Class notes for step 1?

[Futuredoc1364]

---

Members don't see this ad.

I was just curious: are my class notes going to be useful in studying for the USMLE step 1? I am a first year and I already have a ton of notes (power point slides) and my anatomy notes. I was thinking if I hold on to every single lecture note, I'll have to buy 1000 binders.😱 Also, based on the limited amount of time we have to study for the step 1, I don't know how efficient studying from the notes would be.

I remember for the MCAT, I pretty much used my prep course's material to prepare, even though I had a lot of my undergraduate materials.

Any thoughts? Should I really hold on to all these notes or would I end up preparing using a bunch of prep books just like the MCAT?

 

[lord_jeebus]

Unlikely. I may have used my pharm notes as an occasional reference for a couple of things.

 

[Law2Doc]

I was just curious: are my class notes going to be useful in studying for the USMLE step 1?

Only if it gets really cold and you need something to burn.

Study from board review books -- they have done all the leg work of cutting out all the low yield details.

 

[ASDIC]

i would use these notes if they were comprehensive and easy to understand. for example my microbio notes were well rendered for the step 1 and I will be using them for step 1. some professors do not gear their lectures towards the step 1, and are thus useless.

 

[Law2Doc]

some professors do not gear their lectures towards the step 1, and are thus useless.

Even if they did gear toward step 1, do you really trust your profs over the board review folks whose whole livelihood depends on guessing right as to what is high yield, and who represent the views of multiple schools over more years? Go with the commercial stuff.

 

[pocketknife52]

absolute

 

[Futuredoc1364]

Thanks for the input. Yeah, I am actually going to discard the notes, because I am sure time will be too short to even think about looking at them for step I. Happy Holidays everyone!

 

[Terpskins99]

Though I did flip through my pharm and neuroanatomy notes every now and then.

Its up to you. It does suck up a lot of time just finding whatever notes are useful to begin with.

 

[njbmd]

I was just curious: are my class notes going to be useful in studying for the USMLE step 1? I am a first year and I already have a ton of notes (power point slides) and my anatomy notes. I was thinking if I hold on to every single lecture note, I'll have to buy 1000 binders.😱 Also, based on the limited amount of time we have to study for the step 1, I don't know how efficient studying from the notes would be.

I remember for the MCAT, I pretty much used my prep course's material to prepare, even though I had a lot of my undergraduate materials.

Any thoughts? Should I really hold on to all these notes or would I end up preparing using a bunch of prep books just like the MCAT?

If you have previously mastered your coursework, you don't need to study notes as you don't have loads of time for Step I (at least here in the US you don't). If you have thoroughly mastered your coursework, a good solid review is all that you will need and thus your class notes are going to be too unwieldy for this type of review. If you find that over the course of your review, you are totally lacking in some specific area, then your notes will be a good refresher so keep them around for that instance only.

The main mistake that most people make with Step I prep is hoping that they can memorize one source (or a single set of review books) and ace that test. It doesn't work like that. You main prep is thorough mastery of your coursework and then a solid review. If you are re-learning on the review, you are going to have problems with that exam. There is just too much material that is potentially testable for you to memorize everything or even most things.

If you have mastered your coursework, you have a knowledge foundation. If you add a good review, and you have some insight into the application of your knowledge foundation, you should do fine on all Steps of USMLE. It is just that USMLE is not a test that favors the memorizers which is a bit opposite much of the testing methods of many medical schools.

 

[Roy7]

I personally reviewed some lectures that covered subjects in far greater detail that I remembered some material from, but hadnt refreshed that was far more detailed than anything in review books. It took me 15 minutes to review and answered at least a few questions on my test.

I'm not saying dont use review books - I'm just saying that using lectures to supplement certain topics wont hurt either. One example being a variety of H&L disorders that were barely touched upon by RR/BRS, yet my profs in class covered pretty hard - prior to step 1 I read through those lectures one time (quick refresh), and it paid off really well on my test.

I'll actually go so far to say that if you're aiming for a 250+ those class notes are especially important, for more mid-range scores I'm sure review books are more than enough (I wish I'd used more).

 

[PeepshowJohnny]

I held on to mine because I'd come across as subject in a boards review book and not like their diagram or illustration or picture and remember one from class notes that I liked a lot (Mainly Neuro pathways, some pathology images) and refer back to it. But, other than that, no, not at all.

 

[lankysudanese]

I second PeepShowJohnny


I found my class notes very useful during preparations for my Step 1. Even though I used the Kaplan Home Study review series, I found myself going back and consulting my notes whenever I thought that the explanations, diagrams or tables in a certain section of Kaplan were sub-par. This was especially the case for Renal, Anatomy, Pharm. After all, I had already spent a lot of time going over and organizing my notes during first and second year. So, if you spent a lot of time and effort organizing and getting comfortable with your class notes, then you should reap the benefits of your hard work to master every concept so you can crush Step 1.

 

[SoCuteMD]

I didn't even bring my class notes to my super secret Step 1 study spot (fine, my parents' house) because I didn't really want them. I never missed them, and I feel certain that they only would have been a distraction. Although my handwritten summary of Robbins (I wish I were kidding!) was awesome, it wouldn't have done me much good in the 5 weeks I studied for Step 1. What did do me good was having mastered Robbins over the previous 10 months.