Board prep during winter break?

[Osminog]

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Greetings, wise sages of “Student Doctor Network.”

I’m an M1, and so far, I’ve been solely focused on my classes. I’m in a traditional curriculum, so I’ve been unable to do any board prep. There aren’t any board prep materials that seem to correspond neatly with non-systems-based basic sciences.

Winter break is coming up for me in December, and it will last several weeks. During that time, would it make sense to start board prep (perhaps B&B + LY)? Would it be premature? Would it be time well spent? Should I wait until the summer?

I don’t really have much of a life, so the opportunity cost would be fairly low... but if it’s a total waste of time, I won’t do it.

 

[stickgirl390]

I didn’t start board prep until M2 started, but i did hit the ground running pretty hard. I don’t feel behind. Just my personal experience. My only regret is not starting the Anatomy Zanki deck in year 1, there’s no reason to wait to start that.

 

[Espressso]

I mean, once you've started medical school, studying is rarely ever a waste of time. And I think doing something during your winter break is wise. If I could go back, I would have started Zanki much sooner. Another option is to rip through sketchy micro and an associated micro anki deck. Or, if you're school has already completed it's biochemistry course, you could get through the zanki biochemistry deck.

I think a good idea is to pick a topic you've already completed thus far, and do the corresponding zanki deck and get that "seen", then keep up with those reviews from here on out.

 

[ciestar]

I did absolutely nothing during my breaks m1 and m2 and i dont regret it. I was already feeling burnt out and needed that time off.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Find out what your stuff in January is and preview the board materials that are appropriate for that month in pathoma/bnb/sketchy. Not a huge time commitment and gets you exposure to using this stuff. Other than that relax. In April you won’t be wishing you studied more. You’ll just want the pain to stop.

not sure how Zanki/light year etc works in a traditional curriculum

 

[efle]

It's a break. Use it to take a break. Nothing you spend a few hours/day on over break is going to impact your scores in 1.5 years. Enjoy the time off.

 

[slowthai]

I didn’t start board prep until M2 started, but i did hit the ground running pretty hard. I don’t feel behind. Just my personal experience. My only regret is not starting the Anatomy Zanki deck in year 1, there’s no reason to wait to start that.

Anatomy Zanki deck? What's that?

 

[stickgirl390]

Anatomy Zanki deck? What's that?

Sorry, I just meant the anatomy cards in the Zanki step deck. It’s on reddit. I don’t have the link but it’s all over student doctor network if you use the search function, it should pop up

 

[Goro]

Greetings, wise sages of “Student Doctor Network.”

I’m an M1, and so far, I’ve been solely focused on my classes. I’m in a traditional curriculum, so I’ve been unable to do any board prep. There aren’t any board prep materials that seem to correspond neatly with non-systems-based basic sciences.

Winter break is coming up for me in December, and it will last several weeks. During that time, would it make sense to start board prep (perhaps B&B + LY)? Would it be premature? Would it be time well spent? Should I wait until the summer?

I don’t really have much of a life, so the opportunity cost would be fairly low... but if it’s a total waste of time, I won’t do it.

I can't recommend Board prep starting in Xmas break for an M1. There's just too much you haven't been exposed to. Enjoy the holiday.

Save prep for starting Xmas of M2.

 

[Dr. Retractor]

I tried it and can positively say that it didn't help me in the slightest (same goes for summer after MS1). It's not a bad idea to go through topics you've already covered in Zanki, and to use it as a study aid as you go through your preclinical years, but like Goro said, there's too much you haven't been exposed to.

 

[Deecee2DO]

Wayy to early. Youll surely burn out during M2 regardless dont make it worse by burning out even earlier. You have much to cover yet before you start board studying. If you were an M2 id say absolutely start during winter break. But def not M1. Take advantage of the free time you have in M1. M2 is rough not impossible but damn its intense-I barely have time to breathe this year

 

[GwBXtRTrVktW9E]

.

 

[Osminog]

(current M2) Download Zanki, get a copy of First Aid and Costanzo Phys, and do the physiology for the systems you've already done in M1 and make sure to keep up with reviews every darn day till you take step 1. It's probably too early for question banks but this is a solid place to start and is something I wish I did in M1.

I unfortunately haven't done any systems, because I'm not in a systems-based curriculum. First year is just basic sciences.

 

[Epilepsy365]

Spend the time doing bang bang and boom boom... Made plenty of babies and no regrets.