Gunner Training?

[hope2bpaindoc]

A

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[ipizzy]

Definitely did. Sounds like a good plan. Bank/master GT, then move to everything else.

Curious, will you work GT all the way to May or will you abandon it?

I'll definitely stick with GT through June. Once you stop banking cards the number of questions per day falls to a very reasonable ~100, which doesn't take too much time and it's super helpful for keeping on top of the material I think

 

[Zarika]

The server isn't working for me again. They're super good about fixing it promptly when I email them, but honestly I feel like lately it's been broken about once every week or two. When I sit down to do the flashcards, it's because I have time then, not later in the day when it's fixed. Plus I banked a lot of cards over break, so right now I have high daily totals and missing a day is going to make tomorrow suck.

 

[secants]

I'm also having server issues. Sometimes when I individually try to do my review questions by subject, it comes. Try doing that.

 

[PeterParker7]

Seems extremely low yield to know the 6 muscles of the larynx, functions, and locations...

surprisingly, i had a question using this info on UWorld today. the more UWorld i do, the more i trust GT. currently, i am around 75% banked with 50% mastery on comprehensive mode (i started beginning of summer to bank all of M1 and have been doing M2 concurrently with class, but then filling in all the gaps my classes don't cover). i'm planning on finish banking all of GT by march, along with my first pass on UWorld with annotations. so far, GT is nothing but gold. i only wish i had more GT to bank for the random little tidbits that aren't in it that are in FA or in UW.

 

[kaleerkalut]

surprisingly, i had a question using this info on UWorld today. the more UWorld i do, the more i trust GT. currently, i am around 75% banked with 50% mastery on comprehensive mode (i started beginning of summer to bank all of M1 and have been doing M2 concurrently with class, but then filling in all the gaps my classes don't cover). i'm planning on finish banking all of GT by march, along with my first pass on UWorld with annotations. so far, GT is nothing but gold. i only wish i had more GT to bank for the random little tidbits that aren't in it that are in FA or in UW.

I'd appreciate anybody's input:

I'm about 4 months out from Step 1 and everybody around me keeps ranting and raving about GT. Should I start this now? I'm not sure what to do. My original plan was to go through Pathoma in each M2 system followed by Goljan 2x and then First Aid. I went through most of the Kaplan Lecture Notes already (but admittedly I forgot a lot of the Biochem and Molecular Bio). Thanks to all of you in this great community

 

[Bernoull]

Perhaps you can start banking you weakest areas with GT and work up to your strongest, time permitting...

Did you watch the Kaplan vids or you just read the notes?
GL!

 

[secants]

Hey guys, just curious to know how others are defining the scoring 1-5 system? I've been putting "3"s because I wanted questions to show up sooner to keep it fresh. So when would you guys put "4" or a "5" for something?

 

[PeterParker7]

I'd appreciate anybody's input:

I'm about 4 months out from Step 1 and everybody around me keeps ranting and raving about GT. Should I start this now? I'm not sure what to do. My original plan was to go through Pathoma in each M2 system followed by Goljan 2x and then First Aid. I went through most of the Kaplan Lecture Notes already (but admittedly I forgot a lot of the Biochem and Molecular Bio). Thanks to all of you in this great community

I'd say the sooner the better. GT is a great tool to keep you motivated. It makes you review things on a daily basis, especially weaknesses, and its pre-made flashcards! Spend a lot less time passively learning and a lot more time actively learning. Its going to help you find your weaknesses, and then drill you until you are solid. If you forget, you'll find out soon enough, and it'll keep drilling you again until you have it down.

My strategy:
With class- I go to lecture, read my syllabus, bank all of the associated GT questions. I rank things a 1 on first pass if I didn't even get it first time looking at the card, or 2 if I got it but I want it to come up again real soon (a couple days). I'll rank things a 3 if I kind of know it the next time I see it, or a 4 if I really knew it. If I don't know something, I rank it a 1, then I immediately review all the questions that I ranked 1's. When reviewing, if I get the question correct, I rank it a 2, if I get it wrong, a 1 again. I keep repeating all these 1's until I make them 2's. I then just continue on doing the GT daily reviews each day like this. I usually have an exam for each block about every 2-3 weeks. By the time my exam rolls around for that block, I have seen the GT info 2-3x or more. I then try and do associated UW questions during exam week to get extra practice (now though, I am trying to do 25 UW questions a day no matter what- mostly subjects I've already covered but didn't do questions for). I also try to take a quick look at FA and Goljan. Usually I find out I have already memorized the most important big points and a bunch of little ones.

