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A few thoughts:
I didn’t get the swing of things until Jan/Feb of my first year.
Losing a parent is a very unique experience during medical school. I don’t know that many people will be able to relate to your situation and provide adequate study advice. I’m very sorry for your loss.
B’s in medical school are absolutely phenomenal. Don’t assume that straight-As are required to be a successful medical student. One of the highest Step 1 scorers in my class was a solid B student. When it comes the preclinical grades, they really don’t matter when it comes to matching (unless you’re gunning for something hyper competitive, but even then).
I didn’t get the swing of things until Jan/Feb of my first year.
Losing a parent is a very unique experience during medical school. I don’t know that many people will be able to relate to your situation and provide adequate study advice. I’m very sorry for your loss.
B’s in medical school are absolutely phenomenal. Don’t assume that straight-As are required to be a successful medical student. One of the highest Step 1 scorers in my class was a solid B student. When it comes the preclinical grades, they really don’t matter when it comes to matching (unless you’re gunning for something hyper competitive, but even then).
I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine how i would feel in your place. I lost my brother 3 years ago in October, while going through my junior year and studying for MCAT while working fuull time and it was so rough. I cant imagine losing parents. I am sorry.
About studying... .I am not sure if there is a right or wrong answer, so i'll just tell you how i do it.
1) I go to the first aid to the corresponding section and RIP THE PAGES OUT. yes, literally. Then i glance through them just to see what is covered.
2) I open house lectures and look at objectives. Just to see what the professor is doing.
3) I open up Board and Beyond, - the sections that match the objectives of the house lectures. I watch it on 1.25 speed, while adding notes INTO my first aid pages. The idea is to accumulate all the information in one place. If it is something that wouldnt fit, i take a blank piece of paper, write it on it and insert in between FA pages.
4) once i finish the whole Board and Beyond section i do the questions in Board and Beyond.
5) i go through the material this way. When i finished everything i go and do practice questions, - we have free uworld, so i do that. And AMBOSS. if i miss whatever questions, i make notes specifically on these questions. I actually have an excel spreadsheet where i put all of this into. For example, there is a question on the skin condition of some sort. Every sheet in Excel corresponds to a system, - there is a sheet on reproductive, sheet on GI, etc. So i open the sheet on SKin/muscle/bone, in the first column i put where the question is from (uworld, amboss, etc). Second, - topic. For example, Microbiology. Third column - specific subtopic. For example, dermatitis differential. And in the 4th column i put the information, - for example, brief but specific dermatitis differential, including treatment. The idea is that i have ALL THE INFORMATION in one place. it is a great approach. Good alternative to anki, too, or supplement to it.
6) after BB, i watch sketchy. Love it.
7) Pathoma
8) if i have time before the exam, i watch house lectures on 1.5 speed AFTER watching everything else. The reason i do that is because house lectures are pretty heavy, and sometimes it is hard to see forest between the trees. So it helps if you already know all the high-yield stuff.
this is basically it.
-A few notes - you dont have to do anki to succeed. ONe of my friends didnt do anki at all and got 260+. She did use the table approach though.
- some people do questions as they go through material. For me it is easier to know ALL of the material (first pass), before trying questions. SO it is totally up to you. No right or wrong answer here.
so this is basically it.
About studying... .I am not sure if there is a right or wrong answer, so i'll just tell you how i do it.
1) I go to the first aid to the corresponding section and RIP THE PAGES OUT. yes, literally. Then i glance through them just to see what is covered.
2) I open house lectures and look at objectives. Just to see what the professor is doing.
3) I open up Board and Beyond, - the sections that match the objectives of the house lectures. I watch it on 1.25 speed, while adding notes INTO my first aid pages. The idea is to accumulate all the information in one place. If it is something that wouldnt fit, i take a blank piece of paper, write it on it and insert in between FA pages.
4) once i finish the whole Board and Beyond section i do the questions in Board and Beyond.
5) i go through the material this way. When i finished everything i go and do practice questions, - we have free uworld, so i do that. And AMBOSS. if i miss whatever questions, i make notes specifically on these questions. I actually have an excel spreadsheet where i put all of this into. For example, there is a question on the skin condition of some sort. Every sheet in Excel corresponds to a system, - there is a sheet on reproductive, sheet on GI, etc. So i open the sheet on SKin/muscle/bone, in the first column i put where the question is from (uworld, amboss, etc). Second, - topic. For example, Microbiology. Third column - specific subtopic. For example, dermatitis differential. And in the 4th column i put the information, - for example, brief but specific dermatitis differential, including treatment. The idea is that i have ALL THE INFORMATION in one place. it is a great approach. Good alternative to anki, too, or supplement to it.
