FA first run through in a week?

[ahowardmd]

Hey guys,

So I'm less prepared than a good deal of the posters on SDN, just wondering if you think this is doable. I'm about 6 weeks out from my Step 1, and I can't start DIT until a week from now.

I tried to focus mostly on classes during the year so I'm in the situation where I haven't even touched First Aid yet. Is it possible to do a first pass of FA in one week? It's a thick book, kind of intimidating. I was thinking I'll use next week to do a first run though of FA, then hit the books hard when my DIT access opens up. Thoughts?

 

[swamprat]

I think it'll be tough but prob doable.. I think it's def more doable when you've been through the book and everything looks familiar.. that first I read a section def was more slow..but you have 6 weeks I don't think you need to rush yourself.

 

[shan564]

If I tried to do FA in a week when I first started my study block, I would have failed miserably.

But if I tried to do it now, I'm pretty sure it would be a fairly manageable task.

In other words, it depends on how well you know the material already.

 

[AndyRSC]

It's a perfectly doable task, where speed of run-through will be inversely proportional to comprehension and retention. FA is the highest-yield (passive learning) source there is, so reading for quality rather than speed - regardless of whether or not you make the deadline - is what I'd recommend.

 

[mdeast]

It took me about 3 weeks to go through First Aid on my first pass after not having really touched it. I'm on my second pass and have just about finished in 8 days. 3rd pass I'm hoping even less time, focusing more on my weak points. For me, given that many of these subjects are from first year (i.e. Micro/Immuno/Biochem/Molecular Bio/etc. the fact is that you're probably not going to remember them very well. I personally think 1 week is too short. You will have to go through it continuously to make sure you learn your weaknesses and retain your strengths. It's VERY easy to forget things very quickly given how much information there is to learn.

In other words, it'll depend on how comfortable you are with the material. I think it's better to spend quality time with the book than just making sure you get through it.

 

[johndoe3344]

I gave myself two weeks to get through FA the first time around, and I wasn't able to get through all of it. I have zero long term memory though, so YMMV.

 

[missmedschool]

If I tried to do FA in a week when I first started my study block, I would have failed miserably.

But if I tried to do it now, I'm pretty sure it would be a fairly manageable task.

In other words, it depends on how well you know the material already.

Ditto. The first time I went through it took f o r e v er. I think if you're trying to go through it at first 2 weeks may be more manageable. I can't even imagine trying to go through all of it in 1 week. Plus, you may not really be learning the info because you may be going through it too fast. After the first pass, it takes a significantly smaller amount of time to go through it. So I think the first pass should be slow and methodical; after that, you pace will speed up considerably.

 

[ahowardmd]

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking about it today, and I might see if I can just get through the Part 1 of DIT this coming week. I never really had time for it this year, but it's designed to give you most of a first pass through FA. 34 sets of questions, 15 Q's per set...should be more manageable than trying to read it cover to cover.

 

[shan564]

Thanks for the feedback. I was thinking about it today, and I might see if I can just get through the Part 1 of DIT this coming week. I never really had time for it this year, but it's designed to give you most of a first pass through FA. 34 sets of questions, 15 Q's per set...should be more manageable than trying to read it cover to cover.

You should definitely do Part 1 of DIT before doing Part 2. That's probably the fastest way to prepare yourself for Part 2 of the course... it'll still be hard to get through Part 2 if you haven't done a full pass of FA, but doing all of Part 1 will make a big difference.

 

[mdeast]

You should definitely do Part 1 of DIT before doing Part 2. That's probably the fastest way to prepare yourself for Part 2 of the course... it'll still be hard to get through Part 2 if you haven't done a full pass of FA, but doing all of Part 1 will make a big difference.

How are the DIT videos on 1.5x speed?

Especially considering I've been through First Aid 2x already.

I have 3.5 weeks to my exam...and I was thinking about just getting it and trying to go through it in 15 days. leaving about a week to go through First Aid one more time on my own. But, I think that will largely depend on how my practice exam goes tomorrow and whether or not I'm making good progress on my own.

 

[Phloston]

My first pass took me a tad bit over 3 weeks at 8-12 hrs/day (I'm also the type of person who likes to reproduce a page at least 3x by memory before I feel comfortable moving on). Regardless as to whether that was fast or slow, it was tough to gauge how much I had actually retained until I went back to USMLE Rx and my %s had jumped from the high-60s to high-80s.

 

[shan564]

How are the DIT videos on 1.5x speed?

Especially considering I've been through First Aid 2x already.

I have 3.5 weeks to my exam...and I was thinking about just getting it and trying to go through it in 15 days. leaving about a week to go through First Aid one more time on my own. But, I think that will largely depend on how my practice exam goes tomorrow and whether or not I'm making good progress on my own.

I go through all of them at 1.5x speed, and I'm still just barely staying on track with the 15-day schedule. I usually take one day every week to review, catch up, do 100-200 questions, and not touch the DIT videos... but aside from that, all I'm doing is watching 10-12 DIT lectures a day and doing 25-50 questions on most days.

But I only finished one pass of FA (and Pathoma) along with the Part 1 questions before I started, so you might be able to go through it faster than I do. Plus, I'm guessing that you probably have a stronger foundation than I do, based on reading some of your other posts.

 

[Pills Of Soap]

If youve looked at FA along with your classes, I feel like you can read FA in a week pretty easily

 

[mdeast]

I go through all of them at 1.5x speed, and I'm still just barely staying on track with the 15-day schedule. I usually take one day every week to review, catch up, do 100-200 questions, and not touch the DIT videos... but aside from that, all I'm doing is watching 10-12 DIT lectures a day and doing 25-50 questions on most days.

But I only finished one pass of FA (and Pathoma) along with the Part 1 questions before I started, so you might be able to go through it faster than I do. Plus, I'm guessing that you probably have a stronger foundation than I do, based on reading some of your other posts.

I think my worry is that I have a very good conceptual foundation. I've been through Pathoma 2-3x and our course directors were good about making sure we understood things from a global standpoint.

I'm just really bad at memorizing things- i.e. drugs, bugs, etc. So I'm worried that DIT may not really be what I need.

Downloaded an extensive mnemonics list and I think this might be the better bet for me to get my scores up.