Focus on boards or school materials?

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tsmleague

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Hello all,

Incoming ms 1 with a traditional curriculum. I was wondering if I should focus mainly on class material to study all the minutiae (and top class rank)

Or if it’s better to study boards with class and just focus on passing my classes
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tsmleague said:
Hello all,

Incoming ms 1 with a traditional curriculum. I was wondering if I should focus mainly on class material to study all the minutiae (and top class rank)

Or if it’s better to study boards with class and just focus on passing my classes
Click to expand...
Don’t worry about boards until at least end of second semester. You’ll burn out
 
Once you’ve adjusted to the workload of lecture + anatomy + OMM + clinical skills class: first pass with Boards and Beyond for big picture/key takeaways, Anki (either Zanki or Lightyear) for spaced repetition, then class lectures on 2-3x speed for detailed, professor-specific things. Start cementing true understand and building good habits early on. Don’t see it as a dichotomy as studying for boards vs. studying for class. That’s what a lot of people do and they think they don’t have time to “study for boards”. Reviewing the relevant topics on Boards and Beyond prior to the corresponding lectures will help both with class and (more importantly) down the road. That is studying smart (efficient). But definitely take time to adjust the first couple months or so and don’t burn yourself out. However, the earlier you establish a good routine like the above, the better. Good luck and enjoy!
 
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tsmleague said:
Hello all,

Incoming ms 1 with a traditional curriculum. I was wondering if I should focus mainly on class material to study all the minutiae (and top class rank)

Or if it’s better to study boards with class and just focus on passing my classes
Click to expand...
You shouldn't be thinking about Boards until Xmas OMSII. In a traditional curriculum, you simply won't' have the context to start learning about Axis II disorders or STIs.
 
You can do both.
I used powerpoints + sketchy and pathoma to supplement my OMS1 year so really only for 3 classes was I doing boards studying (micro, pharm, path). I guess anatomy you could use BnB, I did that a few times but not consistently like the former mentioned.

Didn't start really studying for boards til summer - crushed all sketchy micro and pharm.
This block, I'll just be crushing the Pepper anki decks that correlate.
Block 6 I'm thinking start going back thru pathoma vids.
Def need to implement Q's sooner, rather than later as well.

...

Sry if this is overload, just thought you may benefit from hearing another game plan perspective.
 
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I'd suggest focusing on your classes, learning the material from lecture powerpoints forward and backward. You may want to supplement some of your learning with FA here and there, but I wouldn't stress a lot about it. Then Thanksgiving break OMSII come up with a study plan that you'll begin around Christmas break OMSII.
 
My strategy so far has just been to focus mostly on class.

But also do the Boards and Beyond/Sketchy/Pathoma videos that correspond to what we're learning and then unsuspend those cards from the Lightyear and Pepper decks and start doing them for board prep. It comes out to 30-40 cards a day which puts me on track to mature both decks by dedicated. Since the anki cards correspond to what I'm learning you do exam prep and board prep at the same time. The B&B videos give you good compartmentalization for which cards to unsuspend based on class topics.
 
tsmleague said:
Hello all,

Incoming ms 1 with a traditional curriculum. I was wondering if I should focus mainly on class material to study all the minutiae (and top class rank)

Or if it’s better to study boards with class and just focus on passing my classes
Click to expand...
Dont forget that a good board score only gets you a look by a program. Its only one aspect of your application. It's not a birthright to matching. I used to always look at class rank, and research along with any service or leadership roles. Who do you think gets picked ? Candidates with good board score and bottom third rank, or good score and upper third rank?
High boards and low grades are a red flag for me. Possibly bright and lazy student. A resident is with your program for at least 3 yrs. No one wants to hire a lazy resident who might not be a team player. So, the old adage is true. Everything is important.
 
Angus Avagadro said:
Dont forget that a good board score only gets you a look by a program. Its only one aspect of your application. It's not a birthright to matching. I used to always look at class rank, and research along with any service or leadership roles. Who do you think gets picked ? Candidates with good board score and bottom third rank, or good score and upper third rank?
High boards and low grades are a red flag for me. Possibly bright and lazy student. A resident is with your program for at least 3 yrs. No one wants to hire a lazy resident who might not be a team player. So, the old adage is true. Everything is important.
Click to expand...

