Gunner Training?

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[loveoforganic]

I'm definitely doing Kaplan because we get that for free at my school. I'm still deciding whether or not I can handle rx at the same time. There is no reset feature, and it's not cheap. Kaplan for sure. Do u have any thoughts about rx?

I'm not sure I'll even manage to get through just Kaplan during the year. If you could somehow pull off both Kaplan and Rx during the school year, it would be quite impressive. I certainly wouldn't buy it until you've done some Qbank and feel like you have the time for it, unless you're just swimming in money. In which case, buy me Qbank.

 

[GTP]

FYI, that's not 100% true.

Are you referring to the Australian dude who emailed back and fourth till they grudgingly reset his account? I don't know if that will work for me though.

 

[Brotato]

Are you referring to the Australian dude who emailed back and fourth till they grudgingly reset his account? I don't know if that will work for me though.

Yeah I don't think you'd sound convincing enough without an Australian accent bro. And by 'bro' I mean 'mate'.

 

[GTP]

I'm not sure I'll even manage to get through just Kaplan during the year. If you could somehow pull off both Kaplan and Rx during the school year, it would be quite impressive. I certainly wouldn't buy it until you've done some Qbank and feel like you have the time for it, unless you're just swimming in money. In which case, buy me Qbank.

Lol quite the opposite. I'm pinching pennies. I know I definitely want to do at least gt, rx, Kaplan, combank/comquest, and Uworld. I will have Kaplan/gt completed before dedicated study time for sure. We have about 7-9 weeks worth of holidays during second year before board studying even begins. I'm shooting for a really high score. But im not one to do things last minute. That makes me anxious actually, and it messes up my productivity when i see huge piles of work to do. I don't want to be stuck doing major Qbanks like world and rx in the same month. How far in advance do people usually start Uworld?

 

[GTP]

Yeah I don't think you'd sound convincing enough without an Australian accent bro. And by 'bro' I mean 'mate'.

Lolz. All these decisions about whether or not to buy Qbanks in advance are driving me nuts

 

[Brotato]

Lolz. All these decisions about whether or not to buy Qbanks in advance are driving me nuts

Lol why? You said yourself that you get Kaplan qbank for free. So just do that and finish it. THEN worry about the others. Don't get ahead of yourself. Finish the free one you got first.

 

[loveoforganic]

People generally do at most 2 blocks UW q's a day (during dedicated study time), and there are over 2000 q's. Each block has slightly less than 50 questions, so figure at least 20 days to get through UWorld. Obviously, I haven't done these Qbanks, but that seems to me like it's probably too much. I'd probably knock out either Rx or Qbank. Unless you're not at a DO school and are just doing combank to do even more questions. In which case drop that. Get further opinions though.

 

[JackShephard MD]

Lol quite the opposite. I'm pinching pennies. I know I definitely want to do at least gt, rx, Kaplan, combank/comquest, and Uworld. I will have Kaplan/gt completed before dedicated study time for sure. We have about 7-9 weeks worth of holidays during second year before board studying even begins. I'm shooting for a really high score. But im not one to do things last minute. That makes me anxious actually, and it messes up my productivity when i see huge piles of work to do. I don't want to be stuck doing major Qbanks like world and rx in the same month. How far in advance do people usually start Uworld?

Yeah, right now I'm ~40% banked and am deciding if I will continue GT or do a few passes of the 3 major qbanks + GT qbank + other qbooks. I'm not as ambitious in my score as most, I'm not shooting for 250+ but obviously I'd be happy with it. Rx will reset if you ask them if you have a 12 month subscription. Like was said above, if you're doing GT then 1 qbank alongside is plenty. You can use too many resources.

 

[GTP]

People generally do at most 2 blocks UW q's a day (during dedicated study time), and there are over 2000 q's. Each block has slightly less than 50 questions, so figure at least 20 days to get through UWorld. Obviously, I haven't done these Qbanks, but that seems to me like it's probably too much. I'd probably knock out either Rx or Qbank. Unless you're not at a DO school and are just doing combank to do even more questions. In which case drop that. Get further opinions though.

