Boards and Beyond

[TheOther]

The reviews I've seen on this resource are scarce and scattered over the past couple years with two glaring caveats: it was either a free trial or it was earlier on when there was less content.

I know most people are in dedicated study right now, but I have a few questions for those who have used it in the last 5-6 months:

1. Was it helpful in preparing for dedicated study?
2. Was it worth the price you paid?
3. If you were a first year again going into the summer, would you use it to brush up on MS1 content? And maybe even prep for MS2?

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[TheAberrantGene]

trash

 

[tennischamp822]

...

 

[TheOther]

Thanks for the responses so far. Anyone else?

 

[Jesus1]

It is not trash. Used it, found it to be worth it. Watch the sample videos.

 

[TheOther]

It is not trash. Used it, found it to be worth it. Watch the sample videos.

I've seen the sample videos. Just curious how the rest of the content is and if it's worth the dough. Did you do the full year?

 

[Jesus1]

The rest of the content in my opinion is solid. I have not watched all videos but I have gone through a sizable chunk and found them to decent for explaining mechanisms.

 

[Promethean]

It's been a week and you've probably already made your decisions but I figured I'd toss in my two cents for anyone else who stumbles across this thread.

I love these videos. The neuroanatomy vids were a major part of my study plan for basic neuro and really helped me get quite a few points on exams and quizzes. Looking through the other material, I am sad that I didn't know about this site earlier, like last semester. It doesn't replace the modules we have to work through, but it does supplement them.

My untreated ADD is a real issue, so I need a lot of resources that I can switch between when I'm having trouble keeping my attention on the material. A one stop shop for so many well composed, comprehensive, relatively brief videos is a real boon. When I get sick of reading, I can just sit back and watch for a while. Najeeb videos are wonderful, but sometimes too detailed and way too long. There are tons of free videos on Youtube, but a lot of time gets wasted sifting through them looking for the gems. It is good to have one source that I know that I can count on for quality content, that isn't too expensive.

The pricing structure strongly favors buying for a year, and I'm happy that I will have access to these during the rest of my systems. When it comes time to study for boards, I don't know if I will need to extend my subscription, or if I will have seen them all enough times by then that it wouldn't add anything to watch them again.

 

[Burla]

1. I've used it mostly for Biochem and it has helped a bit but he does go over stuff that isn't high yield. I was disappointed with his neuro content and most of the disease stuff is covered well enough in Pathoma.

2. I would say the price is worth it during non-dedicated time but during dedicated its difficult to say. Honestly, spending ~$100 on something that could potentially get me a few more points on the exam would be worth it

3. I would definitely use it during pre-dedicated to brush up on the first year material

 

[lavenderflowers]

I absolutely love Boards and Beyond. I find that Boards and Beyond videos are amazing and I really liked Dr Ryan's flow of teaching. It's really simplistic yet gives you an extremely comprehensive overview of what one needs to know for step 1. I took a 3 month subscription, finished all the videos and annotated them into FA, and this took me like 2 months (around 4 hours a day inclusive of notetaking and distractions). Wish I knew about these videos earlier, would have really helped in first and second year of med school. I know someone said that some of the info is not high yield, but in the NBME tests, non-high yield questions definitely crop up a lot and if you know those little extra facts, it can improve your score by several points. I think it was a great investment and all of this guy's videos are gold. That being said, while the videos cover non high yield info, they don't do it in an overwhelming manner; rather it's all extra facts geared towards the test and practical application of info and not nitty gritty details about untestable stuff. I also love the fact that there's no accent and his line diagrams are just so easy on the eyes.

 

[QueryNeurology]

I absolutely love Boards and Beyond. I find that Boards and Beyond videos are amazing and I really liked Dr Ryan's flow of teaching. It's really simplistic yet gives you an extremely comprehensive overview of what one needs to know for step 1. I took a 3 month subscription, finished all the videos and annotated them into FA, and this took me like 2 months (around 4 hours a day inclusive of notetaking and distractions). Wish I knew about these videos earlier, would have really helped in first and second year of med school. I know someone said that some of the info is not high yield, but in the NBME tests, non-high yield questions definitely crop up a lot and if you know those little extra facts, it can improve your score by several points. I think it was a great investment and all of this guy's videos are gold. That being said, while the videos cover non high yield info, they don't do it in an overwhelming manner; rather it's all extra facts geared towards the test and practical application of info and not nitty gritty details about untestable stuff. I also love the fact that there's no accent and his line diagrams are just so easy on the eyes.

How much are you getting paid?

 

[lavenderflowers]

How much are you getting paid?

Um just because I praised it? I bought a subscription when I was studying for step 1 last year. Found their channel on YouTube when I was searching for a good murmurs video. Really really liked it and barely saw any reviews online so I thought I'd share my experience and encourage others to use it. Please don't jump to conclusions.

 

[cellsaver]

My untreated ADD is a real issue, so I need a lot of resources that I can switch between when I'm having trouble keeping my attention on the material.

I feel your pain. I had to use the same methods- change often my resources. Najeeb was impossible to understand. Seems like a nice man and I wrote them for subtitles but they could not provide. I used multiple sources for my preclinical years and it was crucial in order to keep engaged. Textbooks, iPad, Inkling books (really neat), Ackland videos, I tried Kaplan videos but too schmaltzy, UWorld (the best), USMLE Rx (the worst), DIT (insulting money grubbing capitalists), Pathoma (my hero), never heard of Boards and Beyond. Try them all to see what clicks for you.

Its been said many times: do what works best for you. At lesst you figured it out and tackled it accordingly. Others flounder and never do as well as they would have liked.

Learning is an active process. It is like war and I fight to win

cheers

 

[cellsaver]

How much are you getting paid?

petty

 

[TaroBubbleTea]

I love boards and beyond, but I wish I discovered it way earlier, like during M1 year. I discovered it a few weeks before dedicated and I still found it to help me quite a bit, esp in neuro and cardio


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[Ace Khalifa]

I love Boards and Beyond because the videos really explain a lot of FA concepts well. Reading thru FA facts and lists is not helpful unless you know why each point is there - B&B tells you why. It's just like Pathoma, only that it covers much more than just Pathology.

 

[QueryNeurology]

Um just because I praised it? I bought a subscription when I was studying for step 1 last year. Found their channel on YouTube when I was searching for a good murmurs video. Really really liked it and barely saw any reviews online so I thought I'd share my experience and encourage others to use it. Please don't jump to conclusions.

you sound like you were advertising.

 

[KnightofBaldMt]

I enjoy it! I would have been much better prepared for preclinical exams and a better foundation for dedicated if I'd discovered it first year!

 

[ridethecliche]

I used it throughout M2 and found that I retained the most information from things I've learned from him. I'm in dedicated now and I'm actually still using some of his ish for reviewing things like biochem and brushing up on a few sections where I'm underperforming.

 

[lavenderflowers]

you sound like you were advertising.

Why? Just because the post was so long? I was searching for reviews before I purchased the subscription and couldnt find anything that time since it was relatively new. Thought other students (especially other IMG's like myself) would like a detailed review from firsthand experience. Sorry if I praised it too much. Didn't know that was a thing. Anyways, I'm studying for step 2 ck now and have more important things to worry about than trying to convince you that I'm not an advertiser. I will say this though; I'm extremely irritated and frustrated that you've completely discredited my post and experience. I did NOT make up ANY of it. If everyone feels that strongly then I will just delete my post.

 

[Waterlover]

I bought a subscription for a few months, about to start dedicated but it's definitely worth the price, I wish I knew about it earlier!