Gunner Training?

[hope2bpaindoc]

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A

 

[Chirurg]

"Re: Step 2 – YES! We are working on it as I type! We have about 15+ residents, students, residency directors, etc. working on it! 🙂

Since there is so much overlap between the two tests, we are going to have them be 1 program
but with the ability to filter out topics and questions that are only Step 1.

We are planning on releasing bits and pieces to current members as soon as possible (possibly next month!) Then, we aim to have the complete program ready to go by this September (2012 of course!)."



"We're also going to add hundreds of USMLE-like questions (sequential item sets w/ clinical vignettes, matching sets, etc.) for both Step 1 and Step 2.

So if we're like First Aid on Steroids now, we will soon be...

Like if FA and UWorld had a baby... and gave that baby steroids. Yea, that would be us. 😉 Soon guys! Thanks to all your great ideas! Keep em coming! We can't wait to show you what we're building (and we have a new and greatly improved platform on it's way too!)."

can't wait!
I think step2 content is much better to retain long-term than step1 content, and it's worth it!

 

[ipizzy]

can't wait!
I think step2 content is much better to retain long-term than step1 content, and it's worth it!

Agree with this 100%. Third year has such a steep learning curve and I can imagine it would be all too easy to let slide the things you haven't seen in awhile.

Also, to address some concerns that were raised about time commitment - I think if you're banking slowly throughout the year, GT time won't be hard to fit in. I've been hearing a lot from upperclassmen about how you should always have something with you to read or do for those frequent short bits of time you find yourself waiting around. GT could fit in very nicely with that (e.g. Find yourself with 10 minutes before rounds start? Bank a card or do some review questions)

 

[loveoforganic]

Yeah, over my gap year I could definitely see learning and banking step 2 stuff. Would not mind whatsoever having an easy way like that to retain clinically relevant knowledge. I hope they keep to it and bring it out in time because I don't think I could see myself keeping up with the step 1 stuff

Edit: Bit of confusion though - are they saying that they're going to force step 2 material into the step 1 material without the option to remove it? Is there that much overlap between the two?

 

[MoistHands]

Hey GT users...

I was on the GT trial account for last 3 weeks. I now want to buy the subscription. I banked biochem on my trial account will my progress be carried on to my 'paid account' or will I lose my progress?
I went through the FAQs section but could not figure out.

 

[crunchymedicine]

Hey GT users...

I was on the GT trial account for last 3 weeks. I now want to buy the subscription. I banked biochem on my trial account will my progress be carried on to my 'paid account' or will I lose my progress?
I went through the FAQs section but could not figure out.

Your progress carries over. I did the same thing and continued gunnin' seamlessly.
Keep it up moist!

 

[MoistHands]

Thanks Crunchy 🙂

 

[JackShephard MD]

I'm not convinced yet on the step 2 program. So far, I know GT lives to be thorough and innovative, which means more and more info and qbank style questions. I don't think qbank questions are useful in the spaced algorithm like facts are. Qbanks are for application. Also, let's say youre on surgery, are you really going to want to spend daily GT time on peds, neurology, family medicine, etc.? I know that GT dropped my level of focus on the current material because of hours of upkeep.

All that combined with the fact that many applicants don't even turn in their step 2 scores in residency applications. I will use anki if I need spaced rep and this would be more malleable than GT for clinical info. Step 1 is very standardized and easier to make a GT qbank for, I don't know if the clinical knowledge for rotations will be the same.

We'll see but I'm not convinced yet.

 

[Chirurg]

I'm not convinced yet on the step 2 program. So far, I know GT lives to be thorough and innovative, which means more and more info and qbank style questions. I don't think qbank questions are useful in the spaced algorithm like facts are. Qbanks are for application. Also, let's say youre on surgery, are you really going to want to spend daily GT time on peds, neurology, family medicine, etc.? I know that GT dropped my level of focus on the current material because of hours of upkeep.

All that combined with the fact that many applicants don't even turn in their step 2 scores in residency applications. I will use anki if I need spaced rep and this would be more malleable than GT for clinical info. Step 1 is very standardized and easier to make a GT qbank for, I don't know if the clinical knowledge for rotations will be the same.

We'll see but I'm not convinced yet.

yepp.

 

[MoistHands]

Hey Friends...