I am at a DO school. Though I'll be writing Usmle first, I want to do the comlex Qbanks prior to that. Lots of people have said those Qbanks also helped with Usmle. I will probably have no choice anyway since I'll be doing them maybe 3 days apart

 

[GTP]

Yeah, right now I'm ~40% banked and am deciding if I will continue GT or do a few passes of the 3 major qbanks + GT qbank + other qbooks. I'm not as ambitious in my score as most, I'm not shooting for 250+ but obviously I'd be happy with it. Rx will reset if you ask them if you have a 12 month subscription. Like was said above, if you're doing GT then 1 qbank alongside is plenty. You can use too many resources.

Yea I think this + brotato's idea makes sense. I'll stick with gt and Kaplan during the school year and then work on the rest during dedicated study time. I would be really upset if I paid for rx for a year and don't end up using it till march. So broke :-(

 

[Gunneria]

Great discussion guys about which supplemental qbanks to use because its been boggling me as well given the limited time and what to master...JackShephard, Im in the same boat as you, not crazy ambitious, 240-250 range is enough for me...so I'm curious, but based on what you heard, what do you guys think about just doing UWorld starting day 1 2nd year just like 5-10 questions a day and using it solely as a learning tool which is what most people say the purpose of UWorld is...At least getting a long-term comprehensive pass of UWorld would feel nice before perhaps getting a second UWorld pass + some NBMEs during dedicated study time. I guess my only concern is can we handle/rate the difficulty of UWorld questions with our baseline first year knowledge where we can perhaps just start off with easy questions (i.e.- strictly 1st yr course stuff) or is UWorld is too integrative where we don't have the knowledge base to understand it?

 

[WarriorMD]

Anyone know if the extra glycogen storage diseases and the extra info in that section are HY or not?

I've been annotating FA with Gunner and some of the stuff I annotate is pretty helpful in explaining little tidbits FA just skims the surface on.

But for these Glycogen Storage Diseases it includes Anderson's and Hers' which I did review in kaplan, but I dont see in FA so not sure if I should add them.

There's also a WHOOOOOOLE bunch of details on the pathophys/biochem of Von Gierke's and Pompe's that's not included in FA, wondering if I should add it or not.

ex: hyperuricemia in VG, lactate decreasing uric acid excretion in kidneys etc...

 

[dragon529]

In case people haven't logged into GT today yet... They're launching Firecracker, new platform, new interface, and promising step2 materials coming later this year... GT (or FC) is getting better by the day!

http://blog.firecracker.me/happy-4th-of-july-from-firecracker/

 

[JackShephard MD]

In case people haven't logged into GT today yet... They're launching Firecracker, new platform, new interface, and promising step2 materials coming later this year... GT (or FC) is getting better by the day!

http://blog.firecracker.me/happy-4th-of-july-from-firecracker/

Smart rebranding move. The name GT has always been a bit lame and to many it can be negative. They are becoming a bigger player in this market but Uworld is still king.

 

[GTP]

I just hope it's tested adequately before they make us all switch

 

[Alvarez13]

I need to start my step 2 studying! Rawr!

 

[Gunneria]

yessssss ITS ABOUT TIME...my favorite feature of firecracker hands down is going to be this:

"Settings
Your settings help control what's in your calendar; you can change them as often as you like.

Daily Question Cap: 100 Qs/day

Days Off: Mon Tues Wed Thur Fri Sat Sun"

 

[loveoforganic]

I don't really get how the question cap would work. If you're banking it, you need to eventually do it one way or another...

For the days off - I would prefer the ability to just bump all the cards back one day than take a day off every week, but I assume they'll have the ability to do that worked in somehow.

 

[ipizzy]

I'm happy to finally get a peek at the step 2 content!

 

[JackShephard MD]

This is why they haven't implemented any changes in months on the GT site.

Finally took a second to sign up for firecracker... this looks pretty cool. If they can integrate Step 1 + Step 2 info, then that would be helpful for those transitioning. I like this company + spaced repetition yet I always have trouble trusting the program...