After my exam, my weaknesses still keep coming up. If I know the material by then, I am ranking things 4 or 5. Those things then just come back up weeks later. I reassess at that point.

This strategy has worked really well for me so far. I have been doing better in some classes that are more aligned with GT but maybe suffered a couple points on tests when my classes weren't as good about covering board stuff. At the end of the day though, my school is P/F and I'd rather have a solid Step 1 score than the satisfaction knowing I had a higher number that still resulted in a "P" (grades supposedly aren't even used for AOA status from M1 and M2 at my school).

Generally- I am getting about 70% of UW correct (about 30% through all of it right now) on my first pass at it. Also, I am scoring high 80's/low 90's on my class exams, so I have a little bit of a buffer from failing school

From one upper classman I know at my school that did a similar strategy as me last year, he recommended studying GT ahead of time for some subjects so that when you get to the designated study period, your daily review is on the order of only 100 ish questions.

Ultimately, I am looking to finish all of GT by mid March, along with my first pass on UW. I want to do Kaplan qbank until end of April, before getting into the designated study month where I'll just go through UW and Kaplan again (without having to annotate second time around- so it should move a lot faster).

 

[Jack is Back]

What is everyone's opinion on banking/mastering material before you have them on exams?

I know someone advised that doing it after is a good idea, but then I read on GT blog or something how GT was helping them on exams. Has anyone been banking/mastering before taking the associated exam? How is it going?

 

[NavyJulep]

done!

Hi -

Can someone DM me the free 1 month code as well?

Thanks in advance, just finished my gunner training free trial and I really love the program.

 

[xcrunner01]

Free 1 month trial for anyone interested:

http://www.gunnertraining.com/free_trial/1251176

 

[bbaggins]

What is everyone's opinion on banking/mastering material before you have them on exams?

I know someone advised that doing it after is a good idea, but then I read on GT blog or something how GT was helping them on exams. Has anyone been banking/mastering before taking the associated exam? How is it going?

I bank the material as soon as I can after I first learn it. If it is going to show up on an exam relatively soon, which is the case with almost all I add, then I give it a ranking of 1 the first few times I do the questions even if I know the answer well so that I see it plenty of times before the test.

 

[grotto]

So I have been doing gunner for a while, totally recommended. I told myself that I would judge the quality of my learning based on how I did on my first round of shelf exams. Did well, for me, and got a 660 on the micro/immuno shelf. This is much improved over my performance on shelf exams last year(about 1 sd).

I followed the advice of some on the board and use first aid while doing gunner. This is the way to go. Read first aid and gunner while banking questions and then keep going through your cards. It is good for getting through first aid and much more cost effective than something like DIT, which is IMHO, a total rip off at 800 or so dollars.

 

[FutureDoctor317]

M2 here, just starting gunner training. My plan is to just review all the organ systems along with my classes. I dont have too much time to devote to this, do you guys think GT is useless if I stay on lite mode? Also what other resources in addition to GT are M2's using to prepare for the boards throughout the year?

 

[Alvarez13]

M2 here, just starting gunner training. My plan is to just review all the organ systems along with my classes. I dont have too much time to devote to this, do you guys think GT is useless if I stay on lite mode? Also what other resources in addition to GT are M2's using to prepare for the boards throughout the year?

1) As someone else mentioned, just do your weakest sections. You may already have mastered cardio or biochem and don't need to do them. If you have time, add some more.

2) I think Pathoma and FA are musts.

3) Do as many qbank ?s as you can. Until you go crazy, crack your laptop over your knee, and then go buy another computer to do more.

 

[Bernoull]

really solid strategy, I like it!

During your blocks when you rate cards 1-2 or 3, how many review cards would you have a day. Just trying to get a sense of how hectic it gets, when a lot cards keep showing up frequently.

Also at around what % completion do the daily review cards really start to pile up (how many cards? roughly)... I'm trying to gauge how hectic things get down the road, I'm at 25% overall completion.

Thanks

 

[PeterParker7]

really solid strategy, I like it!

During your blocks when you rate cards 1-2 or 3, how many review cards would you have a day. Just trying to get a sense of how hectic it gets, when a lot cards keep showing up frequently.

