Goljan good for usmle or not?

[roady]

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Hey Gang,

I am taking the USMLE smack-down in a measly 6 weeks. I have these Goljan audio/notes/questions that are about 40 hours of audible talks & 100s of pages of notes/questions. It'll take a lot of time to go through all that!

Then there's First Aid. And QBank. And all the BRS and other BS (I don't mean Behavioral Science). So I'm trying to figure out how to do the highest- yield study schedule with the aforementioned resources at my disposal.

I hope I'm not missing some post on this elsewhere--if so, please advise!
Otherwise, please help me out if you've already taken the USMLE and used GOLGJAN--especieally in regard to these questions:
Did he help? Are his 40 hours of audio high-yield--or is it the notes--or the questions--or none of the above!? How did you study Goljan--was it worth the effort???

Also, please let me know if you think--as some have alluded--that the "USMLE is on to Goljan", or if you really found his stuff useful.

IF you feel like it, rank the resources like this (my guess)--and please your experiences are more than welcome if they were limited to only 2 or 3 of the 4 resources as well:
1)QBank
2)FA
3)Goljan
4)BRS etc

6 freakin' weaks to conquer all of medicine. Geeeeeeeezzzzzz. Thank you for your help--and good luck on getting those fat scores back!!! 😍

Best,
Roady

 

[DrSmiles]

Goljan material was a huge help, especially his audio lectures if you have them. There was specific stuff on the exam that he said we had to know cold, and he was dead on. I even had a couple of questions that I didn't review as much and I was saying to myself, he told us to know it and I didn't listen to him! Luckily that was only one or two questions. His stuff is right on though- if you have time to review his material, I highly recommend it.

 

[JohnnyVegas]

Are these things available in school bookstores or do you have to order them online? Thanks.

 

[roady]

Dr. Smiles,

Thank you, and smiles to you--but a wicked scowl for the USMLE.

About Goljan: Which part of Goljan's stuff do you recommend? You mentioned the audio, but what about the tons of notes & questions--anything in particular you could recommend as best??

I appreciate your input. I guess the USMLE is not "onto Goljan"! BTW, doesn't he teach at your school? Thank you.

P.S. About the notes & audio--if you go to Ebay & type "Goljan", you should see some things available. I don't think they're available elsewhere (live?).

Anymore opinions/ratings out there!? Lay 'em on me, all you recently finished lucky son-of-a-guns!

 

[Jalby]

My opinion of the things that helped me the most with Path:

BRS Path
Qbank
Robbins review of Pathology
Pathcards
Webpath (to much information. Got bored because I felt like I already knew the info)
Robbins Pathological Basis of Disease (wish I could have these 60 hours back)
And then a distant 7th: class

 

[DrMom]

BTW, doesn't he teach at your school? Thank you.

No, he teaches at mine 🙂

 

[roady]

Hey Jalby--

Thanks a lot from what appears to be your USMLE-break-posted (or was it 1 hr until the test) reply: now that's dedication to SDN!!! Seriously, I appreciate it immensely since being in the middle of the test would probably lead to the most intimate sense of what helped...and what didn't. Hope you are doing great--a feeling few have after leaving, it's true.

I did notice that First Aid and Step Up were not on your list of most useful path-only resources (..yes, you sure do like path!). Was it just a test-stress induced omission, or did you feel they were lacking compared to the resources you did list? Did you check out Goljan and pass on him too? Why??

Just in case you have the post-test blahs like 95% of folks: after reading of your intense preparations elsewhere, I know I would at least take comfort in that I had done most everything humanly possible to prepare if I was you. Best wishes, Jalby.

Oh, OK Dr. Mom--I guess you're lucky to have him then. Any other thoughts from SDNERs on Goljan good/bad points after taking the USMLE--and ranking your best resources otherwise with 20/20 hindsight?? Thanx?! 😱

 

[barone ROCKS]

i know its a little off the topic but i have heard a lot about these goljan lectures....does anyone know where i can get them from?

thanks

 

[Stinger86]

Hey Jalby--

Thanks a lot from what appears to be your USMLE-break-posted (or was it 1 hr until the test) reply: now that's dedication to SDN!!!

Jalby won't admit it, but it's really a serious addiction problem. Everyone here at SDN is planning a huge intervention sometime soon.

 

[Jalby]

Jalby won't admit it, but it's really a serious addiction problem. Everyone here at SDN is planning a huge intervention sometime soon.

Surgery will cure me of that. And living next to the beach and plenty of hot women. Right now, I'm just chillin in Redlands waiting for my friends to take the test.

 

[roady]

Bu-bump.

It seems like not many use Goljan out there. Just 1 lone comment that Goljan's audio was helpful. Period. Hmmm. I'm beginning to get the feeling that Goljan's material has a popularity that's only marginal with SDN users. Saw another site (prep4usmle or something like this) a while ago where he was much more popular--lots of IMGs there. You'd think they wouldn't like him with his Brooklyn accent and quick talking as opposed to a text you could read. Or maybe that's the allure: "if only I could hear what he was saying and understand it--therein lies the USMLE Golden Grail!"

I don't know...I'm beginning to think of Goljan as an SDN darkhorse/2nd tier resource. If only by virtue of the fringe popularity he has here--on a par with the likes of Pathophysiology For Boards And Wards (or perhaps lower).

So it seems everyones loves: FA, QBANK, BRS PATH & PHYS, BRS or HiYld BS

Then you hear about Micro Made Ridiculously, Step Up, and maybe even Pathophysi Fo' Wisi' (that's Snoop Dog on Pathophys For The Birds & Girls--or whatever that title).

And then Goljan--mentioned rarely. So maybe he's just a 3d tier--at least on SDN. Why am I so obsessed w/ DrG..? Maybe because I like how he explains shis nit (more Snoop for ya'll)--it all makes sense, but it seems like I never ever heard the "Why" behind the "What" in the 2 years I was forced to cram this shi-at (not Snoop, but ME) before. It's like what I've been trying to learn about in terms of what's going on behind the scenes. So I'm just a little (a lot) concerned wether I'm not going down the wrong path getting all these great in-depth explanations, while losing something (volume??) another source would provide.

I got 5 weeks left. I'm sweatin' like a lot of other posters. I'm sleeping crazy hours. Or not--sleeping, that is. I hope I pass this pain in the spazz. This is a test of nerves among other shi-at. Oh well--your thoughts are appreciated! Now it's time to stop procrastinating, and start studying.


P.S. From Left Field: Snoop Dog has to be the UGG-LEE-EST dud I've never seen. And his popularity is as much a mystery to me as...as...well--USMLE scoring and reporting!? I'd rather be "Suckin' on gin with my mind on my money and my money up my a$$" right now (or whatever he says) though. Damn--I'm just jealous, truth be told! 😡 Peace, Snoop Frog 😱