Board prep during classes vs class rank (honoring courses)...

[Jack is Back]

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What is more important during the school year, doing very well in classes and trying to honor as many as you can or just getting P and NH (occasional H) while studying harder on the review books for board prep (like BRS physiology or other high yield review books)?

 

[shaggy alfresco]

I bet there's a good correlation between second year grades and USMLE score. E.g, people who got honors are probably much more likely to do better on the USMLE. As for what's the ideal balance, I think part of that depends on your school's curriculum and how closely it follows what the boards want you to know - so I doubt there's this overarching strategy that works for every school.

My guess is that the best results might be achieved by trying to understand rather than memorize as much as possible during your first two years while looking through the review books once in a while (say once a week or every two weeks for a few hours) to go over things you're learning in class to make sure you're not missing any big concepts that are tested on the boards. Start increasing the use of FA/Goljan or whatever during the latter half of second year, so that you've gone through it once by the time your classes end. And then focus on USMLE prep for the last 4-6 weeks (or however long your school gives you).

NOTE: This is just me, and I'm just an incoming M1. I'm just regurgitating what I've read and what other med students who are ahead of me have told me.

 

[shaggy alfresco]

University of Tennesee provides stats on this, which are excellent:


For the class of 2011, those with a 4.0 gpa during their first two years had a average step score of 253, a 3.75 had an average score of 245, 3.50 had an average score of 237, etc. ~3.2 was the average GPA of all students.

http://www.uthsc.edu/Medicine/Acad_Affairs/UME/acad_perf/Acad%20Perf%20Class%20of%202011.pdf

 

[EgotiStick]

I bet there's a good correlation between second year grades and USMLE score. E.g, people who got honors are probably much more likely to do better on the USMLE. As for what's the ideal balance, I think part of that depends on your school's curriculum and how closely it follows what the boards want you to know - so I doubt there's this overarching strategy that works for every school.

This is definitely true at my school. The key part being that it is a correlation without any sort of causative link. Everyone here wants to go crazy OCD about such minutiae when the correlation is so simple to understand. If you do well in class, you'll make it easier for yourself to study come Step 1. Simple as that. The definition of "well" and "easier" are not one size fits all, nor should they be.

You could probably seperate my class into 4 groups:

20% are strivers in class, and will/did handily crush the boards.
60% are strivers, do well in class, and will probably do above-average on the USMLE.
5-10% did just enough to pass in class, but smashed the boards.
The rest have barely scraped by on all accounts.

We're pass/fail the first 2 years, and everyone is pretty open regarding their academic performance... at least relative to other places that are not pass/fail

 

[shaggy alfresco]

This is definitely true at my school. The key part being that it is a correlation without any sort of causative link. Everyone here wants to go crazy OCD about such minutiae when the correlation is so simple to understand. If you do well in class, you'll make it easier for yourself to study come Step 1. Simple as that. The definition of "well" and "easier" are not one size fits all, nor should they be.

You could probably seperate my class into 4 groups:

20% are strivers in class, and will/did handily crush the boards.
60% are strivers, do well in class, and will probably do above-average on the USMLE.
5-10% did just enough to pass in class, but smashed the boards.
The rest have barely scraped by on all accounts.

We're pass/fail the first 2 years, and everyone is pretty open regarding their academic performance... at least relative to other places that are not pass/fail

Nice, so 90% of your class did above average on the boards? That's very good...

 

[Jolie South]

At my school, almost nobody preps outside of dedicated study time and we take boards in spring of 3rd year after a year of rotations. Our average is 239 compared to 222 national average. 100% pass rate.

I personally gunned for classes and didn't open a prep book until 6 weeks before Step 1. I have a score competitive enough to get into derm or plastics.

 

[Jack is Back]

So really focusing extra time on honors is better than say, dedicating time to really know review books.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[tigress]

At my school, almost nobody preps outside of dedicated study time and we take boards in spring of 3rd year after a year of rotations. Our average is 239 compared to 222 national average. 100% pass rate.