Looks like someone should create a new thread called Firecracker, lol.

Don't know how much you guys have looked at the site, but it looks like you will be able to create your own flash cards (huge) and they will be an ability to share your deck with other users. That's a game changing feature IMO.

Site looks amazing.

 

[nopo18]

This is why they haven't implemented any changes in months on the GT site.

Finally took a second to sign up for firecracker... this looks pretty cool. If they can integrate Step 1 + Step 2 info, then that would be helpful for those transitioning. I like this company + spaced repetition yet I always have trouble trusting the program...

Looks like someone should create a new thread called Firecracker, lol.

Don't know how much you guys have looked at the site, but it looks like you will be able to create your own flash cards (huge) and they will be an ability to share your deck with other users. That's a game changing feature IMO.

Site looks amazing.

Must agree. this is looking like a HUGE leap forward.

It's non-functional right now for everyone else right? Also... is there any step 2 material on here to look at? or is it just Step1 GT material still? i imagine they are just doing this to show us what it'll be like in the future..

EDIT: If you want to see step 2 material.. click topics, at the top you will see an upside-down triable (Common 'filter' symbol) click the box next to it that says clinical clerkships, scroll down.. Enjoy. Also check out the quiz building sections... looking AMAZING.

 

[secants]

Quickly checked it out and I agree they really have gone above and beyond any of my expectations. I just hope they roll out step 2 soon since most of us will be starting our rotations soon.

If they ever offer an IPO, I'll be the first to jump on it.

 

[Brotato]

Just checked out the Step 2 topics....very nice. But a lot of the Step 2 cards seem to be 90% the same as their Step 1 version just with a few lines of added info about Dx. Not sure how many will be like this.

 

[loveoforganic]

Just checked out the Step 2 topics....very nice. But a lot of the Step 2 cards seem to be 90% the same as their Step 1 version just with a few lines of added info about Dx. Not sure how many will be like this.

They had some info on treatment too, at least on the ones I glanced at. As long as it's adequate for step 2, the more step 1 info that's applicable the better as far as I'm concerned

 

[JackShephard MD]

Just checked out the Step 2 topics....very nice. But a lot of the Step 2 cards seem to be 90% the same as their Step 1 version just with a few lines of added info about Dx. Not sure how many will be like this.

That's a benefit if we are just building on previous info.

 

[loveoforganic]

Quickly checked it out and I agree they really have gone above and beyond any of my expectations. I just hope they roll out step 2 soon since most of us will be starting our rotations soon.

If they ever offer an IPO, I'll be the first to jump on it.

I looked into their pay for employees, and they prefer to offer stock options, so I assume they're public, but I don't know what their ticker symbols are. I've debated the investment - they have a great product and vision but pretty tight niche in my eyes.

Also, I know nothing about stocks.

 

[JackShephard MD]

I looked into their pay for employees, and they prefer to offer stock options, so I assume they're public, but I don't know what their ticker symbols are. I've debated the investment - they have a great product and vision but pretty tight niche in my eyes.

Also, I know nothing about stocks.

Fyi, stock options! = public

They are just offering ownership of the company. It can still be private stock if they so chose. Going public isn't very simple, you have to make your financials accessible to everyone and it can make company moves more restrictive.

 

[loveoforganic]

Ah ok, thanks, there was a good reason for my disclaimer at the end of my post 😛 Didn't realize there were private stocks as well. Not to derail this thread completely, but how are the value of private stocks determined?

 

[ooitsrich]

hi everyone! i'm really interested in trying GT, does anyone happen to have a code for a free month of GT? on the website i was only able to find a 2-week trial. thanks!

 

[WarriorMD]

Making your own flashcards = WIN!!

Now I can just use the pre-made ones I like, any Q's I dont like I can make my own card or just omit them. This is exactly what I needed! Step 1 motivation and confidence just went up 10 points😀

 

[JackShephard MD]

Ah ok, thanks, there was a good reason for my disclaimer at the end of my post 😛 Didn't realize there were private stocks as well. Not to derail this thread completely, but how are the value of private stocks determined?

