Boards and Beyond vs Pathoma

[Domek]

Hello everyone,

I know there is a decent number of threads on this already, but there is also a variety of responses out there and everyone seems to be pretty passionate about the video lecture series of their choice...so I wanted to open the topic up to a poll.

To clarify the poll options...

Yes, like many of you, I already have a subscription to Pathoma. The question is: "is it worth paying for Pathoma twice before getting Boards and Beyond?" It's just so insanely good, I can't decide between adding on another video resource, or just making a new Pathoma account with the username "HereSattarBuyYourselfANiceDinnerMyTreat".

Thanks.

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[Newyawk]

Hello everyone,

I know there is a decent number of threads on this already, but there is also a variety of responses out there and everyone seems to be pretty passionate about the video lecture series of their choice...so I wanted to open the topic up to a poll.

To clarify the poll options...

Yes, like many of you, I already have a subscription to Pathoma. The question is: "is it worth paying for Pathoma twice before getting Boards and Beyond?" It's just so insanely good, I can't decide between adding on another video resource, or just making a new Pathoma account with the username "HereSattarBuyYourselfANiceDinnerMyTreat".

Thanks.

Get both. The extra 70 bucks or whatever pathoma will cost you is a drop in the bucket compared to how much youll regret it if you dont do well. Step 1 isnt an exam to be cheap about.

 

[Newyawk]

Hello everyone,

I know there is a decent number of threads on this already, but there is also a variety of responses out there and everyone seems to be pretty passionate about the video lecture series of their choice...so I wanted to open the topic up to a poll.

To clarify the poll options...

Yes, like many of you, I already have a subscription to Pathoma. The question is: "is it worth paying for Pathoma twice before getting Boards and Beyond?" It's just so insanely good, I can't decide between adding on another video resource, or just making a new Pathoma account with the username "HereSattarBuyYourselfANiceDinnerMyTreat".

Thanks.

To be clear ive never used boards and beyond and i can confidently say pathoma and costanzo got me most of my 265 points. But if youre plnning on using boards and beyond anyway but still feel like you can fit pathoma in (i used to listen to him on repeat in the car, shower, etc.) then pay for the subscription

 

[Aerus]

Get Pathoma again and just use Costanzo.

 

[idkididk]

A little bit off-topic, sorry: I'm using B&B for the reproductive chapter right now, and holy balls there's so much not in FA/Pathoma. I'm guessing I shouldn't really focus on these things, right?

 

[Newyawk]

A little bit off-topic, sorry: I'm using B&B for the reproductive chapter right now, and holy balls there's so much not in FA/Pathoma. I'm guessing I shouldn't really focus on these things, right?

Fa and pathoma are not at all exhaustive. Keep those things in mind right particularly if youre shooting for a 270

 

[shisong]

FA/P is for high yields, it doesnt contain EVERYTHING. I had to annotate as im doing Uworld... because uworld has additional info that FA/P does not contain that MAY appear on step...

but it is nearly impossible to know EVERYTHING hence people say just stick to UFAP

 

[zero0]

There is such a thing as resource overload, and in my humble opinion a 2nd take of pathoma is more high-yield than boards & beyond. Not that B&B is bad, but there's only so many hours in a day.

 

[imtheman25]

Two different beasts......you cant compare orange to apples

 

[IslandStyle808]

There is such a thing as resource overload, and in my humble opinion a 2nd take of pathoma is more high-yield than boards & beyond. Not that B&B is bad, but there's only so many hours in a day.

Disagree, better to have more sources at your disposal (ex. FC, B&B, USMLE rx, UFAP+ Skectchy) BUT only focus on a small amount of sources (i.e. UFAP & sketchy). You don't need to use everything on B&B, just the topics not covered in Pathoma (ex. biostats, epic, behavioral, physiology). Worth it even then.

 

[Polonium-210]

Get both.

 

[JamesPotterMS-3]

Loved Costanzo. Still skim through the textbook/BRS handbook during M3 from time to time (when I want to review Cardio phys or diuretics); MUCH better than guyton.
I've heard good things about BnB but, from what my classmates have said, it's a GIANT time sink and definitely not something to be used during dedicated.
Pathoma is GOLD. I spent more time with Pathoma than first aid.

 

[zero0]

Disagree, better to have more sources at your disposal (ex. FC, B&B, USMLE rx, UFAP+ Skectchy) BUT only focus on a small amount of sources (i.e. UFAP & sketchy). You don't need to use everything on B&B, just the topics not covered in Pathoma (ex. biostats, epic, behavioral, physiology). Worth it even then.

I would agree with using B&B/DIY to fill in the gaps, but doing the entire program seems like a waste of time imo.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

A little bit off-topic, sorry: I'm using B&B for the reproductive chapter right now, and holy balls there's so much not in FA/Pathoma. I'm guessing I shouldn't really focus on these things, right?

