Board Prep

[SandyH]

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Hi,

So I was looking into strategies for studying for the boards, and I see some people doing UWORLD twice! From what I saw, UWORLD is a question bank with over 2000 questions. Do people really have time to go through that twice? And also, what is the benefit of going through a q-bank twice, do you really learn anything even though you know the answers?

 

[Money4MyHoney]

Hi,

So I was looking into strategies for studying for the boards, and I see some people doing UWORLD twice! From what I saw, UWORLD is a question bank with over 2000 questions. Do people really have time to go through that twice? And also, what is the benefit of going through a q-bank twice, do you really learn anything even though you know the answers?

Uworld is a must + any Osteopathic qbank.

Retain your knowledge using Anki decks or firecracker

Minimum 5000 questions before you take the boards (not including second pass)

 

[908377]

Most people go through UWorld 1-2 times. Going through once is sufficient if you take detailed notes about the questions, and look at those notes whenever you can. Going through twice is great but you may lack the dedicated time necessary to do this. The advice I was given from upperclassmen who did really well on COMLEX was to buy a small notebook and jot down the 1-4 sentence summaries at the end of each question, i.e., write down what was necessary in order to get the question correct and identify the big picture. By the end of your UWorld time, you have this notebook full of tidbits to better prepare your brain to think like it should on test day.

The minimum required for COMLEX is: UWorld + an Osteopathic Q-bank (COMBANK/COMQUEST) + an OMM review source (OMG OMT/Savarese). You should customize that combination based on your learning style and how proficient you already are in certain areas.

 

[Goro]

Hi,

So I was looking into strategies for studying for the boards, and I see some people doing UWORLD twice! From what I saw, UWORLD is a question bank with over 2000 questions. Do people really have time to go through that twice? And also, what is the benefit of going through a q-bank twice, do you really learn anything even though you know the answers?

What makes you think you'll know all the answers, even after one pass?

The more important thing is finding out what you don't know. You're going to be weakest in OMSI material.

COMBANK is also helpful. I'm a fan of any test bank.

And yes, with good time mgt skills, you should be able to handle both spring semester material and Board prep. Obviously the latter ramps up after classes end.

 

[QueenJames]

Everybody will be doing something different.

This is what has been helping me tremendously.

I spend one day reading entire FA chapter.

Spend second day reading entire Pathoma chapter for the same section, plus the videos, plus all of the pharm drugs, reread entire chapter.

Spend the third day doing ALL questions in a qbank on tutor mode. That's right. If Cardio has 250 questions... I'm sitting my butt down and doing all 250!

You should be able to complete 2 chapters of FA and pathoma a week at this pace.

My RX average has stabilized around the 70% mark doing this and my beginning Uworld averages have been >60%.

I start on my second pass of FA next week and that will be done before the middle of April.

My goal is to get 3 more passes of First Aid (actual read throughs) and 2-3 passes of pathoma in the 4 months I have left.

The first pass takes the longest time in my opinion.

Class?

PSHHHH.

Been Cramming for that crap and am sitting at 1-2% below class average... which I'm TOTALLY happy with.

I can literally see the pages of first aid in my memory.

If you know the facts, you are halfway there. It is all about how you apply them.... which is what the Qbanks are for!

I know my performance isn't THAT great but I'm hoping for >225.

You have 24 hours in a day dude...

You can get through 100-150 questions on Uworld AND review them AND do a pass of a FA chapter. --> that's 700-1050 questions in a week...
You can finish Uworld in 2-3 weeks given that pace.

It's all about effort and time management like my big homie @Goro said.

He knows what he's talking about. He's the godfather.

 

[Goro]

Everybody will be doing something different.

This is what has been helping me tremendously.

I spend one day reading entire FA chapter.

Spend second day reading entire Pathoma chapter for the same section, plus the videos, plus all of the pharm drugs, reread entire chapter.

Spend the third day doing ALL questions in a qbank on tutor mode.

You should be able to complete 2 chapters of FA and pathoma a week at this pace.

My RX average has stabilized around the 70% mark doing this and my beginning Uworld averages have been >60%.

I start on my second pass of FA next week and that will be done before the middle of April.

My goal is to get 3 more passes of First Aid (actual read throughs) and 2-3 passes of pathoma in the 4 months I have left.

The first pass takes the longest time in my opinion.

Class?

PSHHHH.

Been Cramming for that crap and am sitting at 1-2% below class average... which I'm TOTALLY happy with.

I can literally see the pages of first aid in my memory.

If you know the facts, you are halfway there. It is all about how you apply them.... which is what the Qbanks are for!

I know my performance isn't THAT great but I'm hoping for >225.

