Done with MS1. Is it worth it to start looking into First Aid now instead of the start of MS 2?

[shadowlightfox]

I'm done with MS1. However, I'm trying to find the best way to kill the boards I will take next year. Maybe it is a bit early for me to ask this, but I'm still asking because of couple of reasons.

1) I don't feel like I learned Biochemistry and Genetics adequately well. Some of this is not due to the faculty members, but without going into too much details, the structural organization of the curriculum just made it very hard to learn and retain information from these courses. For genetics, I don't think I learned anything at all.
2) The way my school has MS2 structured is such that we have an exam every two weeks. With this piling up in our work, I don't know if I would have time to crunch in First Aid and Pathoma along with Anki. I figured if I start now and get something done, it might cut my work somewhat when school year currently starts.
3) My school didn't teach Embryology, yet it's in the boards. I need to figure out a way to learn it before MS2 starts.

What I'm doing so far:
1) Watching SketchyMicro videos and getting those down via Sketchy deck from Anki.
2) Figuring out if I should get USMLERx and/or Kaplan Qbanks and do those questions, or make my own Anki, or if Bros/Zanki already include USMLERx/Kaplan into the flash cards.
3) Figuring out how to learn Embryology

My question is: If it is worth brushing up over the summer, is it wise to start using not just First Aid, but USMLERx NOW instead of August, or wait then? What about Kaplan Qbanks? Can I use both concurrently if I start out small? Obviously, for First Aid, I'm not going to look at stuffs I haven't learned yet like Pharma, Path, etc. But for old stuff only for the time being.

My other question is: What resource can I use to learn Embryology? I'm aware that there are Board prep materials like Kaplan already including it, but if my past experiences are any indication, Kaplan teaches it as if you already know instead of learning it for the first time.

Any help would be appreciated

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[DocWinter]

The search function will show you answers to this same question asked by many a M1.

In short, it is rarely helpful to board study material you have not yet seen, and you have not seen much yet. If you insist on spending your summer in the library however, yes, USMLErx is a fine bank to burn at this time, and BRS has a good embryology book.

 

[shadowlightfox]

The search function will show you answers to this same question asked by many a M1.

I'll take a look at them, then.

 

[grapefruit17]

Please don't study now and just enjoy life. You will regret it when you're a fourth year who used this summer to study when you could be enjoying life.

 

[shadowlightfox]

Please don't study now and just enjoy life. You will regret it when you're a fourth year who used this summer to study when you could be enjoying life.

I'll be staying near my campus to do research starting in June, so stuffs like vacation, etc are out of question. If I have nothing else to do, I might as well play catch-up and make myself productive. However, I'm not going to make my summer completely grim. I will definitely do other things in my spare time like watching movies, playing video games, learning Japanese, etc. when given the opportunity.

 

[Rekt]

Take a month off.

Then get two passes at all of Sketchy.
If flashcards are your deal, then make Anki decks on the embryo from FA and memorization heavy topics like interleukins from immunology, immunodeficiency diseases, and metabolic diseases/errors of metabolism from the biochem section.

Anything else will likely be a waste of time.

 

[68PGunner]

Embryology and Histology are low yield, like about 15 total quests. Without much preparation, I am pretty sure that any person can probably get about 10-11 of those questions right.

 

[LUCPM]

Answer is no, it's not worth it. You will be likely to burn yourself out by the time you start studying for boards. Things like Biochem, you will forget minute details no matter how you study and you will be stressing yourself out again because you will forget them again.

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[tux4]

Relax so there is less of a chance to burn out. It isn't about how long you study for but how effective. If you study like a mad person through all of second year you will be ready to explode come june/july and will want it over with...if you start putting in that type of commitment now you will have that feeling sooner.
I will disagree with the others regarding biochem but I like it. I started early and drew out the pathways and connected them all..It stuck with me and I'm fairly confident I got every biochem question correct that I encountered. Those questions are generally first order but require you know that fine detail, which drawing helped me solidify.


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[shadowlightfox]

Answer is no, it's not worth it. You will be likely to burn yourself out by the time you start studying for boards. Things like Biochem, you will forget minute details no matter how you study and you will be stressing yourself out again because you will forget them again.

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But isn't that if you go all out every day? What if I just do digestible amounts each day in summer? I just don't know how much time I will have to "catch up" during MS 2. You do make a point with biochem, but what about other things, like physiology etc, where knowing pathology requires fundamental knowledge?