The stuff not in FA/P is the difference between a 250 and a 265+

Pathoma >>>>>> Boards and Beyond. The two are not even comparable.

Eh I have both and have wTched a few vids side by side to compare and a lot of the path is the exact same.

 

[Shams al Deen]

I’m a big B&B fan, but Pathoma is king. Pathoma is necessary just like UWorld and FA. B&B is very helpful, but not in the same category as Pathoma.

And I’d argue the real difference b/w scores in the 250s vs 260s is not knowledge. It’s test-taking/reasoning ability and some amount luck.

 

[firstladyxoxo]

Anybody have an updated study schedule including newest additions (e.g. psych) or know the link to the updated one? Thanks! Just started using B&B and am truly indebted to Dr. Ryan!!!

 

[themoonman2]

B&B was great for a first pass of material, but pathoma is awesome for review. Sattar connects topics in a way that really helps you know the material and understand it. Personally, I didn't think that Pathoma was the best for first pass of material.

I also agree with previous posters that Step 1 is not a test to be cheap about- you only have 1 chance and whatever it costs for the year is literally a drop in the well compared to the rest of your medical education.

 

[ortnakas]

I can’t speak for Boards & Beyond as I never used it, but in my opinion the point of Pathoma is to make the high-yield path really stick, not to be all-encompassing of all Step 1 pathology. No single resource is going to “have everything,” not even Uworld.

 

[themoonman2]

B&B was worth the price just for Cardiology alone. Dr Ryan explains arrhythmias, heart murmurs, the dreaded 12 ECG waves....brilliantly.

He killed it on cardio

 

[786783]

Heard unusually good things on his biochemistry as well.

 

[Ellomate]

How do you guys effectively use Costanzo?
Do you just refer to a specific page/section on costanzo when getting a question wrong on UWROLD?
Or, for those who scored +250, mean read it cover-to-cover??

I'm 4 months out and I don't think I can sit to listen to all BnB lectures...

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

I have both and used pathoma for only one of my preclinical blocks, and that was my worst one. BnB is better.

 

[Ho0v-man]

How do you guys effectively use Costanzo?
Do you just refer to a specific page/section on costanzo when getting a question wrong on UWROLD?
Or, for those who scored +250, mean read it cover-to-cover??

I'm 4 months out and I don't think I can sit to listen to all BnB lectures...

Thanks for the clarification.

So I didn’t read costanzo and just did Zanki.

But for boards and beyond, I literally just made myself watch 1 hour/day. So 30 minutes in the morning when you first get cracking. Then 30 minutes at lunch. If you speed up the videos then even better. Just 1 hr of content if it was normal speed.
I also liked doing uworld by section. So I would be in say pulm in uworld, but knew the next section would be cardio so I’d try to burn through cardio BnB first while doing pulm uworld questions. Then when I’d miss some stuff in cardio, I’d go back to my old BnB slides as part of the review and hate myself for it.

There’s like 120 hours iirc so you can easily watch all of it if you start now. I didn’t watch infectious diseases and went pretty quick through the pharm stuff because of Zanki sketchy decks.

 

[thatchemguy]

So I didn’t read costanzo and just did Zanki.

But for boards and beyond, I literally just made myself watch 1 hour/day. So 30 minutes in the morning when you first get cracking. Then 30 minutes at lunch. If you speed up the videos then even better. Just 1 hr of content if it was normal speed.
I also liked doing uworld by section. So I would be in say pulm in uworld, but knew the next section would be cardio so I’d try to burn through cardio BnB first while doing pulm uworld questions. Then when I’d miss some stuff in cardio, I’d go back to my old BnB slides as part of the review and hate myself for it.

There’s like 120 hours iirc so you can easily watch all of it if you start now. I didn’t watch infectious diseases and went pretty quick through the pharm stuff because of Zanki sketchy decks.

Isn't the general advice to avoid doing Uworld by section and to do it random?

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Isn't the general advice to avoid doing Uworld by section and to do it random?

Everyone is different. You can try the general advice but you have to adjust for you.

 

[Prehealth1011]

Isn't the general advice to avoid doing Uworld by section and to do it random?

Some people do it by section because it helps them with organization. There's no right or wrong here just choose the approach that works the best for you

 

[slowthai]

Isn't the general advice to avoid doing Uworld by section and to do it random?

I mean, it just depends on personal preferences and how they wanna use UWorld. That advice is given in the context of those that are using it more for testing/simulation. Going by system will bias your answer and inflate your scores, which will obviously be an inaccurate reflection of your knowledge.

