Has Sketchy improved the average Step1 score?

[sabsaf123]

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I hate just memorizing and classes like micro and pharm have a lot of pure memorization. I feel like sketchy has helped me a ton and with the advent of the zanki decks I feel like it's even more manageable to retain information. It also seems like a ton of students are using Sketchy.

So have average board scores gone up because of these new resources? Will they just make board exams harder in the future?

 

[CleverAdvisor]

I think competition to get into med has gone up, which may have resulted in better med students, which may be at least partly responsible for the increase in board scores. The exams aren't designed to fail x number of students but rather gauge your grasp of the material. If they make boards harder in the future it will be the result of increase in newly discovered scientific knowledge.
But this is all speculation

 

[MSTPlease]

Given that MCAT scores of matriculants and usmle scores were creeping up before them (and to my knowledge, the creep has not accelerated since their introduction), my guess is they have not made an appreciable impact.

 

[Dr. Death]

I hate just memorizing and classes like micro and pharm have a lot of pure memorization. I feel like sketchy has helped me a ton and with the advent of the zanki decks I feel like it's even more manageable to retain information. It also seems like a ton of students are using Sketchy.

So have average board scores gone up because of these new resources? Will they just make board exams harder in the future?

As someone who just took step 1, I can tell you that it is fairly low yield for the exam. Of the 10 or so micro questions on my exam, 3-4 could be answered by using Sketchy. In my opinion it is a far more helpful resource for class exams than boards

 

[mistafab]

I second this. It is a great resource for learning bugs. But once you know them (and take your tests), it is low yield.

Won’t comment on pharm/path.

As someone who just took step 1, I can tell you that it is fairly low yield for the exam. Of the 10 or so micro questions on my exam, 3-4 could be answered by using Sketchy. In my opinion it is a far more helpful resource for class exams than boards

 

[Rekt]

As someone who just took step 1, I can tell you that it is fairly low yield for the exam. Of the 10 or so micro questions on my exam, 3-4 could be answered by using Sketchy. In my opinion it is a far more helpful resource for class exams than boards

I second this. It is a great resource for learning bugs. But once you know them (and take your tests), it is low yield.

Won’t comment on pharm/path.

I said this a year ago after my exam but people didn't believe me. Almost all my micro was heavy on the stuff people thought was "low-yield" like all the worms/parasites/dermatophytes, etc. Pharm was still solid though.

 

[akinetopsia]

I think exam prep materials in general have improved and they're easier to access, succinct, more widely used, and provide better clarity than ever before. That's why we're seeing increases in board scores. I don't think current students became smarter than previous students, but access, ease of use, and a wide variety of prep materials to suit different learning styles (see: UWorld, FA, Pathoma, Sketchy, Boards & Beyond, Anki, Firecracker, etc. etc.) have raised the "level of the water" in the pool of students.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Honestly I've answered more than a few pimping sessions especially on peds by having had sketchy stashed away in the back of my brain. I don't think there was too much micro on my usmle. The pharm was useful for sure though.

 

[sabsaf123]

Honestly I've answered more than a few pimping sessions especially on peds by having had sketchy stashed away in the back of my brain. I don't think there was too much micro on my usmle. The pharm was useful for sure though.

Are you a DO? Would sketchy micro/pharm help me with comlex? If not then what’s the point of the zanki deck which is based off of sketchy? I was planning on doing the deck during second year but if it’s not gonna help with boards then what’s the point?

 

[Money Moniker]

I second this. It is a great resource for learning bugs. But once you know them (and take your tests), it is low yield.

I don't get it. Sketchy micro is used to learn bugs. Once you know them, sketchy has accomplished its mission. You need to know them to answer micro questions on Step I. Where in this chain of reasoning does it become apparent that Sketchy is low yield? Not trying to be a jackass, but I'm taking Step in a couple weeks and have relied almost entirely on Sketchy for pharm and micro, so hearing they're "low yield" for Step I would definitely throw a wrench in the gears of my preparation if true.