 

[LUCPM]

But isn't that if you go all out every day? What if I just do digestible amounts each day in summer? I just don't know how much time I will have to "catch up" during MS 2. You do make a point with biochem, but what about other things, like physiology etc, where knowing pathology requires fundamental knowledge?

In that case, you can watch pathoma or read BRS physio. Just FYI, I did read BRS physio during my M1 summer break and I also started studying for boards during M2 winter break and through spring break. I'm not sure how much it really helped. All I can remember is I was totally burned out. At any rate, I wouldn't overdo it and pace really well to avoid premature burnout.

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[AlbinoHawk DO]

Summer I can only recommend doing all of SketchyMicro and Pharm 2x. It's passive learning that pays off big time. The rest of your time do research or have fun.

 

[wdoc]

I helped with teaching an anatomy course over the summer and found that to be a helpful review of the anatomy that I had learned first year. I wish I would have kept up with the biochemistry pathways so I wouldn't have to had to relearn them. I'd maybe consider reviewing biochemistry and sketchy micro and enjoy your summer. It's the last full summer you'll have...

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Embryology and Histology are low yield, like about 15 total quests. Without much preparation, I am pretty sure that any person can probably get about 10-11 of those questions right.

Development and Embryo are very high yield for both COMLEX and USMLE.

Histology isn't easy either. No one is going to give you a muscle cell and ask you to point to the nucleus. They'll be asking you something along the lines of here's these symptoms that are moderately vague and could be multiple things and now look at this lymphocyte or white blood cell and now tell me what the disease is.

 

[shadowlightfox]

Development and Embryo are very high yield for both COMLEX and USMLE.

Histology isn't easy either. No one is going to give you a muscle cell and ask you to point to the nucleus. They'll be asking you something along the lines of here's these symptoms that are moderately vague and could be multiple things and now look at this lymphocyte or white blood cell and now tell me what the disease is.

Aren't those technically pathology questions anyway? Histo's not even in the boards.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Aren't those technically pathology questions anyway? Histo's not even in the boards.

I'm not sure where you got the impression that histology is not on the boards. There are histology questions on both the COMLEX & USMLE. They range from questions where the picture isn't necessary to answer to where the only thing they give you is a picture and vague symptoms. Ex. patient presents with cardiac issues, here's a picture of some white blood cells. What's going on.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

Lol is it sad that the morning after our last exam of the year that I didn't know what to do with myself? So used to the study grind throughout the year that not having anything to study bores me.

 

[shadowlightfox]

I'm not sure where you got the impression that histology is not on the boards. There are histology questions on both the COMLEX & USMLE. They range from questions where the picture isn't necessary to answer to where the only thing they give you is a picture and vague symptoms. Ex. patient presents with cardiac issues, here's a picture of some white blood cells. What's going on.

I was told that histology as a course wasn't on the boards per se.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I was told that histology as a course wasn't on the boards per se.

Well, no one is going to ask you what stain their using or what stain to use. But you need to have a solid understanding of histology.

 

[docbsb2015]

11 days out right now. The only thing I would have done differently is watching all Sketchy videos (micro and pharm) during the summer. If you can hammer down those videos and know them well it will definitely be worth the time. Other than that, don't do anything school related.... 100% not worth it.

 

[grapefruit17]

Histo was on my comlex 2 years ago but not usmle. They would give random slides and say "what's this" basically.

 

[Mr Roboto]

I'm planning to go through all the Sketchy vids this summer, because bugs and drugs are always important. But we've still got another month of school left... super jealous of all you people that are finished already.

 

[shadowlightfox]

I'm planning to go through all the Sketchy vids this summer, because bugs and drugs are always important. But we've still got another month of school left... super jealous of all you people that are finished already.

Ooof. Another month left for you? Please tell me it's because you started school in September instead of August.

 

[Goro]

I'm done with MS1. However, I'm trying to find the best way to kill the boards I will take next year. Maybe it is a bit early for me to ask this, but I'm still asking because of couple of reasons.

1) I don't feel like I learned Biochemistry and Genetics adequately well. Some of this is not due to the faculty members, but without going into too much details, the structural organization of the curriculum just made it very hard to learn and retain information from these courses. For genetics, I don't think I learned anything at all.
2) The way my school has MS2 structured is such that we have an exam every two weeks. With this piling up in our work, I don't know if I would have time to crunch in First Aid and Pathoma along with Anki. I figured if I start now and get something done, it might cut my work somewhat when school year currently starts.
3) My school didn't teach Embryology, yet it's in the boards. I need to figure out a way to learn it before MS2 starts.