I was thinking about using FA+BRS+GT for physio. What do you think about it?

I feel that the FA physio section does not cover many topics which is on BRS and GT, does that mean that the topics that are not in FA are not high yield?

I annotated Biochem FA for my understanding from GT so that I can revise that during the last week.

Since am not sure whether I will be using GT in the week before exam where do you suggest I consolidate the important points from GT for Physio?

Do I sound confusing. Let me try again. I am trying to figure out what source will I use for Physio on the last week before exam? Esp since FA does not seem comprehensive.

Let me know what you think.
Thanks for the help.

PS: Am an IMG have 3 months left for exam.

 

[loveoforganic]

If you only have a week, I would stick to BRS and FA

 

[Chirurg]

mini rant:
what's the deal with some of the pseudo-vignette MCQs?
Seriously, you waste my time, making me read 5-6 lines to ask which of the following sensations is not mediated through the thalamus? There is a number of MCQs like that.
To me this seems as if you couldn't be bothered to write down a decent MCQ and did it just for the sake of having MCQs. I admit, some of the MCQs are well thought out and they do help, but these are just pointless.
Just ask me "Which of the following sensations is not mediated throught the thalamus?".
We already need to put a significant amount of time into GT, please try not to waste our time even more! I'm sure everyone would appreciate that.

Thanks!

 

[JackShephard MD]

mini rant:
what's the deal with some of the pseudo-vignette MCQs?
Seriously, you waste my time, making me read 5-6 lines to ask which of the following sensations is not mediated through the thalamus? There is a number of MCQs like that.
To me this seems as if you couldn't be bothered to write down a decent MCQ and did it just for the sake of having MCQs. I admit, some of the MCQs are well thought out and they do help, but these are just pointless.
Just ask me "Which of the following sensations is not mediated throught the thalamus?".
We already need to put a significant amount of time into GT, please try not to waste our time even more! I'm sure everyone would appreciate that.

Thanks!

I agree 100%, which is why I said earlier that I dont like how GT has ambition to be a one stop resource for step 1. GT is amazing at driving facts home, it isn't Uworld. Don't try to make it Uworld. That's a great ambition but if it doesn't work then were stuck with a fact recall program that is too clunky to be useful. I hope they don't add 200 more cards and tons of vignettes in the next year. If GT was smart, they would realize the #1 reason to not use it is time commitment. Making it longer and longer will not make it more popular.

That's the scary thing about companies that like to innovate. They ruin a great product by tweaking it too much.

 

[iCY]

mini rant:
what's the deal with some of the pseudo-vignette MCQs?
Seriously, you waste my time, making me read 5-6 lines to ask which of the following sensations is not mediated through the thalamus? There is a number of MCQs like that.
To me this seems as if you couldn't be bothered to write down a decent MCQ and did it just for the sake of having MCQs. I admit, some of the MCQs are well thought out and they do help, but these are just pointless.
Just ask me "Which of the following sensations is not mediated throught the thalamus?".
We already need to put a significant amount of time into GT, please try not to waste our time even more! I'm sure everyone would appreciate that.

Thanks!

+1 If you were to create a petition to GT, I would sign. useless vignettes have NO place in a flashcard recall program.

Also wtf is the deal with GT going above & beyond info found in most review books. Is it just me or whoever is writing some of these cards is getting a little carried away with including every goddamn little detail on every disease?

Is it too much to ask for them to keep the text simple & on the level of FA, so it doesn't take fever to read through their cards.

 

[dr seuss]

+1 If you were to create a petition to GT, I would sign. useless vignettes have NO place in a flashcard recall program.

Also wtf is the deal with GT going above & beyond info found in most review books. Is it just me or whoever is writing some of these cards is getting a little carried away with including every goddamn little detail on every disease?

Is it too much to ask for them to keep the text simple & on the level of FA, so it doesn't take fever to read through their cards.

I agree. I stopped doing GT because I felt like I was wasting time memorizing stuff that doesn't matter. If it was only stuff from FA it would have been easier to motivate myself to memorize it all. I'm guessing GT was better when it first came out before they added so much to it.

First Aid has flash facts already but they should seriously consider making something like GT. It wouldn't be hard for them to make it since they already have all the flash cards.

