Days per Subject!

[GiJoe]

ok this is what i have so far...

Physio 6 days
micro 4
immuno 2
pharm 5
Neuro 2
Path 7
Behav. Sci 1.5
biochem 5
anatomy 1.5
embryo 0.5
histo 0.5

Total days spent on individual subjects= 35

1 day off per week plus every Saturday I read over first aid as much as possible. ( which makes it 39-40 days total)


any feed back would greatly be appreciated!

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[babinski bob]

Unless you're really weak in physio, I'd cut that to 4 days max. Even if you really study physio that much, you're not going to see a huge improvement since it's a conceptual subject (either you're going to be good at it or not). I would add more time to study for behavioral science since those are easy points and it's definitely high yield. Maybe cut down biochem to 3 days and path to 5-6 days. I think you're spending way too much time IMHO studying all this material. I wonder if you're going to be burnt out! Seriously, you're going to need a good 3-5 days in the end to re-study important areas. There's no way you can possibly remember 5 weeks of material without some sort of downtime to review in the end... Good luck...

Here's my schedule...
physio 2.5 days
path 4 days
biochem/genetics 4 days
micro/immuno 4 days
pharm 4 days
beh sci/biostats/ethics 2.5 days
anat/neuroanat 3 days
embryo 1 day
extra 2 weeks for review, practice tests, etc....
I'm strongest in physio and behsci; also feeling pretty good about path but suck at anatomy/neuroanat/embryo... Not really too sure how to study for biochem...

 

[soo]

Hi--Also in the mode of IMHO, I'd suggest not explicitly reviewing physio, since the concepts are incorporated in Path. Nor would I suggest explicitly reviewing Path, since it's such a huge subject and it's still fresh.

I'd suggest using First Aid for Step 1 and High Yield series for review resources, but spend most of your time doing good questions, since this active mode will help you identify what you do and don't know, and you can focus your review based on your weak areas. Passive review of books alone is much less efficient.

Since Path, Pharm, and Micro are such huge subjects, I'd suggest not doing a comprehensive review of them--just review using the Board Prep materials and Q&A. Kaplan QBank and Clinical Vignettes have a great "Tutor Mode" that gives you a complete discussion of each question's answers.

Good luck!

 

[vitaminj]

I would say that your schedule looks pretty good. Five days of pharmacology might be a little too much, I would say three might do it. In regards to physio, take my advice with a grain of salt as I took Step 1 two years ago but I thought behind Path this was the highest yield and probably one of the most difficult subjects. I think 5-6 days is probably time well spent.

In addition I would try to add maybe two days where you take full length practice exams, whether it be Q-bank based or Kaplan I know has two computer based exams at their center. I kicked off my studying by doing one exam to kind of get a sense of where I was and where I wanted to be in the different subjects, kind of gave a nice break down. Finally, I think doing 50 questions from Q-bank per night really gets you in habit and lets you see "how" the USMLE asks questions, plus it gets you through all of the questions. When you finish them really go through the answers not just the ones you got wrong but the ones you got right and reinforce to yourself why they are right.

As in everything just do your best.

PS. Awesome Screen Name!

 

[GiJoe]

Unless you're really weak in physio, I'd cut that to 4 days max. Even if you really study physio that much, you're not going to see a huge improvement since it's a conceptual subject (either you're going to be good at it or not). I would add more time to study for behavioral science since those are easy points and it's definitely high yield. Maybe cut down biochem to 3 days and path to 5-6 days. I think you're spending way too much time IMHO studying all this material. I wonder if you're going to be burnt out! Seriously, you're going to need a good 3-5 days in the end to re-study important areas. There's no way you can possibly remember 5 weeks of material without some sort of downtime to review in the end... Good luck...

Here's my schedule...
physio 2.5 days
path 4 days
biochem/genetics 4 days
micro/immuno 4 days
pharm 4 days
beh sci/biostats/ethics 2.5 days
anat/neuroanat 3 days
embryo 1 day
extra 2 weeks for review, practice tests, etc....
I'm strongest in physio and behsci; also feeling pretty good about path but suck at anatomy/neuroanat/embryo... Not really too sure how to study for biochem...

yea i was thinking of mabey cutting down path 1 day and adding it to behav sci cuz path seems to be one of the subjects i'm a little better in. I scheduled so many days for physio cuz i dont really remember much from last year. same goes for biochem.

For genetics im gonna use the section in brs path and first aid. what are you guys using?

thanks

 

[GiJoe]

I would say that your schedule looks pretty good. Five days of pharmacology might be a little too much, I would say three might do it. In regards to physio, take my advice with a grain of salt as I took Step 1 two years ago but I thought behind Path this was the highest yield and probably one of the most difficult subjects. I think 5-6 days is probably time well spent.

In addition I would try to add maybe two days where you take full length practice exams, whether it be Q-bank based or Kaplan I know has two computer based exams at their center. I kicked off my studying by doing one exam to kind of get a sense of where I was and where I wanted to be in the different subjects, kind of gave a nice break down. Finally, I think doing 50 questions from Q-bank per night really gets you in habit and lets you see "how" the USMLE asks questions, plus it gets you through all of the questions. When you finish them really go through the answers not just the ones you got wrong but the ones you got right and reinforce to yourself why they are right.

