end of 1st year study plans

[Hokie06]

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Hey guys,

I'll be done with my first year in 2 weeks and I have been contemplating as to what I should do over the summer. I am interested in anesthesiology, internal medicine (cardiology/GI), and possibly Surgery. I decided to dedicate my entire summer to reviewing and studying for the boards in lieu of doing reseach. Will this negatively affect me when I apply for residency?

I intend to do the following:

My school is systems based so we covered the integumentary, musculoskeletal, nervous, psychiatric, and immunological/hematological systems. I'm thinking about reading everything I learned in the Kaplan lecture books (I have the 2009 edition) and then annotating what I think is important on to first aid (2010). I am also thinking about listening to Goljan audio for all the relevant systems we learned in class, and reading all the systems in rapid review pathology. In addition, I'm going to sign up for UW and try to do all the questions that was relevant to first year material. With 1 year subscription, I hope to continue to do them into my second year in conjunction with my classes.

For those that have been through this already, is my plan realistic? I have exactly 2 months before the start of my 2nd year so I want to try to find the most efficient and effective way to review all the materials while giving me a good start on board preparation. Any advice, suggestions, additions, or critiques are all welcome. Thanks!

 

[Perrotfish]

1) Anything that would be covered in a traditional first year cirriculum is probably not worth reviewing until closer the test. That's why people generally say not to bother with board prep after 1st year. Given your cirriculum it might be worthwhile to cover the tradionally 2nd year subjects like path, pharm, and micro, but 2 months of full time review is probably still overdoing it.

2) Don't waste UWorld questions. If you want a Qbank to review with, us Rx or Kaplan.

3) Honestly, yes, if your goal is a competitive residency research is going to be higher yield than board review. A publication is huge deal (though it would probably mean working part time through second year as well) and most people find studying this early not to be very high yield.

4) Really, you shouldn't have more than a week or two worth of review anyway, if you did well the first time around.

 

[Hokie06]

Thank you for your honest feedback. The reason why I decided to forgo research was because with only 2 months it would be nearly impossible to get anything published and I want to commit my entire 2nd year to just studying for classes and boards.

I received honors (top 10%) in all of my systems in the first year. But to be honest, I forgot a lot... So it makes me a little nervous. I thought a big picture review wouldn't hurt and if anything, it would help me learn it again faster during the real board study time.

When do you think I should sign up for usmle world? I've heard great things about them and was initially planning on using them as a study aid rather than test material. I guess I can go with rx with a year subscription but I heard world was the best. Would it be a bad idea to use them as a study tool?

Since we learn in systems, we have already covered a significant amount of material for path, micro, and pharm

 

[Perrotfish]

When do you think I should sign up for usmle world? I've heard great things about them and was initially planning on using them as a study aid than test material. I guess I can go with rx with a year subscription but I heard world was the best. Would it be a bad idea to use them as a study tool?

It is the best one, which is why you save it for your step rather than using it for initial test prep. I'd say buy either a 3 or 6 month subscription later on and then go through it (and maybe go through it twice) right before the exam.

I'm not saying don't review. Honestly I wish I had found the time to review more, I realized a little too late that the reason I felt like I was forgetting everything was because I WAS forgetting everything. However dedicating more than 2 weeks to this is just overkill, or at least I think so. Review is something that's going to need to happen periodically throughout your second year, not in one big block during your summer. Maybe plan for at least half of your summer to be a dedicated vacation? This is a good time to do things like travel. My first year summer got eaten up with orders from the military, but if that haden't happened I was going to spend my time wandering around Russia. You could also try a one month preceptorship in something like rural family medicine, though it might be getting a little late to apply. Missions are nice, too, or at least that's what I hear.

 

[lord_jeebus]

Even if you don't publish, any research project is going to be 100x better than studying for Step I now.

 

[hartbot]

Agreed- better off doing research and taking it easy. I know you dont want to hear that.

After MS1 I traveled, did some research, but never opened a single book.

And if you think I am sitting here, 1.5 months out of step 1, just as summer is about to start, regretting that I didn't bust my ***** the last summer studying for this test...well than you are SADLY mistaken.

 

[Dirt]

Sorry to burst your bubble but there is absolutely no reason to study for Step 1 over MS1 summer.

My personal opinion is that there is absolutely no reason to study before March of MS2 and even then only if you feel like you need it.

 

[Hokie06]

thanks for all the feedback guys. I really want to get involved in research but I feel like I missed my chance on that, since summer is only 2 weeks away. I don't mind working/helping out for free during the summer as a research assistant, does any one know how I can get involved?

also i know people advise against studying for the board over the summer, but im one of those people that really need to try to absorb the material by spending more time than others on the same material. and then when i finally absorb it for the exam, i forget everything a week later. I mean obviously i'm going to enjoy myself over the summer but since I have nothing major planned as of now, I thought it wouldnt hurt to begin board studying. I just want to have a realistic plan for the summer where I can get as much out of it as possible.

Thanks again guys for your advice. if theres anyone that can suggest a high yield method, please feel free to chime in.

 

[metalrex]

I don't mind working/helping out for free during the summer as a research assistant, does any one know how I can get involved?

.

Why not try volunteering at Unite for Sight? check out their website.There are plenty of medical mission spots in central America that you can volunteer at- and they last just couple of days-weeks, so you can tailor your study time prior to that as well.

Good luck! 👍

 

[Vergie]

I studied Biochem and Micro over summer and winter break my first year and I think it was one of the best decisions I made. It made reviewing these subjects a lot easier when board prep rolled around. I was much more confident in these areas during second year too.

Do what you think will work best for YOU.

 

[Perrotfish]

thanks for all the feedback guys. I really want to get involved in research but I feel like I missed my chance on that, since summer is only 2 weeks away. I don't mind working/helping out for free during the summer as a research assistant, does any one know how I can get involved?

also i know people advise against studying for the board over the summer, but im one of those people that really need to try to absorb the material by spending more time than others on the same material. and then when i finally absorb it for the exam, i forget everything a week later. I mean obviously i'm going to enjoy myself over the summer but since I have nothing major planned as of now, I thought it wouldnt hurt to begin board studying. I just want to have a realistic plan for the summer where I can get as much out of it as possible.

Thanks again guys for your advice. if theres anyone that can suggest a high yield method, please feel free to chime in.

I would recommend setting up meetings with whoever is in charge of research in the various surgical departments, explainin your situation, and ask them if there is anything you can do. It's probably your best bet to publish in a small amount of time, if you're willing to work for free. Avoid micro labs like the plague (pun intended), there is no chancee that you'd pubish anything in a basic science lab in just two months.

Again, I'm all for reviewing, but if it's really just review and you're not trying to learn a class you barely passed then I think that small amounts of periodic review are probably your best bet. Maybe a 2 days of review with FA and Qbank every 2 weeks?