Well, just like any other stock. It's a % ownership in the company. So typically, there would be a certain # of shares of the stock which would total full ownership. They can always create additional shares of company stock and then offer % of the new stock to current owners.

So a stock option, in essence is just a private or public % ownership of the company. They can set a price or just say you own X shares of the company stock. It's completely unregulated because it's private stock.

 

[jellybean2020]

wow this is the longest thread I'm seen on SDN.

 

[JackShephard MD]

I have to decide to stick with this program or not within a week or so.

I obviously like the spaced repetition, sometimes don't like the detail... my question is this. Do you guys feel like 3 hours a day of GT (2 hrs Q's, 1 hr banking) will take away from depth of coverage of 2nd year material? I don't doubt that this works, I just look at some of the GT users that didn't even make it through Uworld (2/3th complete) or some that wished they had time for a 2nd Uworld pass. I'm not an amazing test taker, hence focusing more on prep and admittedly would like that 2nd Uworld pass. I guess the question is between depth (using multiple qbanks - doing tons of questions only in what you're studying) OR GT --> 100% banked and only using maybe 1 qbank. Obviously some do it all, but I doubt I can study that much 2nd year... need time for sports, exercise, women, life, etc.

Specific example: If I use GT, then I likely focus on banking. If I don't, I could watch Pathoma multiple times, do Kaplan + Usmlerx, etc. for all 2nd year material. Then cram the crammable subjects in march-may (think biochem/embryo/etc.). So it's that depth vs. long term memory of the essentials.

One magical thing about GT I've experience many times is not seeing a question for 30 days, then having this fuzzy feeling that the answer is: hypercalcemia, hypermagnesemia,and alkalosis... and bam, sure enough it is. Spaced repetition truly is amazing. It's encouraging to see that the company continues to innovate and make their product better, while listening to the users. Which will make Step 2 + clinical info easier to study for (obvious plus to continue with the program).

 

[dragon529]

Rising MS2 here... what I'm planning on doing during the school year is GT + pathoma +FA + kaplan qbank + school notes for exams. Then GT + FA + UWorld for dedicated study time... hopefully it'll work out

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

jack, you should get a qbank and do questions to see if GT has helped you. There really is a big difference between knowing how to apply the information and thinking you know it cause you have seen the card before.

 

[JackShephard MD]

jack, you should get a qbank and do questions to see if GT has helped you. There really is a big difference between knowing how to apply the information and thinking you know it cause you have seen the card before.

Oh, 100% agree. I'm buying Kaplan this week. Considered a 1 year UWorld or 1 year Usmlerx alongside.

What is your recommendation between focusing on multi qbanks + 1 subject vs retaining all subjects with 3 hrs a day GT? I'm interested to see everyone's scores from this year (GT users), probably will impact my decision.

 

[loveoforganic]

Rising MS2 here... what I'm planning on doing during the school year is GT + pathoma +FA + kaplan qbank + school notes for exams. Then GT + FA + UWorld for dedicated study time... hopefully it'll work out

pretty much identical to what I plan to do as well

Oh, 100% agree. I'm buying Kaplan this week. Considered a 1 year UWorld or 1 year Usmlerx alongside.

What is your recommendation between focusing on multi qbanks + 1 subject vs retaining all subjects with 3 hrs a day GT? I'm interested to see everyone's scores from this year (GT users), probably will impact my decision.

Qbank offers a trial - I just signed up for it, have done 13 q's just to try it (will finish one block). It seems like a legit program - questions are good, explanations are great, citations in FA, etc. For the 13 I've done (I know, meaningless), there are a few I nailed I wouldn't have without GT. Give the trial a go

Edit: I should add so you don't feel compelled to do GT - these could be questions I'd get right with some focused cramming as well. I feel like I'd get more of them right with GT than cramming though. How many more, I can't say obviously, having done so little.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

I haven't used GT, but I will post my scores up when I get them as a reference for future test takers.