Also at around what % completion do the daily review cards really start to pile up (how many cards? roughly)... I'm trying to gauge how hectic things get down the road, I'm at 25% overall completion.

Thanks

i have on average 300q's a day. it gets lower by the end of a block when im mastering things. but recently i've been trying to play catch up and fill in a lot of subjects that my classes barely touched so that i have a more complete knowledge of everything. so my daily review has really been piling closer to 400-500 or more if i miss a day (happens now and then for me)

really, on average between doing review questions and banking new material, i spend 4ish hours a day on GT. sometimes more, sometimes less. but remember, i started last year in the beginning of summer, and i have set out to have all of GT finished by march, so i am pushing a fast pace. so i would take what i say about my study plan with a grain of salt.

im almost at 80% completion but i haven't done the all the anatomy cars (which i already took last year, so i know thats another easy 10% once i sit down and get through them). i am around 50% mastery, but i am pretty hard on myself when i rank things. i try not to pay too much attention to mastery and remember the overall picture- retention.

GL

 

[An0MalY]

How would you guys compare the lite mode vs the comprehensive mode? If I have 15% completed should I switch to lite to give me more time for qbanks?

 

[secants]

Does anyone else get that " X amount new topics have new questions" message? Are they adding more content to the cards I already covered or are they are just asking more questions about it?

 

[Alvarez13]

Does anyone else get that " X amount new topics have new questions" message? Are they adding more content to the cards I already covered or are they are just asking more questions about it?

They're constantly adding new things.

I have like 50 cards I need to update. Also, to update a card, you only do the new questions and not the old ones you've already banked.

 

[Bernoull]

i have on average 300q's a day. it gets lower by the end of a block when im mastering things. but recently i've been trying to play catch up and fill in a lot of subjects that my classes barely touched so that i have a more complete knowledge of everything. so my daily review has really been piling closer to 400-500 or more if i miss a day (happens now and then for me)

really, on average between doing review questions and banking new material, i spend 4ish hours a day on GT. sometimes more, sometimes less. but remember, i started last year in the beginning of summer, and i have set out to have all of GT finished by march, so i am pushing a fast pace. so i would take what i say about my study plan with a grain of salt.

im almost at 80% completion but i haven't done the all the anatomy cars (which i already took last year, so i know thats another easy 10% once i sit down and get through them). i am around 50% mastery, but i am pretty hard on myself when i rank things. i try not to pay too much attention to mastery and remember the overall picture- retention.

GL

thanks for the "heads up", i appreciate that!

GL too!!

 

[Charles_Carmichael]

M1 here. I just started the one-month free trial thing. It's a bit daunting, to say the least. How the heck do you guys stay on top of this stuff and do cards/questions every night?! I feel like I'm constantly behind in class and am struggling to make time to experiment with GT. Any tips you more experienced users have on smoothening this integration between studying everyday and adding GT on top?

 

[Jack is Back]

Took me ~80m to do 100 Q's today. I probably am looking up too much stuff in b/t questions... only about ~10% banked. I can see this would be valuable but I feel like I will need to sacrifice honoring courses to do this. It will take a serious time commitment to do over 2 years...

Again, I think it's valuable but it's hard to give up doing well in courses. If I begin adding cards everyday, I could see my daily time eclipsing 2 hours pretty easily. If your school has occasional mandatory sessions, then life gets busy. I definitely see the value of this but it does come at a cost.

This would be amazing at a P/F school. If I end up liking some competitive specialties, I'm not sure I can just write off 1st/2nd year with all P's.

I think I'll continue for now.

 

[Alvarez13]

Took me ~80m to do 100 Q's today. I probably am looking up too much stuff in b/t questions... only about ~10% banked. I can see this would be valuable but I feel like I will need to sacrifice honoring courses to do this. It will take a serious time commitment to do over 2 years...

Again, I think it's valuable but it's hard to give up doing well in courses. If I begin adding cards everyday, I could see my daily time eclipsing 2 hours pretty easily. If your school has occasional mandatory sessions, then life gets busy. I definitely see the value of this but it does come at a cost.

This would be amazing at a P/F school. If I end up liking some competitive specialties, I'm not sure I can just write off 1st/2nd year with all P's.

I think I'll continue for now.

Using this at a non-P/F could be tougher. The only reason I would be concerned with ms-1 and ms-2 grades is if your school factors these in to your rank, AOA selection, or dean's letter.