As in everything just do your best.

PS. Awesome Screen Name!

I bought Qbank from some deal that they had for our school. I dont really remember about them offering a "full length" exam with it. Is it purchased seperately? Where can I get access to one?

thanks everyone!

 

[vitaminj]

My school includes a "Kaplan Fee" in our tuition so we get the video lectures course with the books. As a part of that we had access to two full length tests at their center plus an additional third full length exam on a disc. If there is a Kaplan center where you are you might inquire how much to take the practice tests. However, you could "make" a full length exam just by doing 7 blocks of 50 Qs on Q-bank. I wouldn't sweat it if you can't make this fly, with your schedule and Q-bank you should be golden!

 

[AlexRusso]

So after reading all these posts and hearing stories from ppl in my school. I decided to finaly make my own schedule. I start studying in about 2 weeks. Lemme know what you think of this:

0 Anatomy - 2 days - FA + High Yield
0 Embryo - 1 day - HY
0 Neuro - 2 days - My lab book from class which was AWESOME + FA +Kaplan
0 Biochem + Genetics - 2 days - FA and maybe Kaplan for Genetics
0 Physio - 4 days - BRS + FA
0 Micro - 4 days - Ridiculously Simple make notes in FA as I go
0 Immuno - 1 day - Lange (40pg immuno section) maybe the immuno section in Pathophysiology for The Boards & Wards
0 Behavior - 1 day - BRS (gonna be my 3rd time through the book b/c i got a shelf in this next week)
0 Pharm - 3 days - FA (comprehensive final next week should get me ready)
0 Path - 4 days - BRS + FA (Shelf in path next week should get me somehwat ready, read through BRS almost 2 times, gonna be my 3rd)
0 Biostats + Ethics - 1 day BRS + Kaplan + FA

Total = 25 days
1 day to take the 400q NBME exam and go over it
1 day to take the Kaplan full-length diagonostic
1 day to take the half-day exam at Prometric and go over it
6 days right before the exam of doing 350q from QBank at the same schedule as I would on Test Day (i.e. wake-up and start at the same time) that should get me through all fo Qbanks 2100 q's for the second time through (I'll be doing 50 a night while a study and I've done most of path already) also doing FA after the exams

So thats 34 days all in all. Take off every Sunday (so i can go out Sat. nite) and do FA if I feel like it and catch up on stuff I fell behind on. 6wks=34days study+6days rest/catch-up + 2 reserve days for unforseen events. Or should I just cut it down to like 38 or so days???

As far as daily routine I was thinking:
7am wake-up
8am - 12pm study
12pm-3pm gym/lunch/relax/errands
3pm-7pm study
7pm-9pm dinner/rest
9pm-11pm 50q Qbank and go over them
12am lights-out

I've never planned anything out like this in my life but I feel the need for the boards. Hope I can stick to it. Lemme know what you think.

 

[12R34Y]

I wouldn't recommend taking Qbank questions at the very end of the night. You will be taking them in the early morning and afternoon at the real thing.

Our school highly recommends we don't do the questions at night after a full day of studying because you will be warped at the end of the day and may not be functioning very well and you also may not get the most out of them at night .

just a thought.

 

[AlexRusso]

I wouldn't recommend taking Qbank questions at the very end of the night. You will be taking them in the early morning and afternoon at the real thing.

Our school highly recommends we don't do the questions at night after a full day of studying because you will be warped at the end of the day and may not be functioning very well and you also may not get the most out of them at night .

just a thought.

Thats very true. Thanks.
Guess I'll prob do:
8-9 Review stuff from day b4 in FA
9-11 50q + go over them
11-1 study then 4-7 study and 9-11 study

 

[Jaded Soul]

I wouldn't recommend taking Qbank questions at the very end of the night. You will be taking them in the early morning and afternoon at the real thing.

Our school highly recommends we don't do the questions at night after a full day of studying because you will be warped at the end of the day and may not be functioning very well and you also may not get the most out of them at night .

just a thought.

If you have a reasonable study schedule, you shouldn't be drained at the end of each day. It doesn't really matter when you do questions, just as long as you do them. Practicing questions for 2 hours in the morning isn't going to give you an edge over someone who does them for 2 hours at night. The exam is about endurance more than getting used to answering questions at a certain time of day.

 

[vitaminj]

I wouldn't recommend taking Qbank questions at the very end of the night. You will be taking them in the early morning and afternoon at the real thing.

Our school highly recommends we don't do the questions at night after a full day of studying because you will be warped at the end of the day and may not be functioning very well and you also may not get the most out of them at night .

just a thought.

I actually looked at this from the other side. The day of the exam you are going to be nervous and tired from not sleeping well, trust me on this. Plus, the exam itself is so long that I thought doing questions at night after a full day of studying (in essence worn out and tired) was good practice for the actual exam. Just my perspective--as always different strokes for different folks!