 

[GTP]

Oh, 100% agree. I'm buying Kaplan this week. Considered a 1 year UWorld or 1 year Usmlerx alongside.

What is your recommendation between focusing on multi qbanks + 1 subject vs retaining all subjects with 3 hrs a day GT? I'm interested to see everyone's scores from this year (GT users), probably will impact my decision.

So you will be doing gt plus Kaplan PLUS uworld or rx? Damn. Is your school pass or fail? I wanted to do gt along side two more Qbanks but I kinda like my class ranking and I'd like to keep it that way. They grade us A, B, C or F.

 

[loveoforganic]

I think his plan is the same as mine - kaplan during the year, world during dedicated time. He'll happily correct my wrongness if that's not the case though

 

[loveoforganic]

pretty much identical to what I plan to do as well



Qbank offers a trial - I just signed up for it, have done 13 q's just to try it (will finish one block). It seems like a legit program - questions are good, explanations are great, citations in FA, etc. For the 13 I've done (I know, meaningless), there are a few I nailed I wouldn't have without GT. Give the trial a go

Edit: I should add so you don't feel compelled to do GT - these could be questions I'd get right with some focused cramming as well. I feel like I'd get more of them right with GT than cramming though. How many more, I can't say obviously, having done so little.

Just to follow up on this - finished the block of Q's (pooled from behavioral, biochem, biostats, embryo, genetics, gross, molecular bio, and histo and phys). Made a couple dumb mistakes, but came out at 65% for the block (57% being their mean). Anatomy and embryo, GT was noticeably muy bueno for - behavioral noticeably weak. Small sample size of questions (46), but at least something. I was just getting a feel for it, so I didn't annotate or anything, but it went fast - I could see doing 3-4 blocks a day without a problem during dedicated study time. That would potentially make enough time to do something like knock out Rx in a couple weeks or so. Give the trial a go and let me know what you think - seems pretty quality to me. Qutorial in particular is a pretty cool feature

 

[JackShephard MD]

So you will be doing gt plus Kaplan PLUS uworld or rx? Damn. Is your school pass or fail? I wanted to do gt along side two more Qbanks but I kinda like my class ranking and I'd like to keep it that way. They grade us A, B, C or F.

I think his plan is the same as mine - kaplan during the year, world during dedicated time. He'll happily correct my wrongness if that's not the case though

Here's what I would be deciding between:

Option 1
M2: GT + qbank
Dedicated: uworld + qbank (x2)

Option 2
M2: Uworld - Kaplan qbank - usmlerx - (+ books like Robbins Review qbook or other qbooks) I.e. massive questions
Dedicated: Uworld (x2 or x3) Kaplan x2 usmlerx x2

I think they would take similar amount of time.

I guess it comes down to if I would rather only single pass something like Uworld or not. I know Lrk didn't even finish Uworld once likely because of GT time commitment, and Alv said that he wished he started Uworld earlier and got to do a second pass or more. The only argument for my #2, would be likely knowing more than the facts - i.e. application + depth. The choice is: will a ton of questions during the dedicated study time + FA review lead to memorizing all the stuff anyway? I mean, having biochem memorized 8 months out is fine and dandy, but all that matters is that you know it the day you take the exam.

If I did use option 2, then I think I would be using anki for about 10-20% of the test. The nice thing about GT is making no cards and not having to organize all the material (i.e. more time spent studying). I know 2-3 hours a day for GT will sacrifice depth in my M2 material (doing 3 qbanks in M2 = depth/repetition) but I have to decide if losing that is worth having all GT memorized/mastered. Thanks for the feedback all. I honestly think both strategies will work, so it will come down to what is easier or more tolerable. The one thing in favor of option 2 is that it will focus more on high yield material, in reality GT has no difference between high yield path and low-yield embryo, they are all banked material. Qbanks will focus more on higher yield info typically, so you see the high yield info 7 different times and the lower yield info only a few times.