You have 24 hours in a day dude...

You can get through 100-150 questions on Uworld AND review them AND do a pass of a FA chapter. --> that's 700-1050 questions in a week...
You can finish Uworld in 2-3 weeks given that pace.

It's all about effort and time management like my big homie @Goro said.

He knows what he's talking about. He's the godfather.

This is what the military would call an attack in Echelon. I like it!

 

[68PGunner]

Everybody will be doing something different.

This is what has been helping me tremendously.

I spend one day reading entire FA chapter.

Spend second day reading entire Pathoma chapter for the same section, plus the videos, plus all of the pharm drugs, reread entire chapter.

Spend the third day doing ALL questions in a qbank on tutor mode. That's right. If Cardio has 250 questions... I'm sitting my butt down and doing all 250!

You should be able to complete 2 chapters of FA and pathoma a week at this pace.

My RX average has stabilized around the 70% mark doing this and my beginning Uworld averages have been >60%.

I start on my second pass of FA next week and that will be done before the middle of April.

My goal is to get 3 more passes of First Aid (actual read throughs) and 2-3 passes of pathoma in the 4 months I have left.

The first pass takes the longest time in my opinion.

Class?

PSHHHH.

Been Cramming for that crap and am sitting at 1-2% below class average... which I'm TOTALLY happy with.

I can literally see the pages of first aid in my memory.

If you know the facts, you are halfway there. It is all about how you apply them.... which is what the Qbanks are for!

I know my performance isn't THAT great but I'm hoping for >225.

You have 24 hours in a day dude...

You can get through 100-150 questions on Uworld AND review them AND do a pass of a FA chapter. --> that's 700-1050 questions in a week...
You can finish Uworld in 2-3 weeks given that pace.

It's all about effort and time management like my big homie @Goro said.

He knows what he's talking about. He's the godfather.

I literally punted all lectures starting from 2 weeks ago. Grade is still hovering around the class average while board prep time is rocketing to the sky. I'm going to finish my entire one pass of Pathoma by the end of this week. That means that I have about 14 weeks left of board prep before D day. Uworld average is going to the 70s% range right now.

I can't believe that I'm busting my end day in and day out just to secure a FM residency spot in Alaska in 2020. F... COCA. I hope that these idiots keep sipping those Coca Cola, and keep the diabetes industry alive and well.

 

[68PGunner]

This is what the military would call an attack in Echelon. I like it!

I strive for muscle failure everyday. If I don't hit muscle failure, that means that I'm not gunning hard enough.

 

[QueenJames]

I literally punted all lectures starting from 2 weeks ago. Grade is still hovering around the class average while board prep time is rocketing to the sky. I'm going to finish my entire one pass of Pathoma by the end of this week. That means that I have about 14 weeks left of board prep before D day. Uworld average is going to the 70s% range right now.

I can't believe that I'm busting my end day in and day out just to secure a FM residency spot in Alaska in 2020. F... COCA. I hope that these idiots keep sipping those Coca Cola, and keep the diabetes industry alive and well.

You are my bae and idc who knows it.

<3

 

[Cranjis McBasketball]

I literally punted all lectures starting from 2 weeks ago. Grade is still hovering around the class average while board prep time is rocketing to the sky. I'm going to finish my entire one pass of Pathoma by the end of this week. That means that I have about 14 weeks left of board prep before D day. Uworld average is going to the 70s% range right now.

I can't believe that I'm busting my end day in and day out just to secure a FM residency spot in Alaska in 2020. F... COCA. I hope that these idiots keep sipping those Coca Cola, and keep the diabetes industry alive and well.

Do you wish you would've followed this plan from the beginning of med school? OR are you glad you just started it recently?

 

[IslandStyle808]

Do you wish you would've followed this plan from the beginning of med school? OR are you glad you just started it recently?

You won't be able to start such a plan during first year because you will have no idea what you should be studying. First year should be primarily focused on doing well in school. The balance part of medial school should be found first before attempting any board prep (glancing at first aid or B&B is fine). His plan is basically done at the right time, when you have completed your organ system, have found your niche, and are now in review mode.

 

[68PGunner]

Do you wish you would've followed this plan from the beginning of med school? OR are you glad you just started it recently?

Day 1 of 2nd semester of Year 2 unless you’re in a block where you’re being taught a bunch of Step 2 materials.

 

[SandyH]

I literally punted all lectures starting from 2 weeks ago. Grade is still hovering around the class average while board prep time is rocketing to the sky. I'm going to finish my entire one pass of Pathoma by the end of this week. That means that I have about 14 weeks left of board prep before D day. Uworld average is going to the 70s% range right now.

