I just got through the "Foundations" portion of the DIT course. It was absolutely frustrating. It seems so inefficient jumping between books just to realize they're adding new material that I need to take notes on. What's the overall opinion of DIT? It was waaaaay too much money to continue being this scattered.
DIT Buyer's Remorse
- Thread starter jbish828
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Everything is like that for a reason. As I go through random questions on world I flip back and forth through the book and learn more that way. I don't forget stuff just like some people do when just doing one section. A quick view of the 2012 course outline seems like its laid out the same way. Going through a variety of topics so you're fresh on the information at all times.
Just get through it. That's the whole key to USMLE Step 1. You might not like what you're doing but if you plow through it the effort will provide results in the end.
Just get through it. That's the whole key to USMLE Step 1. You might not like what you're doing but if you plow through it the effort will provide results in the end.
for almost $800, I would expect the program to be more complete. At this point, there are not enough high yield notes in the DIT study guide to justify it as a "complete course". I guess I was hoping for something like Pathoma, just geared toward the Step.
DIT is not going to teach you anything you don't already know. It's going to help you get through another pass at world and solidify facts that are already in your brain. Nothing is going to help like doing FA and World FIRST.
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The "foundations" portion is more scattered, but the actual (part 2) course is much more organized. If that's your concern, I'm sure you'll be satisfied. But make sure that you make at least one full pass through FA before going to part 2 of DIT.
DIT is a complete waste of money - this is coming from someone who put down the money for the course; it's absurd that someone can form a successful business basically reading from another book (first aid). I wonder why the First Aid people allow them to use the book as the foundation of their course - maybe they are getting a share of the profits?
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I'm sure they probably pay a licensing fee to FA.
Personally, I think DIT is the best thing since sliced bread. I didn't believe them when they said that they'd increase my Qbank scores by 5% every week, but after one week of it, I have no doubt that it's monumentally useful. Some people feel like they're just "reading from First Aid", but that's not the impression that I have.
Also, they've started using more resources is 2012.
I would have agreed with you after the first 6 lectures - the "Foundations" lectures. I've done a few more now and it seems to get a little better, but I agree that for the amount of money, it seems nearly criminal, because they simply rely on First Aid. If the guy who runs Pathoma would do a course that encompassed all the Step information, he could put DIT out of business.
You guys are missing the point. It's to simply provide structure for another pass of FA before your test. This is even why they tell you to take your tests a few days afterwards. Pathoma is no substitute for good regular studying and World. There's no magic bullet in this business. If there was people would have already figured it out.
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If the OP really paid $800 "to simply provide structure for another pass of FA," then I'd have to say that was a monumental waste of money. I am not doing DIT, but I thought it was like $200-300, not $800. That's insane.
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Everybody has different opinions about it, but I think it's a lot more than just a "structured pass of FA." They provide a lot of thorough explanations, explain how things are likely to be asked on the test, etc. A structured pass of FA is FA Express or Falcon's FA review... DIT is much more focused on teaching you how to do well on the exam rather than just helping you learn the facts in FA. They generally assume that you already know the facts in FA.
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And you can't argue with their results. I initially didn't believe their claims suggesting an average score increase of 15% - I figured they meant that your score would increase by 15% if you follow their FA study plan AND watch their lectures, but they mean that their lectures alone will raise your score by 5% every week. I was very skeptical about that number, but after one week of the course, my average Qbank scores have definitely gone up by at least that much.
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What do you mean they started using more resources? Please elaborate as I'm on the fence right now and looking to decide by tomorrow or so. Thanks in advance
Yep, exactly. I should've done more research. Gotta hand it to DIT, their presentation >>> course. I've made a pass through the World bank, took notes on the questions and that was much more intensive than anything DIT has offered me so far. I also just found out DIT is only a 30-day subscription for the original $750 or whatever it was, yet they recommend doing it in 5 weeks. Each additional week is $200. I believe that qualifies as bushleague.
What do you mean they started using more resources? Please elaborate as I'm on the fence right now and looking to decide by tomorrow or so. Thanks in advance
I think they're referring to the fact that DIT is using Robbins, Guyton, etc for some info, but I'm not totally sure cuz this is the first year I've looked at their materials...
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They recommend doing it in 3 weeks.
According to the DIT book (mine just came in), you can do the entire Lecture series in 10 days. I've also seen 12, 15, and month long plans. My idea is to knock it out in 10-12 days, I've been through FA pretty thoroughly and finished nearly 2 qbanks. Have about 5 weeks until the tests.
Anyone tried the 10-15 day plans? Doable?
Anyone tried the 10-15 day plans? Doable?
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I've been on track with the 15-day plan... it's fairly exhausting, but certainly doable. They suggest doing it over 21 actual days and taking two days every week to review/rest, but I feel like I only need one review/rest day.
I loved DIT....
it is scattered because first aid is a stupid book in terms of organization.....you can't read it from front to back
DIT organizes the material in a way FA should have been organized in....
for example..talk about certain diseasese, then their treatment....instead of learning all of GI, and then all the treatments at once in the back of the section
it is scattered because first aid is a stupid book in terms of organization.....you can't read it from front to back
DIT organizes the material in a way FA should have been organized in....
for example..talk about certain diseasese, then their treatment....instead of learning all of GI, and then all the treatments at once in the back of the section
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That's why they suggest that you do both. You should have a pretty good grasp of all of the content in FA before you start DIT, and then they help you synthesize it into question-answering capability.
yep..diff learning styles for diff people
for me..learning all pharm relevant to a certain system is overwhelming..i rather go through the relevant pharm for each disorder/disease
Not sure where you're seeing that. My email from customer service said 5 weeks. Granted, that was also the email where she said an extra week is $200.
I guess you can do the thing as quickly as you want, but I don't want to do many more than 5-6 per day so I'll have time for other reading and World questions. To each his own...
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Sounds like they're giving out conflicting information. I haven't talked to customer service, but I've seen several references on theitr website that recommend doing it in 3 weeks.
Here's one:
http://course.doctorsintraining.com/download/quiz/1acc0b147d00780cbfa3f417484009fc
(Last page)
Here are a few more:
http://www.doctorsintraining.com/usmle-step-1/study-plans/6-week
http://www.doctorsintraining.com/media/upload/Step1-12Week-DIT-StudyPlan(3).pdf
http://www.doctorsintraining.com/media/upload/Step1-20Week-DIT-StudyPlan(2).pdf