I personally gunned for classes and didn't open a prep book until 6 weeks before Step 1. I have a score competitive enough to get into derm or plastics.

your school is obviously superior, and you are the most superior of all

 

[Jolie South]

your school is obviously superior, and you are the most superior of all

I wasn't saying that. On these forums, I always hear that you need to review with coursework, and the fact is that you don't. We're removed an entire year from pre-clinical stuff and we still do well.

If anyone is interested in AOA, they're not going to get there without good grades. If you half ass course work, that's not going to happen.

Just make a good study plan, buckle down, and you can do it. There's no mystery. There are tons of courses out there that teach you exactly what you need to know. Add on qbanks and you're set.

 

[tigress]

I wasn't saying that. On these forums, I always hear that you need to review with coursework, and the fact is that you don't. We're removed an entire year from pre-clinical stuff and we still do well.

If anyone is interested in AOA, they're not going to get there without good grades. If you half ass course work, that's not going to happen.

I apologize if I've misunderstood your attitude. That's just how it comes across. I've seen you write almost exactly the same thing at least 3 times in the past few days.

I think it just depends on the person and how you are being taught at school. Some schools are stronger on board prep than others. During M1 I was mostly concerned with keeping my head above water, and definitely not doing board prep (but I was using review books in some topics, to help me learn). Summer between M1 and M2, I am reviewing 1st year and starting on 2nd year material, using board prep materials. Mostly it's review, to keep my brain fresh, but I'm actually really glad I'm using the board prep stuff because I've realized that while we have been very well prepared in most subjects, our histology was woefully inadequate. Now I know I need to really go back and learn the histo better while doing path next year.

Anyway, that's my take on it--study for classes, but be aware of which ones aren't doing a good job of preparing you for boards, and potentially supplement in the summer or over breaks.

Oh and it might also depend on whether your school has grades or P/F. Mine is H/P/F and I'm not in the top of the class (probably about average or just above average). I am more concerned with learning what will be really useful long term, including for boards, than with acing tests. But I'm also not gunning for AOA.

 

[Jolie South]

I apologize if I've misunderstood your attitude. That's just how it comes across. I've seen you write almost exactly the same thing at least 3 times in the past few days.

I think it just depends on the person and how you are being taught at school. Some schools are stronger on board prep than others. During M1 I was mostly concerned with keeping my head above water, and definitely not doing board prep (but I was using review books in some topics, to help me learn). Summer between M1 and M2, I am reviewing 1st year and starting on 2nd year material, using board prep materials. Mostly it's review, to keep my brain fresh, but I'm actually really glad I'm using the board prep stuff because I've realized that while we have been very well prepared in most subjects, our histology was woefully inadequate. Now I know I need to really go back and learn the histo better while doing path next year.

Anyway, that's my take on it--study for classes, but be aware of which ones aren't doing a good job of preparing you for boards, and potentially supplement in the summer or over breaks.

Oh and it might also depend on whether your school has grades or P/F. Mine is H/P/F and I'm not in the top of the class (probably about average or just above average). I am more concerned with learning what will be really useful long term, including for boards, than with acing tests. But I'm also not gunning for AOA.

I only posted it once in another thread that's strikingly similar to this one.

I agree that perspectives can be different. I only have mine which was to do as well as I possibly could in classes to keep me in the running for AOA. This poster specifically asked about class rank. That's why I said that. As mentioned above, doing well in classes and doing well on Step 1 aren't mutually exclusive outcomes.

If you're less concerned about rank, then your approach will be different. I can only say what my experience was. I had a hard enough time learning material for classes happening now without thinking about a test I would be taking in the somewhat distant future.

Maybe I'm a gunner. 🙂

 

[tigress]

I had a hard enough time learning material for classes happening now without thinking about a test I would be taking in the somewhat distant future.

This exactly. Probably true for most med students, maybe not so much for the elite on SDN 😛