 

[ipizzy]

I'm guessing a lot of this has to do with the amount of time we each have to get through GT, but I love the extra detail and I appreciate that GT isn't merely an electronic version of FA (as mentioned above, check out FlashFacts if you just want a flashcard program with the level of detail in FA).

Personally, (and keeping in mind that I have only taken a few NBMEs and not the real deal), I don't view FA as sufficiently detailed to do extremely well on Step 1. I'm guessing that the people who tout FA+UWorld as "all you need" were really benefiting from the extra detail and mechanism-focused answers contained in UWorld (which I think are clutch). When you get into the score ranges that I'm aiming for (265+), a few extra points could depend on those details that felt irrelevant in GT. For those without the same ambitions, GT will probably feel like a waste of time.

Just my two cents 🙂

 

[Suncrusher]

havent read this thread in a while...what's going on regarding using GT on an iPhone? I find that the screen is pretty small and hard to read GT with. Is there a mobile version of the website or an app yet?

 

[lrkoehle]

I'm guessing a lot of this has to do with the amount of time we each have to get through GT, but I love the extra detail and I appreciate that GT isn't merely an electronic version of FA (as mentioned above, check out FlashFacts if you just want a flashcard program with the level of detail in FA).

Personally, (and keeping in mind that I have only taken a few NBMEs and not the real deal), I don't view FA as sufficiently detailed to do extremely well on Step 1. I'm guessing that the people who tout FA+UWorld as "all you need" were really benefiting from the extra detail and mechanism-focused answers contained in UWorld (which I think are clutch). When you get into the score ranges that I'm aiming for (265+), a few extra points could depend on those details that felt irrelevant in GT. For those without the same ambitions, GT will probably feel like a waste of time.

Just my two cents 🙂

I tend to agree with this. I figure it is called GUNNER training for a reason 😉. Still though, I do also find the high level of detail to be almost distracting at times, like when I just want to know the main causes of something, but it gets buried in a list of stuff. Maybe they could make their "light" mode be more of just simply straight basic facts like what is found in FA, but if their comprehensive mode was just FA, a lot of important details would be getting left out. There's a reason people have to annotate the hell out of FA to transform it into something truly useful.

I guess it probably depends a lot on when you start GT too. If I had started mid-1st year and been diligent about banking cards, then I don't think it would've been too bad at all. As it is, I made that late push banking cards, and so I am still sitting at like 250 a day right now. Considering how quickly I banked everything, 250 isn't terrible, and like I said, if I had been more diligent it would probably 150 maybe. Sure, it's a lot of work, but for the most part it seems to be paying off in the qbanks so far for me, so hopefully it yields good results on the real thing too.

Edit: I also wanted to add that there are things I've seen on Kaplan's Qbank that I know are not in GT, so it doesn't have everything. Granted Kaplan is notoriously minutiae focused, but it still stands. One from yesterday was the mechanism of ACh esterase inhibitors and it had carbamylation, dephosphorylation, phosphorylation, and 2 other choices. I was like, "who da fuk nose dis?" Apparently Kaplan thought that was high yield enough to make a damn question about it, but all I ever knew was that they stop those nasty ACh esterases...I also don't remember seeing Tangier's disease on GT, although we did learn about it in class (all I remember was orange tonsils).

 

[jayhvvip]

Hello Gunners,

I will be beginning the medical school journey this fall and am interested in Gunner training. I have been stalking this thread for a while and following all of your progress.

Can anyone who has used GT since beginning medical school or soon after chime in on some advice as to when to begin? Any advice would be appreciated. My school has a traditional curriculum.

I have used Anki in the past and found it to be beneficial.

 

[doctoritis]

For those doing GT and a Qbank , assuming Uworld will be left until closer to test time, do you guys think Kaplan Qbank or UsmleRx is the better chance?

Or, should I not worry about doing a Qbank with GT all together? I'm finishing up my M1 and would like to start GT this summer and onward.

Thanks!

 

[lrkoehle]

Hello Gunners,

I will be beginning the medical school journey this fall and am interested in Gunner training. I have been stalking this thread for a while and following all of your progress.

Can anyone who has used GT since beginning medical school or soon after chime in on some advice as to when to begin? Any advice would be appreciated. My school has a traditional curriculum.

I have used Anki in the past and found it to be beneficial.

