BRS path not enough?

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pdz

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I've been using BRS path for my test preparation. Doing kaplan qbank and qbook questions, lot of the path questions I get wrong are because they aren't in brs path (nor in FA). A good example was today as I did 50 qs, a lot of them weren't in neither of the two books (as an example, relation of pure RBC aplasia with tymoma, that desmosomes are intact in spongiosis but not acantholysis, that in policythemia vera only cell line that doesn't increase is the lymphocytic, etc...). I think it's a very significant amount of questions that aren't covered in brs path. Any advice? Should I get another book for path? I thought sticking to brs path was my best choice since i'm very used to the format and have been going through it all the time.

My whole plan was to read brs path 1 more time and try to memorize it. But I'm afraid it may not be sufficient to do very good on the path section of the test.

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I only used BRS Path for pathology and thought it was plenty. Goljan would have taken me forever to read.
 
I've been using BRS path for my test preparation. Doing kaplan qbank and qbook questions, lot of the path questions I get wrong are because they aren't in brs path (nor in FA). A good example was today as I did 50 qs, a lot of them weren't in neither of the two books (as an example, relation of pure RBC aplasia with tymoma, that desmosomes are intact in spongiosis but not acantholysis, that in policythemia vera only cell line that doesn't increase is the lymphocytic, etc...).

of the three examples you cite, the first two are LOWLOWLOW yield and you don't want to be using a path resource book that has such stuff(desmosomes in spongiosis???)....if it's in RR you want to skip stuff like that anyways. You're not going to see many path questions on the test requiring that level of detail. You might see one or two, but I wouldn't want to spend days upon days(as would be required) to get those right.

The third example you cite is in first aid if you actually think about it.....it doesn't come out and state that fact explicitly, but if you use a little reasoning from what's in FA the information is there in different sections(hemonc and immuno) to lead you to the answer.

BRS path is fine. I don't like it because I don't like that format for path, but if you do like that format just stick to that source.
 
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Thanks to all for the replies. So based on what you all say I guess brs path is enough. I will see in my next set of questions how I do. What bothers me the most is when there's a question about something i haven't even heard of, and that i feel that no matter how well i'd know the material i've studied i wouldn't anyhow be able to answer it right. I guess i've been getting too many of those ones.

To those who've taken the test: do you think it's a good strategy if i go through brs twice more (from 1st page to last) to try to memorize the whole thing, and then just in the last week before the test sick exclusively to FA? This as opposed to not read brs path anymore and only stick to FA. I'm aiming for 230.
 
It sounds like you still have some time before your test, although you don't need to read RR path if you've invested so much time in BRS path I would suggest reading the blue boxes in it from someone else's copy or Goljan's high yields (the 36 page one should be enough) shortly before the test (they are basically the same thing)...it won't take too long, but would be good for learning a few high yield facts/integrations not covered in BRS or FA.
 
Of the questions you cited, the last two I think can be inferred from either the disease process or physiology. I found that, for me, the best way to use practice questions was to test my knowledge at figuring things out, not to use them as a way of testing things that I 'know' by reflex. This helped me form connections and associations above and beyond what I could read from any review book because I was practicing a certain skill in thought that can remember and reason what I need to answer the question, and to have at my disposal the types of information about the disease process that are useful. For this is what is actually done when you take the test.
 
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