 

[GTP]

Yeah thanks for posting this jack Shepard. I'm basically deciding between those two options as well. Please respond people! Lol. My gt account needs to be renewed or not by the 7th. The only difference is that my option two would also have fa and pathoma during ms2 and possibly dit during dedicated study time Thanks in advance 🙂

 

[TrueAntagonist]

I'm a rising M2 and just got GT's free trial.

First off, I LOVE the concept of spaced learning and feel like it's the proper way of prepping for a beast like Step 1. With that said, I do recognize that GT is more about obtaining/retaining the knowledge base. Uworld/qbanks will develop the conceptual/analytical skills necessary.

In terms of actual efficacy of GT, I've looked but couldn't find too many Step 1 stats from people who used GT religiously. If anyone has these off the top of their head, it'd be great.

Finally, is the consensus on the thread to do around 4-5 flashcards a day (and bank corresponding questions)? Dedicating 2 hours a day to GT is more than doable for me, given my schedule/program. I also wanted to finish banking 100% by march 2013.

Thanks and sorry if this post comes off a little neurotic...don't wanna throw away granules of $$ and devote a ton of time to something that may not be worth it...

 

[Gunneria]

Guys, I'm in the same boat....here's my strategy for how I'm going to approach this problem. It relies on just sticking GT out for the following reasons:

The first reality I care about is this is the score itself, I'm not an IMG or DO (not sure where you guys are at) so if we are shooting for the top residencies than a 245-255 range is the cutoff wow threshold for ortho, derm, plastics, rad onc and a 260, 270, 280 isn't going to make or break the deal (reccs, pubs, connections, 3rd year grades WAY more imp at that point)....different story perhaps for DOs or IMGs trying to make it big and standout

The second reality is this, FA+UWORLD, FA+UWORLD ought to be at the CORE of what you need to master and understand entering the test. Those are the CORE, must-know backbones. Look at the step 1 experiences and what people say, its better to be 100% in these than anything else and I am confident if we master these, then we should be gold for the actual test. Knowing AND understanding these two cold I am going to speculate should get you in the 235-240+ range. The other qbanks are great for practice but not reflective of the real exam. The NBMEs and UWorld come the closest. Hence, doing more questions doesn't necessarily translate into better performance on the test. I strongly believe doing the RIGHT questions does and in terms of time invested/points earned just knowing one qbank cold (UWorld, over 2000 questions) > being a question answering machine like Philoston. Hence I think if you want to get 2-3x passes, it would be beneficial to start UWorld (just 5-10 questions a night and knowing them perfectly) during the start of 2nd year. I'm sure if we have 50% of GT banked, we should at least be able to select easy 1st year stuff to do and by the time January rolls around and path and pharm are over, we can do the really hard path/pharm questions.

The third reality is that PATH is 75% of the test hence it merits a supplemental resource. I think PATH and physio are the two most conceptually-bound subjects where learning the mechanisms/doing problems are MORE important vs. just memorizing. Micro/Biochem/Anatomy/Immuno were all memorizable subjects. Hence I feel like BRS phys and Pathoma (the book with lectures) + Robbins Q and A book + maybe some kaplan qbank problems + Goljan audio are the way to annihilate the beast during the school year to answer any question being tossed at you for boards. Pathoma and BRS phys are something that can be easily supplemented during boards prep. Additionally I think GT path, pharm should be banked as you go along with classes (I compared path in pathoma with GT path and FA path and they go hand in hand and it would be like banking FA path) and should be prioritized during your daily questions. I don't think you need to necessarily read the GT cards (I plan on reading Pathoma and annotating class notes onto Pathoma and using BRS phys/Pathoma as my "GT cards" in an essence because they provide better meaning and conceptualization of basically the most important section on step so its better to know this WELL)