I can't believe that I'm busting my end day in and day out just to secure a FM residency spot in Alaska in 2020. F... COCA. I hope that these idiots keep sipping those Coca Cola, and keep the diabetes industry alive and well.

Why are you going for FM residency spot in Alaska?

 

[zero0]

Why are you going for FM residency spot in Alaska?

Cuz he's filthy bone manipulating scum and doesn't deserve better duh

 

[68PGunner]

As a DO, I belong to the untouchable class of medicine, where I’m privileged to pay 400K in debt just to secure a FM residency spot in the most undesirable places that are detested by MDs. Even with a 250+ board score, that’s my limit. At the end of the day, I just a MD latrine cleaner or stair cleaner. I only pray that the FM triage 200 K job will still be a viable option in a few years especially when the machines will take over most jobs by 2025.

 

[BorntobeDO?]

As a DO, I belong to the untouchable class of medicine, where I’m privileged to pay 400K in debt just to secure a FM residency spot in the most undesirable places that are detested by MDs. Even with a 250+ board score, that’s my limit. At the end of the day, I just a MD latrine cleaner or stair cleaner. I only pray that the FM triage 200 K job will still be a viable option in a few years especially when the machines will take over most jobs by 2025.

And you should be dang grateful for that latrine cleaning job. Back in MY day we called that opportunity. All these snowflakes think they should have access to all types of residencies just cause every DO did even 20 years ago when we had as much GME as students. Back in the day my buddy decided he wanted urology because the 'penis can't be that hard.' He was wrong, it was hard, very hard, and a constantly labile field! We saved you from this by giving you the best option rural primary care. Why don't you show some gratitude and sign up for AOA? --- Unofficial AOA/Coca statement

 

[TheBoneDoctah]

Everybody will be doing something different.

This is what has been helping me tremendously.

I spend one day reading entire FA chapter.

Spend second day reading entire Pathoma chapter for the same section, plus the videos, plus all of the pharm drugs, reread entire chapter.

Spend the third day doing ALL questions in a qbank on tutor mode. That's right. If Cardio has 250 questions... I'm sitting my butt down and doing all 250!

You should be able to complete 2 chapters of FA and pathoma a week at this pace.

My RX average has stabilized around the 70% mark doing this and my beginning Uworld averages have been >60%.

I start on my second pass of FA next week and that will be done before the middle of April.

My goal is to get 3 more passes of First Aid (actual read throughs) and 2-3 passes of pathoma in the 4 months I have left.

The first pass takes the longest time in my opinion.

Class?

PSHHHH.

Been Cramming for that crap and am sitting at 1-2% below class average... which I'm TOTALLY happy with.

I can literally see the pages of first aid in my memory.

If you know the facts, you are halfway there. It is all about how you apply them.... which is what the Qbanks are for!

I know my performance isn't THAT great but I'm hoping for >225.

You have 24 hours in a day dude...

You can get through 100-150 questions on Uworld AND review them AND do a pass of a FA chapter. --> that's 700-1050 questions in a week...
You can finish Uworld in 2-3 weeks given that pace.

It's all about effort and time management like my big homie @Goro said.

He knows what he's talking about. He's the godfather.

If you’re doing that many UW questions a day you aren’t using UW correctly and what you get out of it will be limited.

 

[68PGunner]

If you’re doing that many UW questions a day you aren’t using UW correctly and what you get out of it will be limited.

I agree with this. My absolute limit is 40 quests a day with about 3 hrs of review. I will be pushing it to 80 quests a day in about 1 month from now. That means 2 hrs of test plus 7 hrs of review.

 

[QueenJames]

I agree with this. My absolute limit is 40 quests a day with about 3 hrs of review. I will be pushing it to 80 quests a day in about 1 month from now. That means 2 hrs of test plus 7 hrs of review.

That's weak sauce bro.

You need to step it up!

 

[zero0]

If you’re doing that many UW questions a day you aren’t using UW correctly and what you get out of it will be limited.

Gotta agree with this, takes me about an hour to do 20 questions "right." I'm going as high as 100 a day as I desperately try to finish off Rx in the next week so I can start UWorld. Just feel bad not finishing all 2500 questions especially since Rx has been pure gold imo.

 

[Espressso]

When it comes to q banks... is there any validity in setting a time limit on each question? When you guys speak of 20 questions an hour... that's ignoring the 1.2 min/q that is set for boards, correct? If so, would it be advisable to make sure your question bank studying reflect how you would approach them on the real deal?

 

[QueenJames]

I don't get it.

3 hours to REVIEW 40 questions?

LOL ok.

