1st year and board studying

[Billroth_III]

I'm a 1st year and have a problem dealing with the noise of my classmates who give me a hard time when they see me board studying. I'm a fairly average student, probably 50% +/-, yet all my "smarter" friends scoff at my board studying while they are busy cramming and being neurotic for a 5 point biochemistry quiz and treat class ranking like it is the be-all end-all. Keep on mind these geniuses believe they are matching into neurosurgery, integrated CT and derm yet believe can will save board studying until dedicated.

I'm not genetically a genius and need to really hammer out long term retention studying via Anki and board questions to keep concepts fresh in my mind, otherwise I will lose it. That includes past block material which none of my other friends do and give me hard time for doing as well. For them it's all about the next meaningless quiz or block exam.

How do / did some of you deal with this?

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[deleted1005514]

Learn not to care what other people think of your study methods. You do you, they can do them. The truth will come out in the end as to who was "right" (not that it matters).

 

[hungrydoc710]

Your class may retroactively be getting a P/F score for Step 1 anyways.

Boards studying first year is rarely needed and may lead to burn out more than anything.

Boards studying start of year 2 is still considered early. You don't need to start sooner than that.

Instead, following your class material with boards sources (Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, Pathoma, etc.)

 

[Billroth_III]

Your class may retroactively be getting a P/F score for Step 1 anyways.

Boards studying first year is rarely needed and may lead to burn out more than anything.

Boards studying start of year 2 is still considered early. You don't need to start sooner than that.

Instead, following your class material with boards sources (Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, Pathoma, etc.)

Do you think that offers enough time to review even everything you’ve forgotten?

 

[slowthai]

Just continue to gun. You'll thank your lucky stars that you did it this way whether your score gets erased or not because there's still step 2, and it builds on step 1.

Your class may retroactively be getting a P/F score for Step 1 anyways.

Boards studying first year is rarely needed and may lead to burn out more than anything.

Boards studying start of year 2 is still considered early. You don't need to start sooner than that.

Instead, following your class material with boards sources (Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, Pathoma, etc.)

The way OP's doing it, starting early (from M1) will allow him/her to cover everything at a relatively slow pace, while retaining nearly everything. This results in a moderate workload and a dedicated that can be focused on tying up loose ends and honing test taking skills instead of having to kill yourself to relearn everything, especially M1 material.

 

[zNoodlez]

I'm a 1st year and have a problem dealing with the noise of my classmates who give me a hard time when they see me board studying. I'm a fairly average student, probably 50% +/-, yet all my "smarter" friends scoff at my board studying while they are busy cramming and being neurotic for a 5 point biochemistry quiz and treat class ranking like it is the be-all end-all. Keep on mind these geniuses believe they are matching into neurosurgery, integrated CT and derm yet believe can will save board studying until dedicated.

I'm not genetically a genius and need to really hammer out long term retention studying via Anki and board questions to keep concepts fresh in my mind, otherwise I will lose it. That includes past block material which none of my other friends do and give me hard time for doing as well. For them it's all about the next meaningless quiz or block exam.

How do / did some of you deal with this?

This is med school, not high school. You do you, whatever it takes to be successful. I will be enrolling in med school next year and I am planning to start board cramming asap.

 

[deleted859689]

Your class may retroactively be getting a P/F score for Step 1 anyways.

Boards studying first year is rarely needed and may lead to burn out more than anything.

Boards studying start of year 2 is still considered early. You don't need to start sooner than that.

Instead, following your class material with boards sources (Boards and Beyond, Sketchy, Pathoma, etc.)

I plan on using board materials to supplement what we’re learning in class and unsuspend those cards in zanki. Come dedicated I hopefully will have matured most of the deck.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Plenty of folks like that in top quartile at my school failed the first comsae. Keep gunning.

 

[madiso30]

I plan on using board materials to supplement what we’re learning in class and unsuspend those cards in zanki. Come dedicated I hopefully will have matured most of the deck.

Doing the same thing.

Man people are gonna be a holes about everything.

I'm a pretty laid back guy that tends to treat school like a 9-5 (when I can) and chill the rest of the time. But have been called neurotic for doing Zanki in first year and saying P/F step 1 is bad for DOs. I know these are 2 unrelated topics but I've heard both of these things from people who religiously attend class and still think pulling all nighters are still a good idea. Do what you think is best for you.

 

[hungrydoc710]

Do you think that offers enough time to review even everything you’ve forgotten?

Enough time to review everything from M1? Yes. My plan went like this...

Start of OMS2 I did Pepper micro and pharm every day, kept up with the reviews until I was done then moved onto better micro and pharm decks but I had a great (sketchy) base doing pepper intially.

Block 6, I started those new pharm and micro decks. Started zanki bchem deck also. Started doing Rx questions and reviewing with BnB vids and annotating directly in FA.