6) after BB, i watch sketchy. Love it.
7) Pathoma
8) if i have time before the exam, i watch house lectures on 1.5 speed AFTER watching everything else. The reason i do that is because house lectures are pretty heavy, and sometimes it is hard to see forest between the trees. So it helps if you already know all the high-yield stuff.
this is basically it.
-A few notes - you dont have to do anki to succeed. ONe of my friends didnt do anki at all and got 260+. She did use the table approach though.
- some people do questions as they go through material. For me it is easier to know ALL of the material (first pass), before trying questions. SO it is totally up to you. No right or wrong answer here.
so this is basically it.
I can share what I do when I get to my computer, but mid-80s on exams is great. You’re doing awesome.
3 years in and still struggling. You can struggle your way through but it will be a bumpy uncomfortable ride !
D
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I wish you would post your study strategy, not so we can tell you it’s bad, but because receiving some objective feedback might allow you to let go of things that aren’t serving you well and adapt to methods that will.
Mid-80s is good for first year, especially with what you’ve had to deal with, and I’m sorry for your loss. I would say keep doing what you’re doing and finish the semester, give yourself time to grieve, and don’t pressure yourself for As until you’re ready. When you are, start evaluating every study tactic you’re using, and change the less efficient ones.
Mid-80s is good for first year, especially with what you’ve had to deal with, and I’m sorry for your loss. I would say keep doing what you’re doing and finish the semester, give yourself time to grieve, and don’t pressure yourself for As until you’re ready. When you are, start evaluating every study tactic you’re using, and change the less efficient ones.
Read my post on success for medical students.
And visit your school's counseling center for getting back to a good headspace. This is NOT giving medical advice!
Don't worry about it buddy! Plenty of people hate medical school from the day they start until the day they finish residency. Perfectly normal!
Just commenting to say I'm very sorry to hear about your loss, very sorry.
Being around 25 percentile at medical school is absolutely fine, especially considering your circumstances. Your only goal of the first two years is to build enough knowledge to succeed in years 3 and 4 and pass step 1 comfortably, and where you are represents a solid knowledge base to do both of those.
Being around 25 percentile at medical school is absolutely fine, especially considering your circumstances. Your only goal of the first two years is to build enough knowledge to succeed in years 3 and 4 and pass step 1 comfortably, and where you are represents a solid knowledge base to do both of those.
Okay so my learning style is a little different and I’ve had a few people tell me they could never do it this way, so take that for what it’s worth.
I basically use Zanki and questions as my primary learning sources. I do my anki cards and review first thing unless there’s something mando early. I used to just do reviews and new cards mixed, but I’ve been doing reviews first lately. I do not unsuspend things as I go through the block. I literally unsuspend the whole block at the beginning and then do however many new cards per day I need to in order to finish them with a 4-5 days before the exam (so I can see the ones I finished last a few more times). A lot of people hate that, but it doesn’t bother me.
I basically don’t watch lecture at all. I go through my school PowerPoints and search zanki to make sure what they are hitting is in there. I do that for each lecture. Takes maybe 10 mins a lecture and I add maybe 3-5 cards depending. Sometimes none, sometimes more if it’s a topic HY for my school but not nbme (military, so TBI is big).
Then I watch the BnB videos for the topics covered that day. I do the BnB questions after each video. I will watch sketchy videos on 2x for the micro ones if I have time. I like sketchy but if I’m pressed for time, I’ll just look at the end sketch. I do the sketchy cards in anki anyway.
Then I do Robbins questions and osmosis questions throughout the block. Not every day, but when I have time. I try to do them a couple days per week. I save Rx for the last 3-4 days before the exam, since I find they are harder and more representative. So I use them as a test of how much I know for the exam and then review the stuff I’m getting wrong.
And that’s basically it. I spend about 60-90 mins on anki every day. When we don’t have a ton of mando stuff, I probably study from 9 until 3. Maybe 4.
It's crazy how so many people are like "If you don't watch BnB first you're gonna die!!! You're just memorizing cards without context!!! asdfdjdkfgh!!" Like I learn DIRECTLY from Anki, I don't give a CRAP lol
Yeah watching videos is extremely passive. Anki is more active, but questions are the best.
I set my reviews for 9999 or whatever so I do them all every day. For new cards per day, I count how many days I have in the block until the exam and divide the total number of cards by that number of days. I subtract a few days so that I finish the cards with 3-4 days extra.
