Gunners unite!!!

[neuromaniac]

Okay so I'm going to share my thoughts/plan for my board prep. First off, us gunners work hard, and we don't need someone to hold our hand through board prep.

I will take USMLE and COMLEX in 2012. I'm about to start MS-2 in the fall. From August - December I will use Gunner Training (GT) to reinforce my knowledge from MS-1 and to test myself over MS-2 knowledge. Each organ system I study in school will correlate to which GT flashcard I'm using, so, if I'm studying Cardiology in school I'll use GT to help me learn cardiology for boards and for what is important at school (I believe in the process of retaining information via GT rather than passively perusing through FA not testing myself along the way)--unless you are a savant of course. Also, if you find an error in GT that means you know the information. It's not good when there are errors but if you recognize them you know the information cold.

Also during the MS-2 fall, I will use FA and Kaplan and U-World Q-Banks and RR Path. My pathology professor uses RR Path. Instead of overkill, I will only do 46 questions each Saturday and run through the explanations for each question. Nothing more especially since I haven't mastered pathology, yet... The reason for using GT is it is affordable, it tests you, it gives you a schedule, it has spaced learning, and it is very flexible with MS-2 year. But like I said the Q-banks will be kaplan and u-world and I will do kaplan one week, u- world the next week, etc.

When I get to winter break I will probably scratch GT and start DIT course, and get the FA 2012. At this point (spring) I will be going strong on the Q-banks and learning everything they have to offer, use RR Path, and FA. I do not know the details of the spring, yet, but my fall is:

go through GT everyday along with my FA 2011 (just to learn something new or reinforce something) and if i get tired of it ill quit for a day . read my RR path. do my questions ONLY on saturday (I don't want overkill).

I hope this will be sufficient for the Fall 2011. FA, GT, RR Path, U-World and Kaplan! What do you all think? am I crazy? stupid? or is it not gunner enough? let me know what you think so I can improve my schedule

Best of

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[Daedra22]

I'm basically doing the same thing as you (also will be taking COMLEX + USMLE). I wouldn't consider myself a gunner thus far in school, but I will definitely be going all-out to study for classes and use board materials along the way... I'm shooting for 240+. Here's hoping.

 

[HristosKaran]

I am also a 2nd year student who will be taking the COMLEX and USMLE. I'm really liking your method of studying for the next year and I plan to do something VERY similar. Start with GT and then move on to USMLE WORLD and Kaplan Q bank in the 2nd semester. Are you guys planning on taking the in-class Kaplan course?? Most 2nd years told me it was a waste of time, but they ended up doing excellent on boards, so not sure if my time would be better utilized elsewhere.

GT and FA are definitely feasible to use while going through M2, but I'm worried about my time constraints, b/c I had little free time in M1 to use other sources, although they may have helped along the way. Best of Luck!

 

[lrkoehle]

Maybe I misunderstood, but why are you going to stop GT in the spring? Doesn't DIT just go over FA and give you some questions to do? That's basically what GT does. Other than this, I think we have pretty similar study plans.

 

[zebalong]

I think the plan is decent except doing GT for only a few months doesn't seem worth it.

GT takes a lot of time to really fully utilize it - a year's worth of it seems more practical.

 

[richse]

Okay so I'm going to share my thoughts/plan for my board prep. First off, us gunners work hard, and we don't need someone to hold our hand through board prep.

I will take USMLE and COMLEX in 2012. I'm about to start MS-2 in the fall. From August - December I will use Gunner Training (GT) to reinforce my knowledge from MS-1 and to test myself over MS-2 knowledge. Each organ system I study in school will correlate to which GT flashcard I'm using, so, if I'm studying Cardiology in school I'll use GT to help me learn cardiology for boards and for what is important at school (I believe in the process of retaining information via GT rather than passively perusing through FA not testing myself along the way)--unless you are a savant of course. Also, if you find an error in GT that means you know the information. It's not good when there are errors but if you recognize them you know the information cold.

Also during the MS-2 fall, I will use FA and Kaplan and U-World Q-Banks and RR Path. My pathology professor uses RR Path. Instead of overkill, I will only do 46 questions each Saturday and run through the explanations for each question. Nothing more especially since I haven't mastered pathology, yet... The reason for using GT is it is affordable, it tests you, it gives you a schedule, it has spaced learning, and it is very flexible with MS-2 year. But like I said the Q-banks will be kaplan and u-world and I will do kaplan one week, u- world the next week, etc.