Winter break of first year might be good. That way you have time to adjust to school before adding something extra on top of it. You can use your down time to bank stuff from first semester. You can start sooner too, but I'd recommend giving yourself a little time to get into the swing of things first.

For those doing GT and a Qbank , assuming Uworld will be left until closer to test time, do you guys think Kaplan Qbank or UsmleRx is the better chance?

Or, should I not worry about doing a Qbank with GT all together? I'm finishing up my M1 and would like to start GT this summer and onward.

Thanks!

I am just about to do my last 46 questions of Kaplan, and despite it being minutiae focused at times, I have found it to be pretty solid. I will start UW next, so I don't have anything to compare Kaplan to yet.

Start GT by itself this summer and see how you feel. If you're able to keep up with daily questions and banking stuff, then add a Qbank along with it. Or you can just add a different review source. Pathoma is probably cheaper, but obviously doesn't give you the practice with Step-I style questions that a qbank would...lots of options out there.

 

[loveoforganic]

Winter break of first year might be good. That way you have time to adjust to school before adding something extra on top of it. You can use your down time to bank stuff from first semester. You can start sooner too, but I'd recommend giving yourself a little time to get into the swing of things first.

This is definitely the earliest I personally would have started, although I needed that break. If you're just killing it first semester, maybe consider starting it during that semester. That isn't most people though. I absolutely wouldn't start it with the 1st block of med school though

 

[jayhvvip]

Thanks for the input. If things go at least semi-smoothly, I was going to start after the anatomy portion (11 weeks) and focus on banking topics I find important to keep up on early while in cell structure and function block. Then, as time allows, ramp up a bit in accordance to what I cover in the following blocks.

I basically want to start as early as feasible, keeping GT going but not banking like crazy until summer.

 

[Gunneria]

Hey Guys, just curious about a few things as I may have been late to pick up on the updates, but:

1) After you "add questions for review" from say different subjects (say I added 100 cards from micro and 100 cards for immuno for the FIRST time), has GT now been modified it to such you can only do micro's subject's review questions? I think it's frustrating that you can't access the GT topics until you completed your review questions and I hope its the case where I'm can just do the micro questions.
--> The obvious advice of course I realize would be don't add the immuno cards in the first place but i also don't want to UNDO that but I hope I can be more selective with the FIRST time answering only a subject's questions than all of them.

(2) Likewise, after you did the quizzes the first time and rated the questions, I assume you can then do review questions by subject only right. Ideally, it would be great to say if I was using GT for pharm and didn't want to deal with old anatomy questions

(3) In the event that questions do back up (say you didnt touch GT for a month), is there an option to just do review questions by RATING so you still can focus on weaknesses (i.e.- the 1 and 2 start questions vs. spending time on the 5s)??

(4) Any option to allow the notes that you annotated onto GT to appear up while doing review questions?

Thanks guys.

 

[JackShephard MD]

Gunneria, it's hard for me to take you seriously at this point.

 

[dr seuss]

Hey Guys, just curious about a few things as I may have been late to pick up on the updates, but:

1) After you "add questions for review" from say different subjects (say I added 100 cards from micro and 100 cards for immuno for the FIRST time), has GT now been modified it to such you can only do micro's subject's review questions? I think it's frustrating that you can't access the GT topics until you completed your review questions and I hope its the case where I'm can just do the micro questions.
--> The obvious advice of course I realize would be don't add the immuno cards in the first place but i also don't want to UNDO that but I hope I can be more selective with the FIRST time answering only a subject's questions than all of them.

(2) Likewise, after you did the quizzes the first time and rated the questions, I assume you can then do review questions by subject only right. Ideally, it would be great to say if I was using GT for pharm and didn't want to deal with old anatomy questions

(3) In the event that questions do back up (say you didnt touch GT for a month), is there an option to just do review questions by RATING so you still can focus on weaknesses (i.e.- the 1 and 2 start questions vs. spending time on the 5s)??

(4) Any option to allow the notes that you annotated onto GT to appear up while doing review questions?

Thanks guys.

1) tl;dr
2) Do you not understand the point of Gunner Training? Those questions come up so that you don't forget them. Are you serious?
3) No. If you're going to take a month off you should just wait until MS2 to start.
4) Not that I know of.

 

[Brotato]

 

[Chirurg]

Gunneria, it's hard for me to take you seriously at this point.

lol, so true.

