Best 2nd Qbank?

[jmayer]

I searched here and on google and wasn't able to find new/solid info, especially since Kaplan Qbank seems to have undergone an overhaul recently (from what I hear)

I bought UWorld already and have gone through about 300 questions. They are tough but excellent (I'm hoping these are harder than the real thing - is that true?)

When I start studying, I want to do questions on the topic from that day (ex: biochem questions after studying biochem) but I wouldn't want to use the UWorld questions on that.

What qbank would you recommend for that - Rx or Kaplan? Kaplan is supposedly detail-oriented and might be useful to hammer in major points after just studying the subject. Rx is from FA which could be useful but not add as much. Or should I just pick one and it doesn't really matter?

Please give some input. Thanks

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[Sol Rosenberg]

I haven't found Kaplan to be significantly more detail oriented than UWorld. There are a few (1 out of every 100, I'd estimate) that do test ridiculous details (I use the word ridiculous, because on their Re-Kap, they don't even have a reference to a First Aid OR MedEssentials Page that covers the topic) but whatever. Your real test may have questions (experimental or otherwise) like that, so I don't stress too much over it and learn everything that I can.

As you can tell, I'm definitely happy with Kaplan as a second QBank. No, I don't work with/for Kaplan. I just bought the plain QBank, not the QBank Plus.

 

[AggieSean]

I'd say just pick one and it doesn't matter. For what it's worth, for the 3-month subscription, Rx is cheaper and comes with more questions (3300), compared to Kaplan.

Having used USMLERx, I think it's a decent question bank, and as many others have said, it's great for reinforcing First Aid. That said, it has its fair share of unbelievably ridiculous questions that are nowhere to be found in First Aid or any other mainstream 1st or 2nd year medical student level textbook. I would use it before I used UW, because UW is (from what I understand) high(er) yield and a better tool to use closer to Step 1. I do feel like having gone through Rx already is helping my UW %, if that's of any use to you.

Your mileage may vary.

 

[kryptik]

i agree with aggiesean, after rx and uw if you still have time and want a new set of questions then qbank

 

[PistolPete]

I have Kaplan as my second qbank and I highly recommend it. In the past it has gotten reamed by people on this board, but now with the recent overhaul (added medessentials, new font, tab with First Aid page number), I think it is a very decent qbank.

 

[illixir]

I second kaplan. Qbank plus is over 4000 questions and can be cheaper than qbank sometimes depending on the length and deal(the add-ins prob aren't worth it though if you have to pay a bit more just physio and the newer vignette style type(not sure how many of these we'll have on the exam). The detailed questions are there but hardly anything worse than those you see in some NBMEs. Starting off with kaplan seeing all those detailed questions really helped lessen the intimidation factor of all the material. First Aid references(for prob 80-90% of the questions) and Medessentials pages are huge, the explanations and questions are generally very well-written.

That being said, I'm probably not even going to finish it since I think Uworld is much more important and I've got to start that. I probably got around to 40ish% so far in kaplan. Maybe I'll get to 60 or 70 by the end.

 

[Gospe1]

I've gone through a couple hundred questions for both UW and Rx. UW questions tend to be more conceptual; RW pulls out important details from FA. From a question to question viewpoint, UW is higher yield, but from a hour to hour viewpoint, I actually think Rx is higher yield. To get anything out of UW, you really have to read the long winding explanations. Don't get me wrong, those explanations are amazing but it does take time to absorb. Rx is much more to the point. Taking Rx is like getting hit repeatedly with rapid review section of FA. Also, Rx has 1300 more questions than UW, which can be sparse in some subjects. My advise is to get both. Use Rx immediately after reading FA to solidify a chapter and find out where you zoned out. Use UW towards the end to tie everything together. I'm really curious as to which qbank has questions closest to the boards. I don't mean which is the best score predictor but UW is known for being on the money. I'm wondering whether the real thing is more conceptual or factual.

Also there's not nearly enough pharm on UW.

 

[rem6775]

If you're going to use two qbanks, go with USMLEWorld and Kaplan. Forget Rx. Kaplan is also quite good to use as you suggested (by subject matter). People complain about it being detail oriented, but that's just because med students always want something to cry about.

 

[knuckles]

I've gone through a couple hundred questions for both UW and Rx. UW questions tend to be more conceptual; RW pulls out important details from FA. From a question to question viewpoint, UW is higher yield, but from a hour to hour viewpoint, I actually think Rx is higher yield. To get anything out of UW, you really have to read the long winding explanations. Don't get me wrong, those explanations are amazing but it does take time to absorb. Rx is much more to the point. Taking Rx is like getting hit repeatedly with rapid review section of FA. Also, Rx has 1300 more questions than UW, which can be sparse in some subjects. My advise is to get both. Use Rx immediately after reading FA to solidify a chapter and find out where you zoned out. Use UW towards the end to tie everything together. I'm really curious as to which qbank has questions closest to the boards. I don't mean which is the best score predictor but UW is known for being on the money. I'm wondering whether the real thing is more conceptual or factual.

Also there's not nearly enough pharm on UW.

I completely agree. I've tried both Kaplan and Rx, and I think Rx is much more high yield, and reinforces FA, which you need to learn inside and out whether you like it or not.

Way to be brave an admit that Rx could possibly be higher yield than UWorld. That's a blasphemous statement around here. My exam is in 2.5 months, and I'm planning on starting UWorld about a month and a half out.

 

[Day man]

biggity bump.

Just got FA 2011. Planning on buying kaplan or Rx to reinforce each part as I go along. I'm already using GT (wish they referenced FA sections, that'd be amazing), so I'm leaning towards kaplan.

I realize it's not a huge deal, but I really just want to use it through the first run through of FA to reinforce each section...and I was wondering what all the kids who took the exam recently would recommend. Thanks for the help.

 

[hotfusion]

Have you tried USMLExchange. It's a bit outdate, but it's still a decent Qbank. The best part is that it doesn't require a subscription, so you don't have to worry about rushing it through. It's also very inexpensive. They even have a iPad app, so you can work on it offline. Try it out! http://www.usmlexchange.com

 

[watcher34]

Rx is the same as FA therefore if you have the book then why pay for it twice //

 

[futuredoctor10]

Just got FA 2011. Planning on buying kaplan or Rx to reinforce each part as I go along. I'm already using GT (wish they referenced FA sections, that'd be amazing), so I'm leaning towards kaplan.

Day man- If you do end up getting Kaplan to supplement, can you let me know your thoughts on Kaplan vs GT?

How do you like Gunner Training so far... can you select questions in specific subject areas (e.g. cardiovascular physiology, abdomen anatomy, endocrine histology, etc)?

Thanks!

 

[C5toC9]

you cannot select specific subject areas in GT, you can only select the organ system.

 

[futuredoctor10]

you cannot select specific subject areas in GT, you can only select the organ system.

k thanks

 

[Day man]

I really like GT, but I don't think it replaces a qbank. I plan on getting kaplan for 3 months or so, and try to just do a set of questions a day, then moving on to Uworld. I'll let you know how that goes.

I'm using GT to remember(/learn) micro and some of the first year subjects my school didn't cover well, and then doing path. Not sure if it's for everyone, but it basically covers FA with notecards and then quizes you systematically on it. Nice system, not perfect but if you're like me and learn best from repetition and quizzing, then it's worth its weight in gold, IMO.