Going to a true pass/fail school this fall....did you feel prepared for steps ?

[applemac123]

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Thoughts?

 

[Laryngophed]

Yep.

 

[dr seuss]

It is easier to prepare for Step 1 at a P/F school.

 

[Laryngophed]

It is easier to prepare for Step 1 at a P/F school.

Nope. Methinks that Step One is Step One no matter where you go to school. My school has plenty of built-in unstructured time and that combined with our curriculum is probably why we do well. But the amount of material is the same.

 

[WaylonS]

I think the P/F helped, but for me, I think the best thing my school did was give us adequate time off to prepare for Step 1

 

[mimelim]

Nope. Methinks that Step One is Step One no matter where you go to school. My school has plenty of built-in unstructured time and that combined with our curriculum is probably why we do well. But the amount of material is the same.

P/F helps a certain sub-section of the medical school population at a given school. It doesn't benefit everyone.

 

[chronicidal]

This is also my hypothesis. Studies demonstrates that changing to P/F doesn't change step 1 averages. But it's possible that half of students (say, those who are more externally motivated) would score lower under P/F while the other half of students (say, those who find the stress of grades counterproductive and sufficiently motivate themselves to study the high yield things) would score higher under P/F.

 

[CodeBlu]

This is also my hypothesis. Studies demonstrates that changing to P/F doesn't change step 1 averages. But it's possible that half of students (say, those who are more externally motivated) would score lower under P/F while the other half of students (say, those who find the stress of grades counterproductive and sufficiently motivate themselves to study the high yield things) would score higher under P/F.

While my school is a true pass/fail curriculum, I still like getting a good grade.
The worst feeling is when you put in a lot of work for an exam and you don't do well. That's the worst. Whereas, if you slacked and you got away with a halfway decent grade, you'd be pretty happy.

I remember not studying at all for one of my exams last semester. There was literally no time to do so. Somehow, I managed to get the highest mark on that exam. So don't ask how that happened.

The reason I think pass/fail works, is because you learn what you need to learn to treat patients. As far as Step I is concerned, from what I've been told... you study the high yield first aid stuff, do a bunch of questions, read up on some weak areas and crush the exam.

 

[Laryngophed]

P/F helps a certain sub-section of the medical school population at a given school. It doesn't benefit everyone.

I didn't mean to insinuate that it did, but if my school's education office is to be believe, we have a mean somewhere between 10-15 points above the average on any given year. I suspect that this is because our P/F grading system and PBL curriculum offer lots of unstructured time - meaning more time for Step 1 prep. I don't believe it inherently makes us smarter, but gives us more time to prepare for the exam.



And maybe it makes us smarter. 😉

 

[CodeBlu]

I didn't mean to insinuate that it did, but if my school's education office is to be believe, we have a mean somewhere between 10-15 points above the average on any given year. I suspect that this is because our P/F grading system and PBL curriculum offer lots of unstructured time - meaning more time for Step 1 prep. I don't believe it inherently makes us smarter, but gives us more time to prepare for the exam.



And maybe it makes us smarter. 😉

I do think that the more time you have for step I doesn't necessarily correlate with performance.

Most people study for 4-6 weeks on average and at a maximum 8 weeks. And they crush the exam. Personally I'm planning on reading through first aid once when I'm M2. Then setting aside 6 weeks to study, while doing tons of practice questions.

 

[blebb]

P/F > grades

/thread

 

[Wordead]

I do think that the more time you have for step I doesn't necessarily correlate with performance.

Most people study for 4-6 weeks on average and at a maximum 8 weeks. And they crush the exam. Personally I'm planning on reading through first aid once when I'm M2. Then setting aside 6 weeks to study, while doing tons of practice questions.

More time during THE YEAR, not dedicated step time. AKA don't have to roll into stupid mandatory sessions or spend time learning drugs that by their own admission are no longer used so why the fkkk are you testing me on this?

My school was pretty good about limiting it, but there was still a lot of BS filler that I wish I could've ignored. Sadly, we have honors and you need a few for AoA.

 

[Morsetlis]

The worst feeling is when you put in a lot of work for an exam and you don't do well. That's the worst.

It's the same for anything in life, really.

While my GPA matters for diddly squat, it's still fun to put all of yourself into whatever you do. 🙂

 

[normtheniner]

We have very little time built in during the year to study step 1 stuff... By our dedicated 5-7 weeks I'll have had the chance to read through the systems portion of FA. I'm hoping the fact that I destroyed both semesters of micro (and the fact that we even have micro for two semesters) will help me not to freak out when I review micro in May for step.

With all that said, our school is ABCF grading. I use the grading system to know whether or not I've mastered that material, I try not to get to bogged down in grades... but at the same time if I get a C on something I assume that means I didn't learn that topic as well as I should have and its gonna make board review time suck even more.

 

[Lolscan]

Thoughts?

I went to a pass fail school. Your board score is more of a reflection of your own individual effort than the school's grading/education.

 

[blebb]

I went to a pass fail school. Your board score is more of a reflection of your own individual effort than the school's grading/education.

#truth

First two years of school are a scam. Focus on step prep.