What I'm doing so far:
1) Watching SketchyMicro videos and getting those down via Sketchy deck from Anki.
2) Figuring out if I should get USMLERx and/or Kaplan Qbanks and do those questions, or make my own Anki, or if Bros/Zanki already include USMLERx/Kaplan into the flash cards.
3) Figuring out how to learn Embryology

My question is: If it is worth brushing up over the summer, is it wise to start using not just First Aid, but USMLERx NOW instead of August, or wait then? What about Kaplan Qbanks? Can I use both concurrently if I start out small? Obviously, for First Aid, I'm not going to look at stuffs I haven't learned yet like Pharma, Path, etc. But for old stuff only for the time being.

My other question is: What resource can I use to learn Embryology? I'm aware that there are Board prep materials like Kaplan already including it, but if my past experiences are any indication, Kaplan teaches it as if you already know instead of learning it for the first time.

Any help would be appreciated

No, you should start looking up how to best prepare for your second year.

 

[Mr Roboto]

Ooof. Another month left for you? Please tell me it's because you started school in September instead of August.

We started at the beginning of August

 

[shadowlightfox]

No, you should start looking up how to best prepare for your second year.

How would you propose I do that. I thought what I listed in my opening post was already preparing me for second year.

We started at the beginning of August

Damn. That sucks to hear. I hope you're still doing well in your classes, because that sucks. I hope you still end early enough next year to prepare decently for boards.

 

[firstaidforever]

Enjoy your summer. Do clinical research if you want the best and most productive use of your time.

But also, the first 250ish pages of First Aid are all ms-1 material. So maybe give that a light read.

First Aid forever is the motto after all.

 

[njtrimed]

I'm done with MS1. However, I'm trying to find the best way to kill the boards I will take next year. Maybe it is a bit early for me to ask this, but I'm still asking because of couple of reasons.

1) I don't feel like I learned Biochemistry and Genetics adequately well. Some of this is not due to the faculty members, but without going into too much details, the structural organization of the curriculum just made it very hard to learn and retain information from these courses. For genetics, I don't think I learned anything at all.
2) The way my school has MS2 structured is such that we have an exam every two weeks. With this piling up in our work, I don't know if I would have time to crunch in First Aid and Pathoma along with Anki. I figured if I start now and get something done, it might cut my work somewhat when school year currently starts.
3) My school didn't teach Embryology, yet it's in the boards. I need to figure out a way to learn it before MS2 starts.

What I'm doing so far:
1) Watching SketchyMicro videos and getting those down via Sketchy deck from Anki.
2) Figuring out if I should get USMLERx and/or Kaplan Qbanks and do those questions, or make my own Anki, or if Bros/Zanki already include USMLERx/Kaplan into the flash cards.
3) Figuring out how to learn Embryology

My question is: If it is worth brushing up over the summer, is it wise to start using not just First Aid, but USMLERx NOW instead of August, or wait then? What about Kaplan Qbanks? Can I use both concurrently if I start out small? Obviously, for First Aid, I'm not going to look at stuffs I haven't learned yet like Pharma, Path, etc. But for old stuff only for the time being.

My other question is: What resource can I use to learn Embryology? I'm aware that there are Board prep materials like Kaplan already including it, but if my past experiences are any indication, Kaplan teaches it as if you already know instead of learning it for the first time.

Any help would be appreciated

I personally am doing some studying over the summer, mainly brushing up on things I felt I didn't learn adequately during M1, via Pathoma and Kaplan videos. If you didn't read FA alongside your classes all year, it probably wouldn't hurt to read the chapters you've already covered. I started using the Kaplan Qbank once we started systems. I don't know if it's helpful for traditional M1 curriculum material, but I plan to finish all the questions related to the material we've covered. I wouldn't spend time trying to learn anything you haven't covered, but I don't see anything wrong with reinforcing your weak areas, since you're not going to have much time to focus on them during M2.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

I'd second what njtrimed said about starting a Qbank. Research has shown that for every 445 practice questions a student does, their USMLE score goes up 1 point. I started with USMLE-Rx and do 20-30 questions a day for a specific discipline that I covered during MS1. It'll give you a good idea of what you need to review more of.