When I get to winter break I will probably scratch GT and start DIT course, and get the FA 2012. At this point (spring) I will be going strong on the Q-banks and learning everything they have to offer, use RR Path, and FA. I do not know the details of the spring, yet, but my fall is:

go through GT everyday along with my FA 2011 (just to learn something new or reinforce something) and if i get tired of it ill quit for a day . read my RR path. do my questions ONLY on saturday (I don't want overkill).

I hope this will be sufficient for the Fall 2011. FA, GT, RR Path, U-World and Kaplan! What do you all think? am I crazy? stupid? or is it not gunner enough? let me know what you think so I can improve my schedule

Best of

Your schedule is ambitious. but it seems very thorough and even if you do 75% of it you will do great on both exams. I just want to point out that you are really misusing the word "gunner." During MS1 I also thought gunner meant people who study really hard and do well. Now that I'm an MS3 I realize the true meaning of gunner. There has to be a component of screwing over someone else for the actions to be labeled gunner. For part of my first block there was a hardcore gunner on my team and it's a pretty terrible experience.

 

[neuromaniac]

I think gunner is someone who guns to do the best they can do. A sniper is someone who tries to take someone out. But I will respect your opinion and I'm not going to get into a debate about semantics haha.

I know I will not use Kaplan courses. In fact, DIT is the only course (if any) I will have time for this year. I've heard from multiple people that doing questions is the best way to learn all this minutiae. Also, the explanations given from U-World and Kaplan are spectacular, in my opinion, and very thorough. I know for a fact that if we work hard, and do FA, Qbanks, RR Pathology, GT, and (DIT) we will rock both exams.

 

[Daedra22]

I think the plan is decent except doing GT for only a few months doesn't seem worth it.

GT takes a lot of time to really fully utilize it - a year's worth of it seems more practical.

Yeah, that's one difference with me. I think I will definitely be using GT all the way through until dedicated study time. I used it for half of first year and it helped me tremendously in classes.

I've also heard that the Kaplan review course isn't really worth it. I kind of feel like with the resources I've selected, I won't need the Kaplan... I hear DIT is way better.

 

[neuromaniac]

Yes, i agree- DIT is probably the best deal and its cheaper than kaplan

 

[DoctwoB]

Yes, i agree- DIT is probably the best deal and its cheaper than kaplan

Cheaper then kaplan, but still expensive for what it is. A person reading first aid to you and pointing out some of the more salient points. In reality you should be memorizing as much of FA as possible. If you have trouble forcing yourself to study/keep a schedule it can be helpful, but I'd rather spend the money on another qbank, GT, or pathoma.

 

[Daedra22]

^ I recently started Pathoma for my classes. It's not as detailed as I need for class, but it gives me a good starting point (especially since my school doesn't do lectures in 2nd year). I like it so far.

 

[DoctwoB]

^ I recently started Pathoma for my classes. It's not as detailed as I need for class, but it gives me a good starting point (especially since my school doesn't do lectures in 2nd year). I like it so far.

No lectures in all of second year? Interesting. Where do you go/do they do something else instead (PBLs, etc.)

 

[Daedra22]

No lectures in all of second year? Interesting. Where do you go/do they do something else instead (PBLs, etc.)

We basically have question sessions with iclickers. They recently decided to start grading them, so we really have to study 100% by ourselves instead of learning through the question sessions. I'm not a huge fan of that, since it's like having a quiz every single day. It's already burning me out.

 

[neuromaniac]

Good point. That is especially why Kaplan isn't worth it. It's expensive and they read straight off FA pretty much. DIT is good for the review questions they send you biweekly.

 

[neuromaniac]

So, in all technicality, we can succeed if we just study FA and do q-banks. But going further with it we can do better with RR Path and GT in my opinion

 

[kaleerkalut]

We basically have question sessions with iclickers. They recently decided to start grading them, so we really have to study 100% by ourselves instead of learning through the question sessions. I'm not a huge fan of that, since it's like having a quiz every single day. It's already burning me out.

Which school if you don't mind me asking!?!?

 

[Jack is Back]

From what I've read, success is easy to describe but hard to do.

• Do extremely well in class and use the high yield books (e.g. BRS physio/path, RR path, Robbins Review Path, etc.)
• In the final study period, focus only on UW + FA and know them cold.
• If you want, add an extra qbank during 2nd year (Kaplan/USMLERx/GT)

 

[Alvarez13]

Which school if you don't mind me asking!?!?