Personally, I've been banking GT cards while watching Kaplan Videos this summer to fully master the material and understand the conceptual aspects behind the GT cards. It's been great to obtain this holistic study approach and I think the bigger questions you need to ask yourself is this:
a.) Is the tradeoff of Kaplan QBank and Rx questions > doing daily GT questions.
b.) Will Kaplan QBank and Rx provide me any base to better perform on UWorld, NBME (better Qbank gaugers of the USMLE)
-> Personally I think you need a knowledgebase in order to do QBanks. People may disagree, but I think its foolish to just to start out doing Qbanks during the year on stuff I forgot, arduously read the explanations, forget most of it by the time I start UWorld later on in the year. It would be hard to just rely on Kaplan and Rx QBanks with randomly scattered high yield info questions and use the explanations as my knowledgebase. I would pick GT over Qbanks as the priority hands down because it allows me to master FA AND at least get one-step problems during my review questions than difficult Kaplan QBank questions over the top of my head.

If ANYTHING, do these qbanks later on during the road AFTER your first pass of UWorld and before your second pass of UWorld during dedicated study time.

The point is, GT and qbanks are both a time investment and you need to make a sacrifice and common ground that maximizes on learning All the high-yield (FA+UWorld) and some medium-yield (those added details in GT) the most efficient way.

GT/UWorld/Pathoma, BRS Phys, Robbins Q+A, Kaplan Path QBank FTW for 2nd year

As a sidenote, lets hope the firecracker interface will be ready by the time MS2 starts where we can customize our GT schedule....if thats the case then that clinches the benefit of doing GT

 

[GTP]

Guys, I'm in the same boat....here's my strategy for how I'm going to approach this problem. It relies on just sticking GT out for the following reasons:

The first reality I care about is this is the score itself, I'm not an IMG or DO (not sure where you guys are at) so if we are shooting for the top residencies than a 245-255 range is the cutoff wow threshold for ortho, derm, plastics, rad onc and a 260, 270, 280 isn't going to make or break the deal (reccs, pubs, connections, 3rd year grades WAY more imp at that point)....different story perhaps for DOs or IMGs trying to make it big and standout

The second reality is this, FA+UWORLD, FA+UWORLD ought to be at the CORE of what you need to master and understand entering the test. Those are the CORE, must-know backbones. Look at the step 1 experiences and what people say, its better to be 100% in these than anything else and I am confident if we master these, then we should be gold for the actual test. Knowing AND understanding these two cold I am going to speculate should get you in the 235-240+ range. The other qbanks are great for practice but not reflective of the real exam. The NBMEs and UWorld come the closest. Hence, doing more questions doesn't necessarily translate into better performance on the test. I strongly believe doing the RIGHT questions does and in terms of time invested/points earned just knowing one qbank cold (UWorld, over 2000 questions) > being a question answering machine like Philoston. Hence I think if you want to get 2-3x passes, it would be beneficial to start UWorld (just 5-10 questions a night and knowing them perfectly) during the start of 2nd year. I'm sure if we have 50% of GT banked, we should at least be able to select easy 1st year stuff to do and by the time January rolls around and path and pharm are over, we can do the really hard path/pharm questions.

The third reality is that PATH is 75% of the test hence it merits a supplemental resource. I think PATH and physio are the two most conceptually-bound subjects where learning the mechanisms/doing problems are MORE important vs. just memorizing. Micro/Biochem/Anatomy/Immuno were all memorizable subjects. Hence I feel like BRS phys and Pathoma (the book with lectures) + Robbins Q and A book + maybe some kaplan qbank problems + Goljan audio are the way to annihilate the beast during the school year to answer any question being tossed at you for boards. Pathoma and BRS phys are something that can be easily supplemented during boards prep. Additionally I think GT path, pharm should be banked as you go along with classes (I compared path in pathoma with GT path and FA path and they go hand in hand and it would be like banking FA path) and should be prioritized during your daily questions. I don't think you need to necessarily read the GT cards (I plan on reading Pathoma and annotating class notes onto Pathoma and using BRS phys/Pathoma as my "GT cards" in an essence because they provide better meaning and conceptualization of basically the most important section on step so its better to know this WELL)

