I posted some of this before, but I thought I'd throw it out there again:
?X The key to pathology is learning how to categorize all the diseases pertaining to an organ system, so that you have a sense of where they fit into the puzzle, what overall things can go wrong, and how they compare to each other. By seeing what??s different about the diseases, you learn them.
?X For renal and GI you will rely heavily on Robbins.
?X Robbins can be confusing at first. It is wordy and not always readily understandable. Some parts are good. The renal path is good. Everything comes together when you review for boards and as the year goes on you get used to learning pathology.
?X The material this year is learned by memorization. You need to discover your own most effective method of memorizing material. Here is a technique that I found worked for me. For example, some people use flash cards. For me this approach is too disjointed, because I like to see the big picture and how everything is interrelated.
o #1 list all the info you need to know (ex?Xall the drugs)
o find a way to compare them, interrelate them?Xa lot of memorization is aided by comparing things to each other and noting the differences
o put all the info on one page
o re-write the page a few times
o pathology & pharmacology?Xuse the method of categorization
Ex: Renal Path: Categories could be:
1) Damage to glomerulus
a) Nephritic
i)acute poststreptococcal GN
ii) crescentic GN
iii) IgA nephropathy
b) Nephrotic
i) membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis
ii) membranous glomerulonephritis
iii) lipoid nephrosis
iv) focal segmental GN
2) Damage to tubules
a) pyelonephritis
b) acute tubular necrosis
3) Cystic diseases of the kidney
a) APKD
b) ARPKD
4) Neoplasia
Etc. now once you have your diseases categorized, be able to approach them systematically:
-what is the etiology?
-pathogenesis?
-histopathology?
-gross pathology?
-clinical manifestations?
-diagnosis?
-treatment?
(Don't worry too much about the last two, just have a general idea--this comes into play next year.)
To help you remember these facts, compare and contrast the diseases. Ex: what's the difference in glomerular destruction between lipoid nephrosis and membranous GN? Etc.
For pharm it helps to put all the drugs you're learning on one page and see how they relate to each other-- compare and contrast-- for example, the Ach receptor agonists vs. antagonists, or the beta lactams-- how do they differ, how are they similar? Once you have an idea of the big picture, you'll be more familiar with the names of the drugs and what they do. Now study them individually, learning the mxns, adverse effects, etc.
