Originally posted by luckystar
Macman, you are da man! 😀 You wanted questions, so here are some on my mind right now:
What do you feel helped you prepare the most for boards? Regular classes, board prep classes, or board prep books?
How do you guys know where to go for rotations? Are there descriptions of each place somewhere?
Is there time for community service on top of classes, studying, research, club activities, personal hygiene, etc? I know it's a matter of how well time is managed, but realistically, do any students still volunteer, not just at a hospital, but anywhere?
Are we going to get a BBQ too?
🙂 Ok, enough for now...
#1: Classes studied with board review books helped me the most-as I siad in my earlier FAQ you will not have time to read textbooks. Example: during pharm I used a pharm board review book as my text. I could read a section quickly and the book told me what I had to know. When I went to the teachers notes and lecture notes it was easy to identify the more important material and I already had a structure to build knowledge from. If you do not have the time to read it 3-4 times you won't remember it. So keep your sources concise. Board review classes will only provide you with icing on the cake knownledge-80-90% of what you need to know for boards will be accomplished by getting A's in your classes. Class rank/GPA shows the best correlation with board scores from what I hear-that is b/c those who learned it well the first time kept the knowledge.
#2 rotation rotations-this is a point of much anxiety for many. While our department of clinical affairs has a history of poor customer service-that is not a major hurdle to your education. You will find out about spots by talking to upperclass members and especially OMM fellows who will have been there and back (they helped me a lot). You will be able to chose what you want, I like the flexibility. Those who suffer under this system are those who want someone to think for them. (and they have that right when paying 25,000 a year!) There are a lot of great rotations out there and with minimal research you will know which ones they are
#3 Yea you will have time for other things, especially if you are single. I know some students that did a lot of travelling home on weekends or worked jobs-I think that is a bad idea b/c you need to learn as much as you can. If you take time off have it be with your spouse, exercise, anything uplifting and de-stressing. A few beers are probably a good idea too.
One thing I would like to add is that the attitude of 70 = DO is dangerous. Many students think there is a magic curtain that lifts when you enter rotations and that classwork is just busywork before the fun starts. (yes rotations are fun most of the time) However, the questions I am asked day in and day out by attendings are the same ones I got on tests in terms of material. Sometimes I feel like i knew more when I took boards then now b/c I had studied so much and now I come home and do not 'have' to study.
sorry for the rant
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