Again and again, links to AMA surveys and residency director polls have showed step 1 score >>>>> pre clinical grades. Step score, LOR, clerkship grades, rotations, and personal statement are all way more important factors in getting a good residency.

That said, it makes since to take the hit right now and be prepared for boards. My only caveat is that this wouldn't be a good plan if you're borderline failing a class, obviously.

I'm avg 150 questions/day and this is a good 2 hrs of solid work every day. I find when I get up early and do it first thing, it feels like I have more time for class stuff. In addition, I get to correlate my massive amt of class material to a high yield source and I'm able to see the bigger picture which is helping me in my classes.

 

[Jack is Back]

Using this at a non-P/F could be tougher. The only reason I would be concerned with ms-1 and ms-2 grades is if your school factors these in to your rank, AOA selection, or dean's letter.

Again and again, links to AMA surveys and residency director polls have showed step 1 score >>>>> pre clinical grades. Step score, LOR, clerkship grades, rotations, and personal statement are all way more important factors in getting a good residency.

That said, it makes since to take the hit right now and be prepared for boards. My only caveat is that this wouldn't be a good plan if you're borderline failing a class, obviously.

I'm avg 150 questions/day and this is a good 2 hrs of solid work every day. I find when I get up early and do it first thing, it feels like I have more time for class stuff. In addition, I get to correlate my massive amt of class material to a high yield source and I'm able to see the bigger picture which is helping me in my classes.

Btw, we do factor it into rank/AOA, but I doubt I would be able to snag AOA. I can't completely fall asleep on grades though, as being in the bottom half of the class won't work. I agree with your sentiments though. Tying the info to a high yield source and doing well on Step 1 are much more important. I guess it comes down to having faith in GT and standardized test skills.

I'm going to double my GT time for now and treat it as a central portion of my education.

 

[step1medstudent]

I'm an MS2 and am wondering if students are substituting the Power Points used in class for strictly GT? Are people using GT instead of First Aid to prepare for Step 1? Is it futile to use GT for the first time 5 months before Step 1? I'm reading FA but would love to be quizzed after each subject. Is GT structured just like FA and if so, will it allow me to quiz myself after each subject?
Thx

 

[bbaggins]

I'm an MS2 and am wondering if students are substituting the Power Points used in class for strictly GT? Are people using GT instead of First Aid to prepare for Step 1? Is it futile to use GT for the first time 5 months before Step 1? I'm reading FA but would love to be quizzed after each subject. Is GT structured just like FA and if so, will it allow me to quiz myself after each subject?
Thx

From what I can tell GT started out as FA in flash card format. They've since added a lot more, so it probably has more than FA now. Each card has a topic, for example left sided heart failure, and some questions associated with it. Some cards have more Q's than others, but they suggest that you quiz yourself after you've added 20 questions or so which only takes about 5-10 minutes.

With 5 months left you may not get 100% mastery (I don't know of anyone who has), but if you focus I think that you could master enough for it to be super valuable come Step time.

 

[Alvarez13]

I'm an MS2 and am wondering if students are substituting the Power Points used in class for strictly GT? Are people using GT instead of First Aid to prepare for Step 1? Is it futile to use GT for the first time 5 months before Step 1? I'm reading FA but would love to be quizzed after each subject. Is GT structured just like FA and if so, will it allow me to quiz myself after each subject?
Thx

My school exams are the opposite of Step in that 75% of each exam is minutiae BS that I'll never see again. For us, GT would be a horrible idea to use in an attempt to replace classes. However, it does help you organize the subjects and stay on top of them.

Yah, start it now and start with your weakest subjects. If you can master them, then move onto 2nd weakest and so on.

 

[Alvarez13]

Btw, we do factor it into rank/AOA, but I doubt I would be able to snag AOA. I can't completely fall asleep on grades though, as being in the bottom half of the class won't work. I agree with your sentiments though. Tying the info to a high yield source and doing well on Step 1 are much more important. I guess it comes down to having faith in GT and standardized test skills.

I'm going to double my GT time for now and treat it as a central portion of my education.

Sorry to hear man. They do try and make school far more difficult that it need be.

If it makes you feel better, I'm an MS2 and started this during this summer and am on schedule to be 100% complete a month before my dedicated study time. You having starting this in MS-1 will allow you to have a great head start and not need to spend as much time. You can spread out adding cards longer and keep the questions/day lower.

