goljan kinda a douche

[donkeyboy]

i'm sure ppl are gonna bite my head off here because basically everyone worships this guy, but ive been listening to his audio and i think he's kind of a douche. yeah, his lectures are good, but it's hard for me to listen to them because he's a prick and annoying. he asks a direct question, and when someone answers he's like, "yeah so what, give me mechanisms." why phrase the question like, "what is this?" if you want a mechanism. Plus he thinks he's funny when he's not, lame. not to mention that he thinks he has all the secrets to killing the boards and if you don't listen to him you'll fail, please egomaniac. I respect his teaching ability and knowledge, just not him as a person.

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[Buckeye(OH)]

Besides being pointless, whats the point of your post? Plenty of us have used his lectures and subsequently smoked boards.

 

[PSUtoMD]

My cat's breath smells like catfood.

 

[McGillGrad]

My cat's breath smells like catfood.

I wish my cat's breath smelled like food. He spends a lot of time licking himself "down there" ...so you know

 

[Captopril]

i'm sure ppl are gonna bite my head off here because basically everyone worships this guy, but ive been listening to his audio and i think he's kind of a douche. yeah, his lectures are good, but it's hard for me to listen to them because he's a prick and annoying. he asks a direct question, and when someone answers he's like, "yeah so what, give me mechanisms." why phrase the question like, "what is this?" if you want a mechanism. Plus he thinks he's funny when he's not, lame. not to mention that he thinks he has all the secrets to killing the boards and if you don't listen to him you'll fail, please egomaniac. I respect his teaching ability and knowledge, just not him as a person.

Read RR Path instead

 

[nlax30]

i'm sure ppl are gonna bite my head off here because basically everyone worships this guy, but ive been listening to his audio and i think he's kind of a douche. yeah, his lectures are good, but it's hard for me to listen to them because he's a prick and annoying. he asks a direct question, and when someone answers he's like, "yeah so what, give me mechanisms." why phrase the question like, "what is this?" if you want a mechanism. Plus he thinks he's funny when he's not, lame. not to mention that he thinks he has all the secrets to killing the boards and if you don't listen to him you'll fail, please egomaniac. I respect his teaching ability and knowledge, just not him as a person.

Have fun on rotations dealing with some attendings and residents out there.

 

[Gute]

He does those things to teach better. Are the jokes bad and not funny? Yes, but they helped to stick things into my mind. Did he ever ask for something and then turn the question into something different? Yes, but he is just trying to emphasize that knowing the what doesn't make up for learning the why.

In the mean time there's, no donkeydic step 1 podcasts so stop criticizing goljan and go back to studying.

 

[Bonesaw45]

As long as he doesn't make you so angry that you can't pay attention to the lectures, him pissing you off is a good thing.

Fast forward test day: This is a dumb ass question on the path of [insert topic] I'm so f---ing angry. GRrrr Oh yay goljan is a douche and pisses me off too. Huzzah I now remember all of his s---ty lectures.....Bastard. But I know the answer.

Channel your anger young padawan....I really need some sleep.

 

[ChronicAnxiety]

why phrase the question like, "what is this?" if you want a mechanism.

Son, I can tell you haven't read very many USMLE Step 1 questions.

On another note, sometimes you gotta wade through **** ******* deep to a ten foot Indian to find a diamond. But you'll learn that the hard way pretty soon.

Have fun on rotations dealing with some attendings and residents out there.

Can I get a Hallelujah?

 

[McGillGrad]

cat food

 

[Deferoxamine]

... ive been listening to his audio and i think he's kind of a douche... Plus he thinks he's funny when he's not, lame. not to mention that he thinks he has all the secrets to killing the boards and if you don't listen to him you'll fail, please egomaniac...

THIS.

Just buy the RR Path review book. Then you won't have him chewing your ear off about interleukin-8 while you're in respiratory arrest on that last 0.1-mile sprint at the gym.

 

[kryptik]

Those tapes were not even meant to be out so if you are lucky to have gotten your hands on them, dealing with his not so funny jokes is a small price to pay. A few of the jokes are indeed funny.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

If he bugs you, don't listen to him. You don't have to listen to Goljan or even use RR to do well on step 1. I did well and never listened to a single Goljan audio. I used RR for my path class but didn't use it for Step 1 studying. Goljan's great for lots of people, but if he's not your style, it's OK.

 

[Pinkertinkle]

most of his jokes are hilarious, methinks the OP "is kinda a douche."

 

[Captopril]

most of his jokes are hilarious, methinks the OP "is kinda a douche."

I think what the OP means is that Goljan comes off kind of condescending during his lectures.

"I mean duhhhhhh".

 

[PSUtoMD]

I never knew med students were so sensitive.