 

[shadowlightfox]

I personally am doing some studying over the summer, mainly brushing up on things I felt I didn't learn adequately during M1, via Pathoma and Kaplan videos. If you didn't read FA alongside your classes all year, it probably wouldn't hurt to read the chapters you've already covered. I started using the Kaplan Qbank once we started systems. I don't know if it's helpful for traditional M1 curriculum material, but I plan to finish all the questions related to the material we've covered. I wouldn't spend time trying to learn anything you haven't covered, but I don't see anything wrong with reinforcing your weak areas, since you're not going to have much time to focus on them during M2.

Is your school completely systems based? Because in my school, we do physio, micro etc, but stuff like pathophysiology and pharma are all second year.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

I'd second what njtrimed said about starting a Qbank. Research has shown that for every 445 practice questions a student does, their USMLE score goes up 1 point. I started with USMLE-Rx and do 20-30 questions a day for a specific discipline that I covered during MS1. It'll give you a good idea of what you need to review more of.

445 questions for a single point huh. I'm not even remotely sure where they pull such things up lol.

 

[Blunt Dissection]

445 questions for a single point huh. I'm not even remotely sure where they pull such things up lol.

Your guess is as good as mine hahaha. Dr. Le the one that wrote the First Aid book did a webinar and said they presented the data at last year's AAMC conference. Apparently there's also a study that suggests that students that read First Aid 3 times or more performed better on average than those that just read it once or twice regardless of other resources used that was presented as well.

 

[shadowlightfox]

Your guess is as good as mine hahaha. Dr. Le the one that wrote the First Aid book did a webinar and said they presented the data at last year's AAMC conference. Apparently there's also a study that suggests that students that read First Aid 3 times or more performed better on average than those that just read it once or twice regardless of other resources used that was presented as well.

What kind of study did they even do to even pull off that data? But other than that, of course it seems common sense. The more you read something, of course the better you'll do on the exam.

The issue, of course, is how do you even have the time to read First Aid 3 times, let alone twice or once.

 

[shadowlightfox]

Your guess is as good as mine hahaha. Dr. Le the one that wrote the First Aid book did a webinar and said they presented the data at last year's AAMC conference. Apparently there's also a study that suggests that students that read First Aid 3 times or more performed better on average than those that just read it once or twice regardless of other resources used that was presented as well.

What kind of study did they even do to even pull off that data? But other than that, of course it seems common sense. The more you read something, of course the better you'll do on the exam.

The issue, of course, is how do you even have the time to read First Aid 3 times, let alone twice or once.

 

[Bill Brasky]

If you can't take a vacation, then play video games or something. Once you start M2, the pressure is never really off until post-match M4.

 

[njtrimed]

I'd second what njtrimed said about starting a Qbank. Research has shown that for every 445 practice questions a student does, their USMLE score goes up 1 point. I started with USMLE-Rx and do 20-30 questions a day for a specific discipline that I covered during MS1. It'll give you a good idea of what you need to review more of.

I know nothing about research backing it, but I definitely have gotten better at NBME exams since I started using Qbank questions. For me, learning the material was never an issue, but understanding what the examiners are looking for was my weakness, and practicing questions helps!

Is your school completely systems based? Because in my school, we do physio, micro etc, but stuff like pathophysiology and pharma are all second year.

Yes. We started with basic sciences (biochemistry, genetics, immunology, and micro) and then jumped into systems. So when we learned cardio, we covered anatomy, physio, pathophys, pharmacology, physical exam, etc. for that system.

If you can't take a vacation, then play video games or something. Once you start M2, the pressure is never really off until post-match M4.

I totally agree with this advice for the average med student living with parents or in a position to take the summer off! If it was my kid, I'd encourage them to relax and enjoy this summer off. My situation is unique and that's not even remotely possible for me, but most students really should just enjoy their last bit of "freedom" before reality sets in. There's nothing wrong with reinforcing weak points from M1, though; and that really shouldn't take more than a few hours a week at most.

 

[Jinxapotato]

I studied over my only Summer, went over entire FA except path and pharm.
By second year when I really got into board prep, I found out that I forgot maybe 90% of what I read...
So you can study if you feel uneasy, but my personal feeling is that the retention is not great, especially after all the new stuff you learn in 2nd year (which is WAY more important). I would not have studied if I had to do it again.