 

[bassvp]

Just a couple of questions for the GT veterans:

1. Is the current recommendation to wait 'til the end of anatomy to start using this?

2. If I had 18 months from the end of anatomy until Step I, how many months would you 'pre-buy' with the assumption that GT makes 'special offers' every now and then.

3. I know people like using this with P/F, but would anyone have qualms with using it with H/P/F?

 

[nopo18]

Just a couple of questions for the GT veterans:

1. Is the current recommendation to wait 'til the end of anatomy to start using this?

2. If I had 18 months from the end of anatomy until Step I, how many months would you 'pre-buy' with the assumption that GT makes 'special offers' every now and then.

3. I know people like using this with P/F, but would anyone have qualms with using it with H/P/F?

1. No. Anatomy has little or nothing to do with it. I'd wait to get some material under your belt that is going to be memorization heavy. You would need to provide the structure for your curriculum for more detail ie when you start stuff like micro.. If you want to start early, I'd start 2nd semester at the earliest. Opinions will vary

2. Highly depends. Probably a year + invite a couple friends to join

3. Depends on your goals. I'd still do it for h/p/f, but it is very much my learning style and may not be the best advice for everyone. How heavily are they weighted for AOA? Are you shooting for AOA? If not Step 1 >>> preclinical grades

 

[Alvarez13]

Just a couple of questions for the GT veterans:

1. Is the current recommendation to wait 'til the end of anatomy to start using this?

2. If I had 18 months from the end of anatomy until Step I, how many months would you 'pre-buy' with the assumption that GT makes 'special offers' every now and then.

3. I know people like using this with P/F, but would anyone have qualms with using it with H/P/F?

1. I disagree with the above poster. If this was available to me when I had anatomy, I would've done it along with class or right after the class. GT now has an anatomy section (95 topics) and an embryo section (28 topics). That's a good chunk (~10%?) of mat'l that you could master and not worry about during ms2 like me. You may be able to knock off some biochem, physio, and micro depending on your curriculum.

2. Get a free code from someone to see if you even like it. If it's right for you, start at maybe 6 mo and go from there. You may be able to grab another 3-6 mo from invites and knab a groupon for a cheap 3 mo. I also got 1-2 free mo from technical difficulties when they were changing the sites.

3. Depends on your goals and the school. Preclinical grades don't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes your school might use them for rank, AOA, and maybe even Dean's letter.

Hope that helps. I think the earlier you start this, the less questions you'll have a day (able to really spread it out) and the more you'll see the mat'l.

 

[Nasrudin]

Are there plans for a step 2 version of GT?

 

[Alvarez13]

Are there plans for a step 2 version of GT?

A man can dream...a man can dream.

 

[Nasrudin]

A man can dream...a man can dream.

I take that as a no. I'm really turning up my use of GT. Wish I had been earlier. 5 mo's to go. Trying to bank everything.

And thought to myself. Could there be a better way to squeeze in studying in between the long ward hours?

But if the company hasn't indicated any plans then it likely won't happen in our time frame for getting to 4 th year.

 

[Jalopoo]

I take that as a no. I'm really turning up my use of GT. Wish I had been earlier. 5 mo's to go. Trying to bank everything.

And thought to myself. Could there be a better way to squeeze in studying in between the long ward hours?

But if the company hasn't indicated any plans then it likely won't happen in our time frame for getting to 4 th year.

From the gunner training facebook:
"Gunner Training: Hi Lindsey, we already have some Step 2 content developed but the entire program is far from complete. That said, we are considering releasing what we have soon as a "beta" and make it free to all and/or current members.den 6 oktober 2011 kl. 23:57"

So hopefully they will make some step 2 material available soon.

 

[ipizzy]

I take that as a no. I'm really turning up my use of GT. Wish I had been earlier. 5 mo's to go. Trying to bank everything.

And thought to myself. Could there be a better way to squeeze in studying in between the long ward hours?