Sounds like my kind of school where ever it is. Our stupid school is having way too much mandatory attendance next year. Such a waste.

 

[seira]

Yes, i agree- DIT is probably the best deal and its cheaper than kaplan

I know nothing about quality of kaplan products but I was on the phone with a Kaplan rep recently and he told me they have new line of things coming up in few weeks. $699 for online course + q-bank from day you sign up to your test day, and $199 for q-bank + 2 self assessment from day you sign up to your test day. I am pretty excited for these to come out.

 

[seira]

^ I recently started Pathoma for my classes. It's not as detailed as I need for class, but it gives me a good starting point (especially since my school doesn't do lectures in 2nd year). I like it so far.

I am having difficulty deciding between Goljian/RR and pathoma, or both to follow with my classes. You said you think pathoma is not detailed enough for class. Do you recommend RR for class and pathoma closer to dedicated study (i'm thinking spring break)? I am very comfortable with my plan of RR with class plan until recently i discovered this pathoma thing. Now i am really unsure.

 

[Daedra22]

I am having difficulty deciding between Goljian/RR and pathoma, or both to follow with my classes. You said you think pathoma is not detailed enough for class. Do you recommend RR for class and pathoma closer to dedicated study (i'm thinking spring break)? I am very comfortable with my plan of RR with class plan until recently i discovered this pathoma thing. Now i am really unsure.

I've so far been using pathoma as an overview before I start really getting into study (basically when I'm too lazy to make myself read RR). It gives a good big-picture perspective on things, and each topic lecture tends to be pretty short, particularly if you watch at 1.7x speed. RR has more detail and so far is better as far as getting points in class, so I've been using that for more in-depth studying.

 

[neuromaniac]

I know nothing about quality of kaplan products but I was on the phone with a Kaplan rep recently and he told me they have new line of things coming up in few weeks. $699 for online course + q-bank from day you sign up to your test day, and $199 for q-bank + 2 self assessment from day you sign up to your test day. I am pretty excited for these to come out.

Will you let me know (pm me) when that happens?!? That would be awesome and very affordable!!! That makes my Friday a lot better haha.

 

[neuromaniac]

there's that old adage that the more you know the better off you'll be (speaking of tests lol). so im going with rr

 

[mommy2three]

i have rr, older classmen swear by pathoma...probably will use a combo of these for path.

i started with fa this summer, reviewing anatomy (which i struggled with and wanted to make sure i shored it up)

i got the kaplan app for my phone as well as micro and pharm flashcards.

my plan is the same...use fa and anotate during the year as we cover relevant sections, i was debating using GT, possibly adding DIT in aprilish, and start some question banks maybe mid september.

i also plan on taking both usmle and complex ad i would like to stay in the chiacgo area (hubby works here and we own our house) or nearby for residency so i will be applying to both allo and osteo residencies.

 

[neuromaniac]

I recommend doing anything that you know will help you succeed. I do know that if I overwhelm myself with all these resources it will make me not want to study which would not be good haha. But for those who read quickly and actually retain information that quick...then use all the resources out there. for me I'm sticking with RR and FA as my sole book resources. I personally believe everything will be in there. I'll use GT for my scheduled program. i'll use U-World question banks. I will NOT be using Kaplan, since I have heard others (who have done well) that U-World is the gold standard of success. DIT pending in January 2012.

So, here's a new question: is FA 2012 a better resource, in your opinion, than FA 2011, or FA 2010? Thanks

 

[mommy2three]

I recommend doing anything that you know will help you succeed. I do know that if I overwhelm myself with all these resources it will make me not want to study which would not be good haha. But for those who read quickly and actually retain information that quick...then use all the resources out there. for me I'm sticking with RR and FA as my sole book resources. I personally believe everything will be in there. I'll use GT for my scheduled program. i'll use U-World question banks. I will NOT be using Kaplan, since I have heard others (who have done well) that U-World is the gold standard of success. DIT pending in January 2012.

So, here's a new question: is FA 2012 a better resource, in your opinion, than FA 2011, or FA 2010? Thanks

i got mine at the beginning of last year so i have a 2010 edition. i looked at the list compiled by someone here on the differences and there really were not that many, more things eliminated or changed in position than added.

my plan was to pre-order the 2012 edition now so i will have it come then but use it to highlight the differences and additions i need to add, but to keep all my annotations in my 2010 edition.

i posted a thread about this and the general consensus was that the most recent edition closet to test date would give you the best picture of what to expect.