Idk man. I'll let y'all stick to what y'all are doing but I guess maybe everybody's time management is different for everybody.

Different strokes for different folks.

 

[zero0]

When it comes to q banks... is there any validity in setting a time limit on each question? When you guys speak of 20 questions an hour... that's ignoring the 1.2 min/q that is set for boards, correct? If so, would it be advisable to make sure your question bank studying reflect how you would approach them on the real deal?

I only use tutor mode personally. Most of that time goes into reading explanations, googling stuff, etc. Don't think I'll ever bother with timed, that's what NBMEs are for.

 

[MrTaco92]

I don't get it.

3 hours to REVIEW 40 questions?

LOL ok.

Idk man. I'll let y'all stick to what y'all are doing but I guess maybe everybody's time management is different for everybody.

Different strokes for different folks.

What is your definition of review though? I feel like it takes me about 3-4 hours to get through a set of even 30 questions and review them

 

[IslandStyle808]

I don't get it.

3 hours to REVIEW 40 questions?

LOL ok.

Idk man. I'll let y'all stick to what y'all are doing but I guess maybe everybody's time management is different for everybody.

Different strokes for different folks.

Not so much time management as is squeezing out the full potential of a question. I do around 20 Uworld Qs a day for 3-4 hours. It would be maybe 40-45 minutes do questions. Then around 1 1/2 - 2 hours going over the questions and making anki cards (with a review of first aid portion relevant to the question). If I am really bad with a section or subject, I will even watch Dr. Ryan and Dr. Sattar for that section for 1 hour.

As for the anki cards, if I have spare time I will go over them. I don't treat my Uworld like a burner deck, which is why I take longer on it.

 

[popopopop]

Not so much time management as is squeezing out the full potential of a question. I do around 20 Uworld Qs a day for 3-4 hours. It would be maybe 40-45 minutes do questions. Then around 1 1/2 - 2 hours going over the questions and making anki cards (with a review of first aid portion relevant to the question). If I am really bad with a section or subject, I will even watch Dr. Ryan and Dr. Sattar for that section for 1 hour.

As for the anki cards, if I have spare time I will go over them. I don't treat my Uworld like a burner deck, which is why I take longer on it.

When you put it like that, should I start UWorld early 2nd year or is it possible to save it until spring of second year? I'm not sure I can manage 3-4 hours to review 20 questions. Wouldn't take months alone to finish the view, excluding the time it took to finish answering the questions? I'm debating starting and finishing USMLERX for fall of second year or skip it for starting Uworld earlier.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I don't get it.

3 hours to REVIEW 40 questions?

LOL ok.

Idk man. I'll let y'all stick to what y'all are doing but I guess maybe everybody's time management is different for everybody.

Different strokes for different folks.

It should literally take you that long to review it.

You need to read every answer and their explanation of when it's correct. Write down and annotate information you learned from the question that was not previously known. And you need to look up material or information that you do not know well even if it's not the test question's answer.

Simply put if you're just doing the question to find out the answer then you've only taken up 25-40% of the information at most. You're wasting high yield facts.

I did at most 80 questions a day, not counting the 160 question assessments.

 

[darknecrosforte]

A better way to review new UWorld info is to use Anki. It'll let u sync across devices and be very organized/nuanced about your weaknesses.

Create a "UWorld" deck with subdecks "YYYY-MM-DD". Then tag the cards with ID:####, YYYY-MM-DD, and UWorld. You'll have to change the ID:#### tag for each Q, but this method is only slightly slower than notes. Best part is if you're decent at creating good spacing settings (create a new Options setting called UWorld), you can be organized and space out reviews a bit smarter. Keep cards concise and try to limit each to a single concept or factoid. The trauma of getting the Q wrong should be enough to link many associations without explicitly putting everything on a card. Each deck (which means 40Q block, timed, non-tutor, all subjects) should be less than 40 cards, unless your school is terrible or you brain-dumped too hard during pre-clinical. The tags are most useful if you plan on doing a second pass because if you get a Q wrong, you can trace back specifically to that ID:#### and accurately diagnose the flaw in your recall or card design.

This is less helpful if taking Step 1 within 4 months ... or you really like paper. For others, it's probably very worthwhile to try this. UWorld is prob great for the average student to start 6 months before the exam so they can strongly internalize the test-taking skills learned.

 

[68PGunner]

I use Uworld as a high yield workbook for Step 1. That means that I want to commit every explanation of every answer option for each question to memory. Yes, it takes about 3 hrs of review. However, the pain is worth it bc I'm projected to score >240 at the minute.