But if the company hasn't indicated any plans then it likely won't happen in our time frame for getting to 4 th year.

go to the feedback section of GT and look at the left hand side...then vote for the topic called "GT for step 2 - please vote". for those unfamiliar with the feedback section, GT solicits ideas from their users for new things they can do to improve their service, and other users can vote on ideas to let them know what they should make a priority. let's hope the step 2 idea gets popular enough

 

[bassvp]

1. I disagree with the above poster. If this was available to me when I had anatomy, I would've done it along with class or right after the class. GT now has an anatomy section (95 topics) and an embryo section (28 topics). That's a good chunk (~10%?) of mat'l that you could master and not worry about during ms2 like me. You may be able to knock off some biochem, physio, and micro depending on your curriculum.

2. Get a free code from someone to see if you even like it. If it's right for you, start at maybe 6 mo and go from there. You may be able to grab another 3-6 mo from invites and knab a groupon for a cheap 3 mo. I also got 1-2 free mo from technical difficulties when they were changing the sites.

3. Depends on your goals and the school. Preclinical grades don't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but sometimes your school might use them for rank, AOA, and maybe even Dean's letter.

Hope that helps. I think the earlier you start this, the less questions you'll have a day (able to really spread it out) and the more you'll see the mat'l.

Thanks for the response! I had just searched "anatomy" on every page of the thread and hadn't seen anyone recommend it yet during that section, although I understand that somewhere in the middle of this thread they updated their anatomy materials.

 

[Nasrudin]

I sent them this:

We really need you guys to move your Step 2 product into overdrive.

We're loyal. We spread the news. We love your material. We love the technique. Once we finish with Step 1 in five months we need to start preparing for step 2. If you don't have something for us to go with by that time you will have missed the boat for your 1st wave of loyal accolytes.

Make it happen. We'll buy the product. And promote it.

What are you waiting for...the time for it was yesterday.

Thanks.

 

[Chirurg]

I sent them this:

We really need you guys to move your Step 2 product into overdrive.

We're loyal. We spread the news. We love your material. We love the technique. Once we finish with Step 1 in five months we need to start preparing for step 2. If you don't have something for us to go with by that time you will have missed the boat for your 1st wave of loyal accolytes.

Make it happen. We'll buy the product. And promote it.

What are you waiting for...the time for it was yesterday.

Thanks.

 

[Alvarez13]

go to the feedback section of GT and look at the left hand side...then vote for the topic called "GT for step 2 - please vote". for those unfamiliar with the feedback section, GT solicits ideas from their users for new things they can do to improve their service, and other users can vote on ideas to let them know what they should make a priority. let's hope the step 2 idea gets popular enough

Used all the votes I could. Hopefully everyone else will get on this too.

Should we start posting on their facebook page too?

I pull up GT on my phone all the time and knock out sets of 10-20 questions. Hell, probably bank more questions in the bathroom than I do at my desk. I would love to do that during year 3 in those few minutes of down time. Also, GT site looks fantastic on this new Galaxy Nexus phone.

 

[Chirurg]

Used all the votes I could. Hopefully everyone else will get on this too.

Should we start posting on their facebook page too?

I pull up GT on my phone all the time and knock out sets of 10-20 questions. Hell, probably bank more questions in the bathroom than I do at my desk. I would love to do that during year 3 in those few minutes of down time. Also, GT site looks fantastic on this new Galaxy Nexus phone.

can only second that
I actually used GT as an excuse to justify buying that phone.

 

[ipizzy]

I wanted to drop by to give GT some major love. I recently started doing more of the Kaplan qbank (which is notoriously picky and detailed) and GT has literally brought me from pulling 60% on short question sets back in September up to 95% today. I can tell you that GT is responsible because I literally have not cracked open a single other source for reviewing material besides GT. Not even First Aid. I haven't used UWorld yet, but I can only imagine that knowing your **** cold will only help.

If any of you are on the fence about GT and have problems remembering the detailed stuff like I do, buy GT. Just do it. Best investment I've made in med school test prep, hands down.

 

[Alvarez13]

I wanted to drop by to give GT some major love. I recently started doing more of the Kaplan qbank (which is notoriously picky and detailed) and GT has literally brought me from pulling 60% on short question sets back in September up to 95% today. I can tell you that GT is responsible because I literally have not cracked open a single other source for reviewing material besides GT. Not even First Aid. I haven't used UWorld yet, but I can only imagine that knowing your **** cold will only help.

If any of you are on the fence about GT and have problems remembering the detailed stuff like I do, buy GT. Just do it. Best investment I've made in med school test prep, hands down.

I banked 100% biochem this summer and have almost completely mastered it. Tried the Uworld Biochem questions a month ago and was murdering them.