Block 7 continued the above, did more Rx, did bit of UW, and started doing Dukes pathoma anki deck.

By the start of dedicated in 3 weeks, I'll be done with lolnotacop micro, zanki pharm, and dukes pathoma decks and will just continue to keep with reviews, as well as do UW blocks of questions.

 

[Mass Effect]

I'm a 1st year and have a problem dealing with the noise of my classmates who give me a hard time when they see me board studying. I'm a fairly average student, probably 50% +/-, yet all my "smarter" friends scoff at my board studying while they are busy cramming and being neurotic for a 5 point biochemistry quiz and treat class ranking like it is the be-all end-all. Keep on mind these geniuses believe they are matching into neurosurgery, integrated CT and derm yet believe can will save board studying until dedicated.

I'm not genetically a genius and need to really hammer out long term retention studying via Anki and board questions to keep concepts fresh in my mind, otherwise I will lose it. That includes past block material which none of my other friends do and give me hard time for doing as well. For them it's all about the next meaningless quiz or block exam.

How do / did some of you deal with this?

Spending your time worrying about such nonsense is a liability to you.

 

[Kardio]

For the >M0s reading this - what fraction of the students at your school are familiar with the NRMP's Charting Outcomes, Program Director Survey, or FREIDA?

 

[Dr. Anonymouss]

For the >M0s reading this - what fraction of the students at your school are familiar with the NRMP's Charting Outcomes, Program Director Survey, or FREIDA?

Why are you concerned about this? If anything it will show them that you have done your research and are serious about moving towards whatever desired specialty you have in mind.

 

[ExplodingUlcers]

You gotta let your freak flag fly man. Stop worrying about others.

Sent from my SM-G955U using SDN mobile

 

[slowthai]

Just as an aside, it takes more effort to relearn something than to maintain your knowledge through something like Anki. That's why, if you can do your reviews consistently, it's better to start as early as you can.

 

[sab3156]

I'm a 1st year and have a problem dealing with the noise of my classmates who give me a hard time when they see me board studying. I'm a fairly average student, probably 50% +/-, yet all my "smarter" friends scoff at my board studying while they are busy cramming and being neurotic for a 5 point biochemistry quiz and treat class ranking like it is the be-all end-all. Keep on mind these geniuses believe they are matching into neurosurgery, integrated CT and derm yet believe can will save board studying until dedicated.

I'm not genetically a genius and need to really hammer out long term retention studying via Anki and board questions to keep concepts fresh in my mind, otherwise I will lose it. That includes past block material which none of my other friends do and give me hard time for doing as well. For them it's all about the next meaningless quiz or block exam.

How do / did some of you deal with this?

Just keep grinding for Step 1, and then you can sit with a bag of chips and observe all your classmates crying during dedicated. I guess your Step 1 may not be given a numerical score, but you should grind hard for it anyway because it's going to help you for Step 2 CK, which is still numerically scored. Step 1 success = Step 2 CK success. That's how it has always been.

In reality, ACGME programs aren't going to give a rat's ass about your class rank.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Also, your classmates who are killing it in class rank are really just insecure and need validation that what they’re doing is best. When they see someone going against what they’re doing, it makes them think what they’re doing is wrong. So giving you sh** about board studying early on is really just an ego defense.

 

[slowthai]

Also, your classmates who are killing it in class rank are really just insecure and need validation that what they’re doing is best. When they see someone going against what they’re doing, it makes them think what they’re doing is wrong. So giving you sh** about board studying early on is really just an ego defense.

Exactly. It's honestly amazing, like it's really not that deep. Just do what you want to do, end of story. Don't be going at other people just because of your insecurity.

 

[Sleepingdoc]

Although board studying the first year is an overkill.. You do whatever that helps you... But also keep in mind that you need time to your self and be aware of your health(both physical and mental) and it is possible that you may burn out.

 

[Med.School.Hopeful]

Really sucks we gotta grind Step 1 and not even be given a score. Like this effort means much less now. Kinda demotivates me to prep my best for it.

 

[cookiegrub]

This is med school, not high school. You do you, whatever it takes to be successful. I will be enrolling in med school next year and I am planning to start board cramming asap.

lol did you not hear...med school = high school + people who may act like they care

 

[dwights]

Our school actually has a summer course between Year 1 and 2, which has us review Block 1-4 in First Aid plus assigned COMBANK questions for every week. The reason behind this is what you stated above- so we don't lose everything we have learned. I think you are being very smart with your approach. Keep it up!

 

[zNoodlez]

lol did you not hear...med school = high school + people who may act like they care

I only heard that for Caribbean med schools.

 

[DameJulie]

If you don't tend to retain the information or just need longer time to remember things, starting early is needed. There are people in my class who studies for exams at day 1 of the block, and there are some who studies 1-2 days before the exam. Guess what? They get similar scores.