 

[aimingforthat45]

I use Uworld as a high yield workbook for Step 1. That means that I want to commit every explanation of every answer option for each question to memory. Yes, it takes about 3 hrs of review. However, the pain is worth it bc I'm projected to score >240 at the minute.

My approach was to emulate test taking conditions. I did 7 blocks of UW at a time, starting at 8 AM. I packed my own lunch, set a 1 hour timer for my breaks. I got 8 extra tests out of this strategy. I would highly recommend it. I would then spend the next few days going over my blocks. My approach was you need to simulate everything- the fatigue, the breaks. Etc. and UW is undoubtly the best resource. NBME is great for score predictor, but 7 blocks of 40 is different than 4 of 50. Try to not also look at your block percentage after you do it- on the real thing, you won't know how you did. You need to simulate that feeling of uncertainty. Let's say you felt really bad after one block-how do you respond? How do you shake it off? When are you taking your breaks? I noticed that,by doing it this way, my blocks 4 and 7, I was consistently getting lower percentages than the rest. I made sure to modify my approach and I took a break before my last block. These are the logistics you need to figure out before hitting test day imo. Navy SEALS build like a mock building or course and they practice their execution again and again until it's muscle memory. A lot of people focus on the knowledge/preparation phase for this exam and rightly so. However, people need to prepare and hone in on execution- even to the last detail. It's my 0.02 but helped me get 260ish. Hope it helps

 

[zero0]

My approach was to emulate test taking conditions. I did 7 blocks of UW at a time, starting at 8 AM. I packed my own lunch, set a 1 hour timer for my breaks. I got 8 extra tests out of this strategy. I would highly recommend it. I would then spend the next few days going over my blocks. My approach was you need to simulate everything- the fatigue, the breaks. Etc. and UW is undoubtly the best resource. NBME is great for score predictor, but 7 blocks of 40 is different than 4 of 50. Try to not also look at your block percentage after you do it- on the real thing, you won't know how you did. You need to simulate that feeling of uncertainty. Let's say you felt really bad after one block-how do you respond? How do you shake it off? When are you taking your breaks? I noticed that,by doing it this way, my blocks 4 and 7, I was consistently getting lower percentages than the rest. I made sure to modify my approach and I took a break before my last block. These are the logistics you need to figure out before hitting test day imo. Navy SEALS build like a mock building or course and they practice their execution again and again until it's muscle memory. A lot of people focus on the knowledge/preparation phase for this exam and rightly so. However, people need to prepare and hone in on execution- even to the last detail. It's my 0.02 but helped me get 260ish. Hope it helps

Was this during dedicated?

 

[aimingforthat45]

Was this during dedicated?

I didn't have a dedicated. My school didn't really give me a time. I had to carve out my own time. I would usually take my UW blocks all on a SAT AM usually.

 

[68PGunner]

My approach was to emulate test taking conditions. I did 7 blocks of UW at a time, starting at 8 AM. I packed my own lunch, set a 1 hour timer for my breaks. I got 8 extra tests out of this strategy. I would highly recommend it. I would then spend the next few days going over my blocks. My approach was you need to simulate everything- the fatigue, the breaks. Etc. and UW is undoubtly the best resource. NBME is great for score predictor, but 7 blocks of 40 is different than 4 of 50. Try to not also look at your block percentage after you do it- on the real thing, you won't know how you did. You need to simulate that feeling of uncertainty. Let's say you felt really bad after one block-how do you respond? How do you shake it off? When are you taking your breaks? I noticed that,by doing it this way, my blocks 4 and 7, I was consistently getting lower percentages than the rest. I made sure to modify my approach and I took a break before my last block. These are the logistics you need to figure out before hitting test day imo. Navy SEALS build like a mock building or course and they practice their execution again and again until it's muscle memory. A lot of people focus on the knowledge/preparation phase for this exam and rightly so. However, people need to prepare and hone in on execution- even to the last detail. It's my 0.02 but helped me get 260ish. Hope it helps

Thanks. I plan to do just that for for 2 weeks when I'm close to my dedicate. 1 day of 280 quests followed by 1 day of review plus some Sketchy and Pathoma.

 

[Carbon090]

I don't get it.

3 hours to REVIEW 40 questions?

LOL ok.

Idk man. I'll let y'all stick to what y'all are doing but I guess maybe everybody's time management is different for everybody.

Different strokes for different folks.

Me and several of my friends have been slamming UWorld for a while now. We have all agreed it takes us a long time to review the questions. IMO doing thousands and thousands of questions is useless if you aren't getting anything out of them.

It takes me 3 hours to review 40 questions as well. Because I go through every piece of explanation and note anything I don't know, make cards, and review via Zanki. Takes a while.