My plan for my dedicated month of studying is to keep doing daily GT questions and nothing else but Uworld. Looking forward to it actually

 

[Alvarez13]

can only second that
I actually used GT as an excuse to justify buying that phone.

Yah, sad thing was is GT was one of the things I factored into the purchase.

 

[WarriorMD]

You guys really have me sold on GT haha, the reviews are unbelieveable.

Do you think it will help me out if I use it only for 7 months?

I'm an IMG and coming off a leave of absence and just started reviewing from the ground up starting from anatomy. I have a lotttt of reading and lecture watching to do so would GT be too much of a commitment for me?

Maybe I could do GT one hour before heading to bed, but a 2-3-4 hour commitment would take away too much from my main reading. I don't want to spend all day mastering details without devoting enough time to understanding the bigger picture from my larger textbooks.

I know I could try a months subscrip, but I don't think I'll be able to reap the full benefits from a program like this in a month, so I dont think I would be able to make a proper assesment of it so soon.

 

[WarriorMD]

Damn I see a lot of posts about doing 300-500 q's a day sometimes and upto 4 hours of devoted time haha.

I'm only getting in roughly 8 solid hours of studying a day so I don't think I would be able to pull this off. Spending 50% of my time reviewing when I'm still re-learning new concepts seems a bit too much I proabably need to spend 60-70% of my time learning the new concepts and going through videos/notes and the rest reviewing.
I guess I'm not meant to be a gunner haha.

 

[JackShephard MD]

It's definitely time consuming but I think it's worth it.

 

[ipizzy]

Damn I see a lot of posts about doing 300-500 q's a day sometimes and upto 4 hours of devoted time haha.

I'm only getting in roughly 8 solid hours of studying a day so I don't think I would be able to pull this off. Spending 50% of my time reviewing when I'm still re-learning new concepts seems a bit too much I proabably need to spend 60-70% of my time learning the new concepts and going through videos/notes and the rest reviewing.
I guess I'm not meant to be a gunner haha.

7 months is more than enough time to use GT. If you bank ~5 cards/day you'll be done in 7 months. In my experience, 5 cards/day would probably take 20 min to an hour to bank (depending on the length of the card, your comfort level with the material, and the number of associated questions). If you bank the cards slowly and consistently over time, and if you don't rank all your review questions at 1's or 2's even when you know the answer (which some people do), you will not be accumulating 300-500 questions to answer every day. The highest I got to was about 380 questions in a day, and that was after a few catch-up weeks of banking 10-20 cards/day. I would say the average number of questions I was getting was closer to 200 (I was pretty much banking 10 cards/day consistently throughout fall semester of MS2).

After getting used to GT, I was able to get through ~100 or so questions in 30 minutes. The key is to just go through as quickly as possible so your recall gets faster. Also, if you're not a fan of sitting down to do hundreds of questions at once, you always have the option of doing 10 questions here and there throughout the day whenever you find yourself with some free time (e.g. waiting in line somewhere, on the bus, whatever).

Give the 1 month trial a shot!

 

[washingtondc]

7 months is more than enough time to use GT. If you bank ~5 cards/day you'll be done in 7 months. In my experience, 5 cards/day would probably take 20 min to an hour to bank (depending on the length of the card, your comfort level with the material, and the number of associated questions). If you bank the cards slowly and consistently over time, and if you don't rank all your review questions at 1's or 2's even when you know the answer (which some people do), you will not be accumulating 300-500 questions to answer every day. The highest I got to was about 380 questions in a day, and that was after a few catch-up weeks of banking 10-20 cards/day. I would say the average number of questions I was getting was closer to 200 (I was pretty much banking 10 cards/day consistently throughout fall semester of MS2).

After getting used to GT, I was able to get through ~100 or so questions in 30 minutes. The key is to just go through as quickly as possible so your recall gets faster. Also, if you're not a fan of sitting down to do hundreds of questions at once, you always have the option of doing 10 questions here and there throughout the day whenever you find yourself with some free time (e.g. waiting in line somewhere, on the bus, whatever).

Give the 1 month trial a shot!

Be careful planning using the current number of cards as a guide. I made mine when they only had 800 cards! I should be done by now. I still have 200 cards to cover.

Also, the wonderful GT editors are constantly adding new questions to cards I have already completed. Start now if you want and plan to finish in four months.