Personally, I've been banking GT cards while watching Kaplan Videos this summer to fully master the material and understand the conceptual aspects behind the GT cards. It's been great to obtain this holistic study approach and I think the bigger questions you need to ask yourself is this:
a.) Is the tradeoff of Kaplan QBank and Rx questions > doing daily GT questions.
b.) Will Kaplan QBank and Rx provide me any base to better perform on UWorld, NBME (better Qbank gaugers of the USMLE)
-> Personally I think you need a knowledgebase in order to do QBanks. People may disagree, but I think its foolish to just to start out doing Qbanks during the year on stuff I forgot, arduously read the explanations, forget most of it by the time I start UWorld later on in the year. It would be hard to just rely on Kaplan and Rx QBanks with randomly scattered high yield info questions and use the explanations as my knowledgebase. I would pick GT over Qbanks as the priority hands down because it allows me to master FA AND at least get one-step problems during my review questions than difficult Kaplan QBank questions over the top of my head.

If ANYTHING, do these qbanks later on during the road AFTER your first pass of UWorld and before your second pass of UWorld during dedicated study time.

The point is, GT and qbanks are both a time investment and you need to make a sacrifice and common ground that maximizes on learning All the high-yield (FA+UWorld) and some medium-yield (those added details in GT) the most efficient way.

GT/UWorld/Pathoma, BRS Phys, Robbins Q+A, Kaplan Path QBank FTW for 2nd year

As a sidenote, lets hope the firecracker interface will be ready by the time MS2 starts where we can customize our GT schedule....if thats the case then that clinches the benefit of doing GT

Thanks gunneria. This is one vote for gt over doing Qbanks early. Any other takers?

 

[MoistHands]

I have not taken any NBME or SA's or Uworld (also also I am an IMG) but this is what I felt...

GT helps memorization and it was a great supplement to First Aid for Embryo, Immuno, Biochem, Micro, Pharm, General Path and Anat (still working on Anat).

When I tried banking Phys/Path I realised it was not helping me and second read of BRS Phys, Pathoma seemed more lucrative. (out of context but do read Goljan after Pathoma... Pathoma simplifies Goljan)

So, I am 50% banked right now and I will not bank anything else except Anat that is left out.

Definitely do KQbank and UsmleRx over banking Phys/Pathophys on GT.... and KQbank is probably the best thing to keep your ass on fire...

All the above are personal opinions from an amateur.

PS: If there is no time crunch do it all. Banking more on GT would not hurt.
PPS: Experiment with your study resources, see what works best for you, trust your instincts and stick with your plan.

 

[dontFREToverit]

haven't really been following this since taking the test in june, but just wanted to say that I can name 4 or 5 anatomy questions I knew from GT that were not in first aid. as far as questions that are difficult because of obscure facts and not because of the need to think critically, GT anatomy was surprisingly high-yield

 

[JackShephard MD]

I have not taken any NBME or SA's or Uworld (also also I am an IMG) but this is what I felt...

GT helps memorization and it was a great supplement to First Aid for Embryo, Immuno, Biochem, Micro, Pharm, General Path and Anat (still working on Anat).

When I tried banking Phys/Path I realised it was not helping me and second read of BRS Phys, Pathoma seemed more lucrative. (out of context but do read Goljan after Pathoma... Pathoma simplifies Goljan)

So, I am 50% banked right now and I will not bank anything else except Anat that is left out.

Definitely do KQbank and UsmleRx over banking Phys/Pathophys on GT.... and KQbank is probably the best thing to keep your ass on fire...

All the above are personal opinions from an amateur.

PS: If there is no time crunch do it all. Banking more on GT would not hurt.
PPS: Experiment with your study resources, see what works best for you, trust your instincts and stick with your plan.

Interesting strategy, just bank memory heavy and do Qs instead of banking physio + path.

Might be best of both worlds. Thx for input.

 

[JackShephard MD]

haven't really been following this since taking the test in june, but just wanted to say that I can name 4 or 5 anatomy questions I knew from GT that were not in first aid. as far as questions that are difficult because of obscure facts and not because of the need to think critically, GT anatomy was surprisingly high-yield

What about the rest of the exam? I agree on anatomy, it's a solid memory based section.