 

[JackShephard MD]

Can the Pharm be learned ahead of time like the micro?

Just curious.

Also, what were your favorite pharm review books?

I only use the review books as a good reference if something is poorly taught in class and/or GT card isn't fleshed out enough.

 

[loveoforganic]

From a chemistry background, the pharm concepts in GT (most of which I've done) I could understand/already knew just with background knowledge (though there are a couple conceptual cards I haven't done yet because they would require some wiki'ing). Can't comment on the actual drugs, have only done a couple (literally, I think 2), but posters past seem to think it's easily doable.

 

[nopo18]

Can the Pharm be learned ahead of time like the micro?

Just curious.

Also, what were your favorite pharm review books?

I only use the review books as a good reference if something is poorly taught in class and/or GT card isn't fleshed out enough.

Never used Lippincott pharm, I think Katzung is great (gives good context, questions) but is kind of hefty for a "review book" IMO. You probably would only want to use to like you said- to flesh out topics and move from just memorizing information to understanding the concepts behind the drugs.

In response the can it be learned ahead of time? Well.. that is dependent on the person. For me a lot of pharm doesn't make sense until it is integrated.. I think that is stays in my memory best if I have a SOLID understand the pathology it is treating.

 

[Gunneria]

Hey common guys, I am actually serious, and look I realize my questions are pinpointed on random specific details and perhaps its the nature of my approach when it comes to a test like Step 1, whatevs

Anyways, JackShepard, I highly recommend doing Kaplan Pharm with Dr. Raymond as a primary teaching tool. Watching them with the relevant comprehensive GT cards has been phenomenal and I'm only adding baby tidbits to the sides (this along with FA and CMMRs mneuomincs)

 

[Chirurg]

Can the Pharm be learned ahead of time like the micro?

Just curious.

Also, what were your favorite pharm review books?

I only use the review books as a good reference if something is poorly taught in class and/or GT card isn't fleshed out enough.

haven't looked into Lippincott but Katzung is pretty good, short overview/diagram at the beginning of each chapter and also questions at the end of each chapter.

 

[GTP]

Hey everyone

I've been stalking this thread for a while, and I think you guys have sold me on gt. I'm finishing ms 1 and thinking of starting this summer. Below are the list of materials I am hoping to use. Would appreciate your feedback. Thank you

FA
U world (at least 2x)
Rx
DIT - got this free from a friend
Goljan audio and rr - got Goljan free from a friend*
Nbme*
Gt
Kaplan q bank - its free with my tuition
Combank

Is this overkill? I'm nervous because I bombed the mcat (27). I did self study for 3 months while working part time and doing a masters, and that didn't work so well. I don't want to look back after step one and realize there is something I could have done to perform better. Are any of my aforementioned sources redundant? Would appreciate your opinion.*

 

[nopo18]

Hey everyone

I've been stalking this thread for a while, and I think you guys have sold me on gt. I'm finishing ms 1 and thinking of starting this summer. Below are the list of materials I am hoping to use. Would appreciate your feedback. Thank you

Yes, definitely - FA
Yes, once completely through minimum - U world (at least 2x)
Sure why notRx
Up to you. I cannot justify using DIT, i haven't used it. May be redundant if you go the GT/FA route. Unsure DIT - got this free from a friend
I like this for the gym, but don't find it to be one of my "primary" sources.. good at integrating stuff Goljan audio and rr - got Goljan free from a friend*
Yes definitely a couple to just your progress Nbme*
Test it out and see first before you plan to use. Some prefer just using FA Gt
Yes, especially if free 🙂 Kaplan q bank - its free with my tuition
Unsure what this bank's quality is like.. haven't used it Combank

Is this overkill? I'm nervous because I bombed the mcat (27). I did self study for 3 months while working part time and doing a masters, and that didn't work so well. I don't want to look back after step one and realize there is something I could have done to perform better. Are any of my aforementioned sources redundant? Would appreciate your opinion.*

First- if you haven't already done so, try a 30 day trial of GT (link below)

http://www.gunnertraining.com/free_trial/1011183

Bank some stuff and see if you like it. I recommend banking something you have recently learned (if you have taken micro maybe?) to see how it helps you with your recall. Trying to bank things you don't know yet (atleast when first learning the system), is very frustrating. Don't bank stuff you haven't learned.