 

[Drrrrrr. Celty]

Are you a DO? Would sketchy micro/pharm help me with comlex? If not then what’s the point of the zanki deck which is based off of sketchy? I was planning on doing the deck during second year but if it’s not gonna help with boards then what’s the point?

I never used Zanki. So idk. I liked sketchy. I thought it was helpful.

 

[Ho0v-man]

When you guys are saying its low yield are talking about the different agars and catalase stuff or what?

 

[sabsaf123]

I never used Zanki. So idk. I liked sketchy. I thought it was helpful.

So when you say that there wasn't too much micro on step, is that one of the differences between comlex and step? I've heard that the main three things on comlex are path, micro and pharm. I thought that if I spent second year reviewing sketchy (for micro/pharm) and pathoma then I'd be in good shape going into boards.

 

[TheIllusionist]

low yield meaning a lot of micro questions they are asking now are pathogenesis heavy. sketchy doesn't go as hard into mechanism to be 100% on those. however, unless you were reading Robbins, there is no way you can get to close to 100% during dedicated. just learn the basics well with sketchy and first aid. your goal is to be relatively better off than others. knowing those cold will help you do better than many students. a lot of students only use them but few truly truly master them.

 

[mistafab]

This is exactly correct for my experience using sketchy micro. Step 1 doesn’t ask micro questions, they use micro to make you think about pathology. I maybe had 2 pure fact micro questions (and at this point, I may just be imagining that I did).

Step 1 doesn’t ask about bugs. That would be like a calculus course asking about algebra - it is missing the point. You needed sketchy to learn the basics but they are the basics for a reason. Sketchy micro seemed truly low yield to me after I already learned the bugs, because how could you possible NOT know at this point coagulase positive or negative, bile resistant or sensitive... etc etc etc.

Again, not commenting on sketchy pharm or path since I did not use those. But even in med school classes, after you learned the bugs, the questions with bugs in them were not about the bugs.

low yield meaning a lot of micro questions they are asking now are pathogenesis heavy. sketchy doesn't go as hard into mechanism to be 100% on those. however, unless you were reading Robbins, there is no way you can get to close to 100% during dedicated. just learn the basics well with sketchy and first aid. your goal is to be relatively better off than others. knowing those cold will help you do better than many students. a lot of students only use them but few truly truly master them.

 

[Money Moniker]

This is exactly correct for my experience using sketchy micro. Step 1 doesn’t ask micro questions, they use micro to make you think about pathology. I maybe had 2 pure fact micro questions (and at this point, I may just be imagining that I did).

Step 1 doesn’t ask about bugs. That would be like a calculus course asking about algebra - it is missing the point. You needed sketchy to learn the basics but they are the basics for a reason. Sketchy micro seemed truly low yield to me after I already learned the bugs, because how could you possible NOT know at this point coagulase positive or negative, bile resistant or sensitive... etc etc etc.

Again, not commenting on sketchy pharm or path since I did not use those. But even in med school classes, after you learned the bugs, the questions with bugs in them were not about the bugs.

So let's say you have all of sketchy micro down 100% and are 2 weeks away from the exam (my situation). What sort of additional "high yield" information should I be learning to answer the types of micro questions that in your experience are found in Step I? I'd hate for the countless hours spent hammering sketchy anki cards to go to waste due to not knowing the extra layer of information needed to put my knowledge of the bugs to use.

 

[0ncogene]

So let's say you have all of sketchy micro down 100% and are 2 weeks away from the exam (my situation). What sort of additional "high yield" information should I be learning to answer the types of micro questions that in your experience are found in Step I? I'd hate for the countless hours spent hammering sketchy anki cards to go to waste due to not knowing the extra layer of information needed to put my knowledge of the bugs to use.

I wouldn't freak out too much. With the basics for micro down, continue to build on that by going over the micro section in FIRST AID and by doing all UWORLD questions for micro (you should really do all of UWORLD though).