Some people prefer to do untimed, by system blocks because they want to use UWorld solely for learning.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Isn't the general advice to avoid doing Uworld by section and to do it random?

Yes. I tried it that way and hated it though. I felt like I was wasting questions on topics I was really weak on. For instance, I learned stats in like the 11th hour of dedicated and prior to that all I was working with was ~1 hour of a terrible lecture from first semester. So doing those questions in January was a waste of time.

Also it made review take forever. Just constantly flipping back and forth all over FA was taking my brain in too many directions.

It might’ve inflated my scores a little, but you just have to be honest with yourself. I just made cards over questions/concepts I didn’t know cold and kept up with them.

For reference, I scored 250+ on step 1 so more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[Ho0v-man]

 

[thatchemguy]

Yes. I tried it that way and hated it though. I felt like I was wasting questions on topics I was really weak on. For instance, I learned stats in like the 11th hour of dedicated and prior to that all I was working with was ~1 hour of a terrible lecture from first semester. So doing those questions in January was a waste of time.

Also it made review take forever. Just constantly flipping back and forth all over FA was taking my brain in too many directions.

It might’ve inflated my scores a little, but you just have to be honest with yourself. I just made cards over questions/concepts I didn’t know cold and kept up with them.

For reference, I scored 250+ on step 1 so more than one way to skin a cat.

Yeah, that makes sense - I'll have to experiment with both ways once I start Uworld.

I realized this thread is pretty old - curious to hear how people's perception of BnB vs Pathoma has changed since then?

 

[slowthai]

Yeah, that makes sense - I'll have to experiment with both ways once I start Uworld.

I realized this thread is pretty old - curious to hear how people's perception of BnB vs Pathoma has changed since then?

I think Pathoma is a godsend. It's the only video resource worth watching all the way through imo. After religiously watching BnB for the whole of M1 and almost halfway into M2, I relinquished my hold on it. I realized that I'm better served using it for weaknesses only. I just couldn't justify the amount of time I spent watching it compared to what I got out of it. That's the definition of low yield. I'm not saying BnB's content is low yield, because it's obviously not.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Yeah, that makes sense - I'll have to experiment with both ways once I start Uworld.

I realized this thread is pretty old - curious to hear how people's perception of BnB vs Pathoma has changed since then?

Pathoma is the GOAT. BnB tells you things. Pathoma TEACHES you. Pathoma explains it to you like you’re stupid. I really appreciate Dr Sattar making that assumption in my case lol.

Im an M4 now and to this day flashes of his terrible yet perfect drawings are still in my mind when I think of something like platelet aggregation/adhesion. I must have listened to ch1-3 like five times in the weeks leading up to step 1. I actually busted out Pathoma and 2x’d the heme/onc section before step 2 because I was feeling rusty. I love that man! FEEEEVER!

BnB is great for physiology and just hearing the path from a different perspective. And of course cardio is gold. The molecular bio Rb when it’s hypophosphorylated and DNA repair stuff is fantastic in BnB. It’s actually my favorite resource for stats too.

 

[slowthai]

Pathoma is the GOAT. BnB tells you things. Pathoma TEACHES you. Pathoma explains it to you like you’re stupid. I really appreciate Dr Sattar making that assumption in my case lol.

Yeah, 95%+ of the time when I would watch Pathoma, he would show me something entirely new, provide a novel integration, or deepen my understanding of something I already knew. I mean, he would just open my eyes. He's just incredible. That rarely happened with BnB. I just couldn't wait for him to stop talking, lol

 

[ExplodingUlcers]

Yeah, 95%+ of the time when I would watch Pathoma, he would show me something entirely new, provide a novel integration, or deepen my understanding of something I already knew. I mean, he would just open my eyes. He's just incredible. That rarely happened with BnB. I just couldn't wait for him to stop talking, lol

Agreed about pathoma being better overall but I do feel the bnb stats videos are pretty amazing.

 

[slowthai]

Agreed about pathoma being better overall but I do feel the bnb stats videos are pretty amazing.

I have definitely heard that about BnB many times. Ditto for biochem and cardio.

I will say that I think we're kind of comparing apples to oranges here. Even though they're both video resources, they have different purposes. Pathoma is meant to teach you the fundamentals of pathology. BnB is really more of an overview of everything in FA, lol. If he was to truly teach, he'd probably have to double the average length of a video or cut out the lower yield stuff, which is what physeo did I believe.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Yeah, 95%+ of the time when I would watch Pathoma, he would show me something entirely new, provide a novel integration, or deepen my understanding of something I already knew. I mean, he would just open my eyes. He's just incredible. That rarely happened with BnB. I just couldn't wait for him to stop talking, lol

Felt exactly the opposite. I got almost nothing new out of pathoma that I didn’t get in BnB.