GT doesn't work for everyone..people I know either love it or hate it. You are the only one that can make that decision by trying it out.

As far as your sources, I responded to each one. I don't think they are all redundant, but some maybe too time consuming given what you want to accomplish in the next year w/ adding DIT + Combank (you already have 3 other qbanks). I recommend considering pathoma if you are weak in path.. I really enjoyed it.

FA + UWORLD + QBank (free for you!) is a minimum IMO. Depends what score you are shooting for also..

Don't worry about the mcat, put that behind you, Step 1 is a totally different beast, with much better resources to utilize as you study (IMO)

Goodluck 👍

 

[GTP]

First- if you haven't already done so, try a 30 day trial of GT (link below)

http://www.gunnertraining.com/free_trial/1011183

Bank some stuff and see if you like it. I recommend banking something you have recently learned (if you have taken micro maybe?) to see how it helps you with your recall. Trying to bank things you don't know yet (atleast when first learning the system), is very frustrating. Don't bank stuff you haven't learned.

GT doesn't work for everyone..people I know either love it or hate it. You are the only one that can make that decision by trying it out.

As far as your sources, I responded to each one. I don't think they are all redundant, but some maybe too time consuming given what you want to accomplish in the next year w/ adding DIT + Combank (you already have 3 other qbanks). I recommend considering pathoma if you are weak in path.. I really enjoyed it.

FA + UWORLD + QBank (free for you!) is a minimum IMO. Depends what score you are shooting for also..

Don't worry about the mcat, put that behind you, Step 1 is a totally different beast, with much better resources to utilize as you study (IMO)

Goodluck 👍

Hey thanks for your input. Combank is preparation for the comlex. All d.o students know about it. Well, I'm hoping for a 240 +. I'm uniquely screwed because I want a fairly competitive specialty, I'm from Canada (I need a visa), and some acgme accredited programs are already tough to aquire as a d.o. Though the mcat crushed me, I am in the top 5 of the 135 people in my class so hopefully I can hack that board score. I hope the material I am learning now is somewhat representative of what I'll see on boards but I know that most board material is from second year.

 

[ipizzy]

Can the Pharm be learned ahead of time like the micro?

Just curious.

Yes. Is your curriculum systems based? If so, I strongly recommend learning pharm as you go along. For example, learn cardio pharm during your cardio block. While you're learning about the pathophys of heart failure, you should also open your copy of First Aid and learn the heart failure drugs, when they are used, when they are contraindicated, their side effects, etc. This approach was crucial for me in integrating the specific drugs into my knowledge base (there are a LOT of drugs). In our curriculum pharm kind of comes in at the end, and for the entire first two years all our profs kind of ignored pharm based on the assumption that we'd learn it later in the actual pharm class. When actual pharm class came along, the pharm prof assumed we learned the systems-based pharm all along and focused on the very conceptual easy peasy pharm stuff (e.g. formulas and graphs for pharmacokinetics/dynamics) and deemphasized learning specific drugs. Those who didn't keep up with pharm on their own were screwed and ended up cramming pharm during their boards study periods (taking away time from other areas).

Aside from specific drugs, there is not a lot to know for pharm. Just some enzyme kinetics and a handful of formulas...those can wait until your actual pharm class.

 

[nopo18]

Hey thanks for your input. Combank is preparation for the comlex. All d.o students know about it. Well, I'm hoping for a 240 +. I'm uniquely screwed because I want a fairly competitive specialty, I'm from Canada (I need a visa), and some acgme accredited programs are already tough to aquire as a d.o. Though the mcat crushed me, I am in the top 5 of the 135 people in my class so hopefully I can hack that board score. I hope the material I am learning now is somewhat representative of what I'll see on boards but I know that most board material is from second year.

Ah! I see, that explain why I was unfamiliar with combank...in that case- definitely! Keep in mind those qbanks are a large time commitment, especially doing UW twice. It sounds like you are in a great position to crush the step if you are top 5... Just try to use GT to drill the info in. How long do you have dedicated boards time?