But the real question is which one matters more, your class rank or your board scores? I'm guessing it's the latter when it comes down to it. Depending on the curriculum it isn't always feasible to focus on crushing your class exams while paying due respects to board-relevant studying. I think I'm lucky in that my school does what appears to be a good job of supplying lectures that will be pertinent to boards, but that may not always be the case.
 
Hippocrates II said:
But the real question is which one matters more, your class rank or your board scores? I'm guessing it's the latter when it comes down to it. Depending on the curriculum it isn't always feasible to focus on crushing your class exams while paying due respects to board-relevant studying. I think I'm lucky in that my school does what appears to be a good job of supplying lectures that will be pertinent to boards, but that may not always be the case.
Click to expand...
We all know from PD surveys that board scores are pretty much the top discriminating factor. I think focusing only on boards at the expense of classwork is a risky proposition for the reasons I mentioned. Lots of students with perfect SATs dont get into Harvard. Boards are weighed heavier than class rank from surveys, but are not the only metric in ranking an applicant.
 
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I would honestly recommend doing boards and beyond, sketchy, and pathoma as first pass and then read the lecture powerpoints before the exam +/- anki stuff if you're into that
 
I wrote a long AMA/Write up after I got my COMLEX score back today on Reddit about what I did here: AMA and Write Up for COMLEX/Step 1

Basically do both like AnatomyGrey said. They aren't mutually exclusive, but understanding where the gaps are in your curriculum is important. For example, if your pharm education isn't great then make sure you're taking 3rd party resources more seriously. I focused mostly on unique questions throughout M2 as both board study and class tools and it served me well.

It's a good rule of thumb that if you're struggling in classes, then focus more on classes. If you don't have a good study plan or understanding of how you learn during M1-2, then assuming you'll gain those skills in dedicated is a fool's errand. That's why I like questions, because it is evaluating how well you're retaining the info throughout the year.
 
pseud0 said:
I would honestly recommend doing boards and beyond, sketchy, and pathoma as first pass and then read the lecture powerpoints before the exam +/- anki stuff if you're into that
Click to expand...

Second. This is a common move and worked for me. I relied less on BnB but it's a great resource, especially for things like Cardiology physiology where schools do not explain it to a level needed for success on UW or boards.
 
tsmleague said:
Hello all,

Incoming ms 1 with a traditional curriculum. I was wondering if I should focus mainly on class material to study all the minutiae (and top class rank)

Or if it’s better to study boards with class and just focus on passing my classes
Click to expand...
If all you focus on is the material your school puts out you’ll have huge knowledge gaps come board prep time. Don’t need to kill yourself but take the time to read textbooks or watch Physeo / BnB along with classes. You’ll be shocked at how many points your school will miss along the way
 
DrStephenStrange said:
Focusing on school IS focusing on boards. What are you talking about?
Click to expand...
Exactly. SDN loves to preach "either boards or school". Its not like schools are actively trying to screw their students over. That would make zero sense. Just supplement class lectures with FA/B&B/Pathoma and you'll be fine. Using those sources helped me a good amount in my classwork as well
 
DrStephenStrange said:
Focusing on school IS focusing on boards. What are you talking about?
Click to expand...
Yeah but if you’re not supplementing school studies with board materials to augment your learning you’ll be missing out on a lot of material.
 
tsmleague said:
Hello all,

Incoming ms 1 with a traditional curriculum. I was wondering if I should focus mainly on class material to study all the minutiae (and top class rank)

Or if it’s better to study boards with class and just focus on passing my classes
Click to expand...


I am a huge fan of using something like BNB from the beginning. I wouldn't start doing practice questions until second year, but for sure add in BNB with classes. You can easily throw in an hour of BNB on the topics you are studying in class.

Obviously, don't get carried away going into pathology in BNB during first year, but you could atleast use his physiology, pharm, and anatomy teaching to help during courses.

I wish I could go back and use the biochem section during the start of my first year.
 
Chibucks15 said:
Exactly. SDN loves to preach "either boards or school". Its not like schools are actively trying to screw their students over. That would make zero sense. Just supplement class lectures with FA/B&B/Pathoma and you'll be fine. Using those sources helped me a good amount in my classwork as well
Click to expand...

I thought DO schools generally preach the comlex and tailer the curriculum towards that. So wouldnt a lot of step 1 material get sabotaged?
 
You're better off asking this question to your upperclassmen who did well on boards at your school because different schools have different setups. Some schools already heavily integrate board materials into their curriculum while others don't so it doesn't make sense to pose this question on a forum where anyone from any school can answer.
 
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