but to be average.

This is good stuff. We have a google drive of past study guides that students have made (most of our lectures are the same year to year). So... Pretty much hammer out BnB, FA, Zanki/Board relevant Anki stuff, USMLE-Rx or a practice question bank, throw in lecture stuff for a little razzle dazzle, profit?

 

[risus_sardonicus]

Here is my only question, how long does it take for you guys to cram the bs info for each lecture? I know this sounds stupid, but I am trying to make sure I don’t spend too much time on lecture info.

Bruh, this is like asking what size glove do you wear? Each person learns at their own pace, if you’re decent at cramming it should not take you more than a productive 48 hrs to do it. If you are easily distracted, it might take longer.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN

 

[Deecee2DO]

Sometimes no matter what resource you utilize, it will not overlap with school content especially if your teachers are wack PhDs. My personal opinion after doing well on steps (only thing that really matters):

ditch school material, focus on board relevant stuff, cram school lecture bs last minute, profit

Sent from my iPhone using SDN

exactly this^. basically what I was saying OP. Unless you are barely scraping by school, focus on board stuff over class

This is good stuff. We have a google drive of past study guides that students have made (most of our lectures are the same year to year). So... Pretty much hammer out BnB, FA, Zanki/Board relevant Anki stuff, USMLE-Rx or a practice question bank, throw in lecture stuff for a little razzle dazzle, profit?

Yes OP these old study guides are your best friend for cramming material. Thats what I used and they saved my ass for school material. This is the way to go

 

[esob]

I decided to forgo on the rx360, because a few friends of mine said “it wasn’t helpful.” But I’m learning that their study strategies are completely opposite of mine lol. I’ll be sure to look into this strategy, because it looks like I need to start utilizing my FA book.

People's learning strategies are different and what works for some won't work for others, so it can be helpful to experiment with different resources/styles. I have had people tell me the same thing, that "RX didn't help them" and they are using Zanki only. That would drive me insane personally, lol, but I recommend checking out RX-360 with a free trial. I was an average MCAT scorer but have ranked in high 90th percentiles for the NBME averages on our tests using RX + BAB + Hoopla (we take customized NBME exams composed of retired questions at my school). It might not be useful for everyone but I feel it is worth checking out if you happen to be one of those people like me that it does work well for.

 

[Deecee2DO]

People's learning strategies are different and what works for some won't work for others, so it can be helpful to experiment with different resources/styles. I have had people tell me the same thing, that "RX didn't help them" and they are using Zanki only. That would drive me insane personally, lol, but I recommend checking out RX-360 with a free trial. I was an average MCAT scorer but have ranked in high 90th percentiles for the NBME averages on our tests using RX + BAB + Hoopla (we take customized NBME exams composed of retired questions at my school). It might not be useful for everyone but I feel it is worth checking out if you happen to be one of those people like me that it does work well for.

Dude Rx is so good for a secondary qbank on top of UWorld. OP try Rx for yourself don't listen to your friends it is a phenomenal resource to get you to apply First Aid concepts/facts and is slightly easier than Uworld so it is a good warm up to UW style vignettes

 

[DPTinthemaking15]

People's learning strategies are different and what works for some won't work for others, so it can be helpful to experiment with different resources/styles. I have had people tell me the same thing, that "RX didn't help them" and they are using Zanki only. That would drive me insane personally, lol, but I recommend checking out RX-360 with a free trial. I was an average MCAT scorer but have ranked in high 90th percentiles for the NBME averages on our tests using RX + BAB + Hoopla (we take customized NBME exams composed of retired questions at my school). It might not be useful for everyone but I feel it is worth checking out if you happen to be one of those people like me that it does work well for.

It took me this block to realize if I don’t do any type of practice questions I will do poorly on an exam. So I will definitely use a combo of your strategy and @Deecee2DO. And hopefully Ill start rocking my exams.

Dude Rx is so good for a secondary qbank on top of UWorld. OP try Rx for yourself don't listen to your friends it is a phenomenal resource to get you to apply First Aid concepts/facts and is slightly easier than Uworld so it is a good warm up to UW style vignettes

I'm definitely going to utilize it this block. We have a student in our class that uses it religiously and he is one of our top scorers on exams. And I am assuming he is gonna be a stud when it comes time for boards.