 

[JackShephard MD]

Yes. Is your curriculum systems based? If so, I strongly recommend learning pharm as you go along. For example, learn cardio pharm during your cardio block. While you're learning about the pathophys of heart failure, you should also open your copy of First Aid and learn the heart failure drugs, when they are used, when they are contraindicated, their side effects, etc. This approach was crucial for me in integrating the specific drugs into my knowledge base (there are a LOT of drugs). In our curriculum pharm kind of comes in at the end, and for the entire first two years all our profs kind of ignored pharm based on the assumption that we'd learn it later in the actual pharm class. When actual pharm class came along, the pharm prof assumed we learned the systems-based pharm all along and focused on the very conceptual easy peasy pharm stuff (e.g. formulas and graphs for pharmacokinetics/dynamics) and deemphasized learning specific drugs. Those who didn't keep up with pharm on their own were screwed and ended up cramming pharm during their boards study periods (taking away time from other areas).

Aside from specific drugs, there is not a lot to know for pharm. Just some enzyme kinetics and a handful of formulas...those can wait until your actual pharm class.

Good to know, thanks for the post. We aren't systems based but I'm trying to get cards out f the way if I can.

 

[GTP]

Ah! I see, that explain why I was unfamiliar with combank...in that case- definitely! Keep in mind those qbanks are a large time commitment, especially doing UW twice. It sounds like you are in a great position to crush the step if you are top 5... Just try to use GT to drill the info in. How long do you have dedicated boards time?

School starts end of July so I was hoping to start using fa and gt along with class material to drill in info. We will only have exams every three weeks come second year. I skip most of my classes now anyway. I just stream everything at 2.5x speed. This should give me time to study for boards outside of school. Do you think I should start over the summer though? We have a seven week break and I'm spending all that time in the lab. I dunno. I have mixed feelings about it. I just don't want to do mediocre on the boards and then realize that there is something I could have done differently 🙁

 

[nopo18]

School starts end of July so I was hoping to start using fa and gt along with class material to drill in info. We will only have exams every three weeks come second year. I skip most of my classes now anyway. I just stream everything at 2.5x speed. This should give me time to study for boards outside of school. Do you think I should start over the summer though? We have a seven week break and I'm spending all that time in the lab. I dunno. I have mixed feelings about it. I just don't want to do mediocre on the boards and then realize that there is something I could have done differently 🙁

I'd at the very least try to get most things banked from 1st year over summer. Even if you only commit 1-2 hours per day doing questions and banking cards it'll pay off in the long term. I think it's important not to burn out before 2nd year and find some time between research and GT to relax.. but you don't want to be banking everything from 1st year during second year or you will have a difficult time reaching 100% banked by your dedicated study time. Banking 1st year over summer will help you reinforce the info now, and free up time to start Qbanks once you are 100% banked.

 

[lrkoehle]

School starts end of July so I was hoping to start using fa and gt along with class material to drill in info. We will only have exams every three weeks come second year. I skip most of my classes now anyway. I just stream everything at 2.5x speed. This should give me time to study for boards outside of school. Do you think I should start over the summer though? We have a seven week break and I'm spending all that time in the lab. I dunno. I have mixed feelings about it. I just don't want to do mediocre on the boards and then realize that there is something I could have done differently 🙁

😱 We had 5 exams all of second year...every 3 weeks sounds like hell to me, but I guess you'll probably have less info to worry about per exam.

 

[Suncrusher]

...
3) No. If you're going to take a month off you should just wait until MS2 to start.
...

yuck... I'm going abroad for a month this summer (my M1 summer) and I really need an option to set my GT to "vacation mode" so that I don't come back and have a bajillion questions/day

 

[GTP]

😱 We had 5 exams all of second year...every 3 weeks sounds like hell to me, but I guess you'll probably have less info to worry about per exam.

Lol are you serious? I thought 3 exams a month was AWESOME because we currently average 5-7 exams per month right now in ms1. This excludes quizzes. Wish I was at your school 🙁

 

[GTP]

I'd at the very least try to get most things banked from 1st year over summer. Even if you only commit 1-2 hours per day doing questions and banking cards it'll pay off in the long term. I think it's important not to burn out before 2nd year and find some time between research and GT to relax.. but you don't want to be banking everything from 1st year during second year or you will have a difficult time reaching 100% banked by your dedicated study time. Banking 1st year over summer will help you reinforce the info now, and free up time to start Qbanks once you are 100% banked.