 

[McGillGrad]

Since a cat's tongue is rough, why would it lick itself down there?

 

[sd1984]

I think what the OP means is that Goljan comes off kind of condescending during his lectures.

"I mean duhhhhhh".

"lets play odds guys"
"he must have rocks in his head"

 

[McGillGrad]

 

[McGillGrad]

 

[VoiceofReason]

he really does have annoying mannerisms and hes not funny

but im not sure why it warranted a post

 

[Mehrdad1]

YHBT!

 

[braddMD]

lisa needs braces

 

[devilpup]

Goljan is a Master. Period. I'm grasshopper.

 

[smiley737]

If he bugs you, don't listen to him. You don't have to listen to Goljan or even use RR to do well on step 1. I did well and never listened to a single Goljan audio. I used RR for my path class but didn't use it for Step 1 studying. Goljan's great for lots of people, but if he's not your style, it's OK.

agree. You don't have to listen to his lectures to do well on the boards. The most important thing is to do lots of questions from good question banks - active learning > passive listening/reading.

 

[Deferoxamine]

lisa needs braces

 

[TPBC]

I think Goljan presents the stuff in a rather entertaining manner. He has a rather sinister laugh and his jokes aren't too bad. I have listened to others who are so boring...

The only thing that bothers me about Goljan is, at times, he sounds a little like Joe Pesci!!

 

[Dirt]

I agree...he's a douche. Frankly some of the people in this thread defending him just solidify his doucheness. His material is pretty good though so in the end he just one talented douche in a sea of millions.

 

[psychobob]

There's actually a transcript of his audio floating around, which omits his jokes and ramblings. But I enjoy those, sometimes.

 

[turkeyjerky]

So I'm listening to goljan for the first time as I write this, and I have to agree--the guy does definitely seem like a douche. BUT, he is an amazing teacher--far, far better than any I've had thus far.

 

[vök]

Did RR go out of print for a while? I thought I remembered seeing crazy asking prices for it on Ebay and amazon.

 

[USArmyDoc]

I think he is great and I enjoyed his lectures. They helped solidify the information I learned from his book. I don't see why someone would feel the need to start a thread on this. He jokes around and it helps things stick in your mind.

He is not a douche.....perhaps you are the douche?

 

[nshams]

he is super nasaly & he just comes off with a superior attitude -but whatever - it's better than not having him

 

[USArmyDoc]

I have to listen to his lectures again because I didn't pick up on his superior attitude.

 

[spicedmanna]

he is super nasaly & he just comes off with a superior attitude -but whatever - it's better than not having him

I don't know what the hell you guys are talking about. Goljan basically taught me pathology. I think I would have failed the boards without his help.

Also, he didn't seem to have a "superior attitude" to me and he wasn't, to my recollection seriously "cocky" or anything. I mean he joked and clowned around a lot. Maybe some of you are making too much out of that. I actually thought he was rather humble. I mean he dishes it out in a humorous way, but he also turns that onto himself, too. Basically, I think his style really helped to solidify the information for me.

 

[USArmyDoc]

I don't know what the hell you guys are talking about. Goljan basically taught me pathology. I think I would have failed the boards without his help.

Also, he didn't seem to have a "superior attitude" to me and he wasn't, to my recollection seriously "cocky" or anything. I mean he joked and clowned around a lot. Maybe some of you are making too much out of that. I actually thought he was rather humble. I mean he dishes it out in a humorous way, but he also turns that onto himself, too. Basically, I think his style really helped to solidify the information for me.

Same here......I found him to be humble to.

 

[McGillGrad]

Using pop-psych, I would venture to say that anyone who has a visceral reaction to Poppy is a product of an abusive environment involving an authoritarian father figure who emasculated the young boy who now transfers his inadequacies on any male authority figure who exerts confidence in a situation that threatens the young man's fragile ego. ...like Poppy does with teaching pathology...

 

[spicedmanna]

Using pop-psych, I would venture to say that anyone who has a visceral reaction to Poppy is a product of an abusive environment involving an authoritarian father figure who emasculated the young boy who now transfers his inadequacies on any male authority figure who exerts confidence in a situation that threatens the young man's fragile ego. ...like Poppy does with teaching pathology...

Sure, whatever. It works.

 

[Deferoxamine]

This created quite a stir:

 

[Mehrdad1]

This created quite a stir:

 

[NRAI2001]

Using pop-psych, I would venture to say that anyone who has a visceral reaction to Poppy is a product of an abusive environment involving an authoritarian father figure who emasculated the young boy who now transfers his inadequacies on any male authority figure who exerts confidence in a situation that threatens the young man's fragile ego. ...like Poppy does with teaching pathology...