Thanks. I'm doing basic science research so I have some time off in between experiments. And my bus ride is like one hour. Does gt work offline? I'm signing up for the one month trial in June. 🙂 yay. Do gt, Pathoma and DIT complement each other well? I'm just nervous about getting stuck watching a whole bunch of videos. I already skip all classes so I can watch them later at 2.5 x speed. Thoughts?

 

[nopo18]

Thanks. I'm doing basic science research so I have some time off in between experiments. And my bus ride is like one hour. Does gt work offline? I'm signing up for the one month trial in June. 🙂 yay. Do gt, Pathoma and DIT complement each other well? I'm just nervous about getting stuck watching a whole bunch of videos. I already skip all classes so I can watch them later at 2.5 x speed. Thoughts?

No GT doesn't work offline, if you have a phone w/ Internet you can use it like that... I am unsure about DIT. At the least you can utilize that time for FA studying

 

[lrkoehle]

Lol are you serious? I thought 3 exams a month was AWESOME because we currently average 5-7 exams per month right now in ms1. This excludes quizzes. Wish I was at your school 🙁

That's brutal. It sounds like you're basically always studying for an upcoming exam. I'm guessing you're on a traditional curriculum with biochem, cell bio, anatomy, etc. all separate, so each course has it's own exams. We're on an integrated, systems based curriculum, and second year each block basically just has one exam. It makes each individual exam much more high stakes (read: stressful), but the first couple weeks of a new block are nice when you don't have anything for like 7 weeks. First year we had exams more frequently though. I think second year they want those high stakes exams, where a bad day = a failed block, to prepare us for Step-I. Stay strong though, you'll make it through (and be stronger for it), and then we all get to suffer through basically the same hellish 3rd year rotations. 🙄

 

[iCY]

has anyone else noticed a ridiculous increase in clinical vignettes in the review schedule? I say more than half of my questions now are vignetes. I can't decide if I should be pissed off or not. Because most of them are fairly straight forward, except for 2 problem onces I came across. One asked which of the following was true & I had to waste time reading 4 wrong concepts (i'd rather do a which is false, that way you learn faster...), also a 2nd question had an answer that was FOUR PARAGRAPHS LONG, Uworld style, it was VERY OFF PUTTING, tl dr....

anyway, i'm leaning towards getting pissed off, I was planning on banking everything for my test, but from the looks of it, i'm going to be sticking to banking certain subjects, & doing the rest in anki or something.

 

[Gunneria]

Hey guys, someone suggested using Pathoma videos with GT...how does GT path compare with FA path (are there any serious omissions to be concerned about?)

Thanks.

 

[loveoforganic]

has anyone else noticed a ridiculous increase in clinical vignettes in the review schedule? I say more than half of my questions now are vignetes. I can't decide if I should be pissed off or not. Because most of them are fairly straight forward, except for 2 problem onces I came across. One asked which of the following was true & I had to waste time reading 4 wrong concepts (i'd rather do a which is false, that way you learn faster...), also a 2nd question had an answer that was FOUR PARAGRAPHS LONG, Uworld style, it was VERY OFF PUTTING, tl dr....

anyway, i'm leaning towards getting pissed off, I was planning on banking everything for my test, but from the looks of it, i'm going to be sticking to banking certain subjects, & doing the rest in anki or something.

I have mixed vibes. I like seeing them the first couple times because it puts stuff in a new more applied presentation. I also like them after that because it puts another set of words to memorize the stuff in. However, I'm still very unburdened by my daily Q's. During second year, I definitely see myself doing the vignettes maybe to mastery and then once more if I keep mastery, and then just putting them in the 'P' category (it's there, so use it - you can tailor the q's to what you want them to be)

 

[Brotato]

Hey guys, someone suggested using Pathoma videos with GT...how does GT path compare with FA path (are there any serious omissions to be concerned about?)

Thanks.

A newbie who has some basic questions is one thing. A person who continually asks for a detailed breakdown of every minutiae, and who shows no willingness or ability to figure things out on his own is another thing altogether. It is clear that you want your hand held.

When you keep asking these extremely nit picky questions nonstop, it becomes very annoying fast. I'm sure you're aware of this. Therefore, it should not surprise you that people have stopped taking your posts seriously.

Want to change that? Try contributing something to the thread (ie. giving insight, opinions, or support) instead of asking for aid nonstop. Social graces do matter even online my fiend.