More cat jokes....give us more cat jokes.

DAMIT!!! MORE CAT JOKES..

 

[sebsvenmdc]

i'm sure ppl are gonna bite my head off here because basically everyone worships this guy, but ive been listening to his audio and i think he's kind of a douche. yeah, his lectures are good, but it's hard for me to listen to them because he's a prick and annoying. he asks a direct question, and when someone answers he's like, "yeah so what, give me mechanisms." why phrase the question like, "what is this?" if you want a mechanism. Plus he thinks he's funny when he's not, lame. not to mention that he thinks he has all the secrets to killing the boards and if you don't listen to him you'll fail, please egomaniac. I respect his teaching ability and knowledge, just not him as a person.

I think your post should help you learn something about yourself...you're very irritable. And guess what, that also irritates people. Get ready for rotations, you're going to have deal with some very difficult people. Learn to give people space and put up with things that rub you the wrong way. You would be surprised at how some aspects of your personality rub others the wrong way too.

 

[physics junkie]

Goljan didn't give those lectures with the intention of them being pirated and put online. All of his statements about how great his course is just him 'inspiring confidence' in his students. They already paid for Falcon or whatever test prep company he was with at the time. He's just letting them think they got their money's worth. If you don't praise the curriculum your students won't follow it. They will take the course and ignore the material.

On a side note, I quit teaching the MCAT for Kaplan because they pushed me too hard to to sell the Kaplan brand during my lectures. I was constantly blasted for not saying, "knowing ___ will translate to points on the MCAT". They loved that phrase. You also had to say "test day" quite a bit to keep students focused on test day. People who take prep courses are of a certain breed and eat that kind of **** up. After my first week at Kaplan I had a student file a complaint because I was saying "This is how I would do it..". The student's complaint was that they didn't care how I do it, they paid to learn how Kaplan thinks you should solve the problem. After that I feel kind of sick when I hear Goljan using the same techniques.

 

[McGillGrad]

More cat jokes....give us more cat jokes.

DAMIT!!! MORE CAT JOKES..

 

[NRAI2001]

Goljan has a lot of material in his book !!! I was wondering is it necessary to know all of that material to do well (230+); obviously the more the better. But is it one of those situations where they throw more info than actually you actually need to know for the STEP... like as in an over-prepared is better than underprepared mentality?

 

[godson]

 

[v-lander]

This thread has become pretty comical. I have a legit question, though. These Goljan audio lectures that are supposedly floating around - were/are these copyrighted/protected proprietary material? Are they available somewhere for purchase? Just wondering. Thanks

 

[RunwayModel]

i'm sure ppl are gonna bite my head off here because basically everyone worships this guy, but ive been listening to his audio and i think he's kind of a douche. yeah, his lectures are good, but it's hard for me to listen to them because he's a prick and annoying. he asks a direct question, and when someone answers he's like, "yeah so what, give me mechanisms." why phrase the question like, "what is this?" if you want a mechanism. Plus he thinks he's funny when he's not, lame. not to mention that he thinks he has all the secrets to killing the boards and if you don't listen to him you'll fail, please egomaniac. I respect his teaching ability and knowledge, just not him as a person.

Wow, if that's from an audio, I can imagine what you'll say about residents/attendings in Surgery and OB-Gyn. You definitely won't make it out of medical school alive with your mindset.

 

[Mehrdad1]

This thread has become pretty comical. I have a legit question, though. These Goljan audio lectures that are supposedly floating around - were/are these copyrighted/protected proprietary material? Are they available somewhere for purchase? Just wondering. Thanks

Years ago, Dr. Goljan was one of the professors that used to teach pathology for Kaplan. Dr. Goljan no longer works for Kaplan, choosing to now work for their competitor, Falcon, instead.

The now-infamous "Goljan audio," was stolen from one of his Kaplan live lectures. Kaplan USMLE lectures are not allowed to be recorded or reproduced by students in any manner. Someone illegally recorded him as he was lecturing. They are believed to have been recorded sometime in 2002. These audio files were never available in any legal manner. All of Kaplan's lectures are copyrighted, and protected by law. Even the additional handouts that they may give out in class, are copyrighted. Whether the lectures are available for free or for purchase is a moot point, as they are illegal plain and simple. In other words, we can't and won't help you locate them.

I swear, I'm going to submit this as an article to Wikipedia, so that people stop asking this question on here.

 

[hellomate]

I think Goljan presents the stuff in a rather entertaining manner. He has a rather sinister laugh and his jokes aren't too bad. I have listened to others who are so boring...

The only thing that bothers me about Goljan is, at times, he sounds a little like Joe Pesci!!

Yep.... I think the guy is awesome.