How and when to start Uworld?

[AceH]

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[Hemichordate]

Umm yeah, you're not going to be studying 16 hrs a day for an entire year.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Hey peeps,

I'm a long time lurker here. I am about to start M2 in a couple of days and was wondering how I should go about starting Uworld qbank. I've already purchased it for a year. I was originally planning on doing about 12 questions every morning and really learning from it. I started doing some questions today, however, and was unable to answer the questions because everything is tied into pathology somehow. I'm in traditional system, and learn all path and stuff this year so most questions from uworld is somewhat new material. I dont know how to start it. should i just do the questions every morning and learn from it even if I havent covered it then start a second pass 6 months before the exam? any input would be appreciated. I plan to use FA, RR path, Goljan audio during all of M2 year along with classes. but I really want to start Uworld. Here is a quick rough draft of my study plan....any eval would be greatly appreciated.

6-8am do about 12 Uworld questions and thoroughly read explanations.
8-12 have class
1-5 go over what i learned in lecture
8-10 read FA and RR path

You're either a troll or a student who's coasted through the first year because you obviously don't know what a realistic study plan looks like.

I'd like to help but I suspect you're the former.

 

[AceH]

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[cage92]

I dont even know what a troll is. I am just having trouble coming up with a good plan. I studied 8-10 hours a day the first year of medical school for an entire year. so I'm sure I can do the same for the second year. If your not going to answer my question or help, then don't comment. I just want to start the prep as early as possible because of the importance of the exam. Thanks in advance to the people with REAL advice/help.

why not if you have time start studying from now go with pathoma and make subscription to uwroled and kaplan q bank and do them by system with your courses and give i try for firecraker

 

[operaman]

I'd throw in a vote for Firecracker. Go ahead and bank all of MS1 over the summer and push through what will be massive numbers of review questions. Then bank Ms2 along with classes. It helps with class because you're reviewing high yield info that even your professors will likely test you on, and the repetition algorithm makes sure you remember it throughout the year.

As for boards prep, the best thing you can do is work hard in your classes. Anything done in the fall is not likely to be much help for you, and may actually hurt you if it detracts at all from time spent digesting and understanding the concepts. Step 1 is NOT a test of your memory of minutiae, it's a test of your understanding, and question writers are getting better at making sure their questions can't be answered by direct recall from things like First Aid.

UWorld is a wonderful resource and I think it can be used anytime really. Try it systems based along with your classes and see how you do with it. I started it in January for a few weeks but didn't find it that helpful at the time, but loved it during dedicated study time.

Here's my $0.02 for a study plan:
6am-8am: exercise, eat, and maybe preview your lecture material
8-12: classes
1-5: study class material and try to really learn and understand it
7-9: Pathoma video(s) for the day's material and/or Firecracker; preview next day's material

Weekends:
2-3 hours wherever: Review RR or FA for the week's material; do some World or Qbank
Rest of the time: review the week's lecture material

 

[Brain Bucket]

I dont even know what a troll is. I am just having trouble coming up with a good plan. I studied 8-10 hours a day the first year of medical school for an entire year. so I'm sure I can do the same for the second year. If your not going to answer my question or help, then don't comment. I just want to start the prep as early as possible because of the importance of the exam. Thanks in advance to the people with REAL advice/help.

Fair enough. Hmm. 8-10 hours a day. Anyway, being such a conscientious student, you should know that you should ideally be reading ahead of lecture. Preferably, keeping a block ahead. Your reading for a day's lectures should also be done once before (night/morning of and immediately after). If you aren't familiar with 'spaced repetition', Google it and use it. It works.

Move from the more general sources to the intensive ones. Grasp concepts first, it'll make remembering the minutae a lot easier. I.e. Do Pathoma first, if you like, annotate it into RR (that's what I'm doing now) before M2 starts. Eventually you want to annotate the Blue text from RR/Pathoma you didn't remember into a file or directly into FA. I tried big Robbin's and it's too long for me to start with, but I'll definitely end with it. There's a reason why every pathologist and their mother recommends it.

I like that you've chosen only a handful of high quality resources. Most people spread themselves too thin. finish these and only then move onto something else. But, if something isn't working for you, don't be shy about dumping it.

About your plan...try it for a week. See how you feel about it. Plans themselves don't mean anything. This is why I didn't like your plan. Set goals, count pages, be concrete. None of this X hours business. You should adapt your plan to attain your goals, not the other way 'round.

Your goals should be short/medium/and long term. Adapt your plan to attain them, because **** will come up and if all you have is a plan, you're screwed. Redundant, I know, but important.

Otherwise, +1 to everything Operaman said.

Good luck. I don't know who you're trying to fool with this "I don't even know what a troll is" business.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[addy]

Fair enough. Hmm. 8-10 hours a day. Anyway, being such a conscientious student, you should know that you should ideally be reading ahead of lecture. Preferably, keeping a block ahead. Your reading for a day's lectures should also be done once before (night/morning of and immediately after). If you aren't familiar with 'spaced repetition', Google it and use it. It works.

Move from the more general sources to the intensive ones. Grasp concepts first, it'll make remembering the minutae a lot easier. I.e. Do Pathoma first, if you like, annotate it into RR (that's what I'm doing now) before M2 starts. Eventually you want to annotate the Blue text from RR/Pathoma you didn't remember into a file or directly into FA. I tried big Robbin's and it's too long for me to start with, but I'll definitely end with it. There's a reason why every pathologist and their mother recommends it.

I like that you've chosen only a handful of high quality resources. Most people spread themselves too thin. finish these and only then move onto something else. But, if something isn't working for you, don't be shy about dumping it.

About your plan...try it for a week. See how you feel about it. Plans themselves don't mean anything. This is why I didn't like your plan. Set goals, count pages, be concrete. None of this X hours business. You should adapt your plan to attain your goals, not the other way 'round.

Your goals should be short/medium/and long term. Adapt your plan to attain them, because **** will come up and if all you have is a plan, you're screwed. Redundant, I know, but important.

Otherwise, +1 to everything Operaman said.

Good luck. I don't know who you're trying to fool with this "I don't even know what a troll is" business.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Seriously?

 

[link2swim06]

If you don't memorize Robbins, Harrisons and every article on Uptodate by the start of M2 year you are very behind.

 

[lilii89]

Aww come on guys lets not be mean here 😉

I like the idea that brian had about setting goals as opposed to hours. Im also entering MS2 this year.

What I've done so far is basically get a general understanding of the first system were going to cover next. Not study it too hard or anything but get general physiology down ::not the pathology yet though ill save that for during the year when I actually start studying this system::. I want to remain a system ahead since my school finishes so late >.<

Also, I'm going through the chapters of Pathoma that correlate to systems we've already covered in school. I recommend watching the first four chapters 🙂

hmmm once im done with those chapters for pathoma ::Ive got two more left:: I will most likey just stop and sleep and eat 😛 When school starts I just really plan on learning my material well the first time around. I didnt last year which is why i have to review it all over the summer. I plan on going through FA maybe around decemberish and starting UWorld then too. Like Brian said Im not attaching any hours to my goals. Just going to make sure that whatever I do is efficient 🙂

Hope that helps!

Make sure you enjoy your summer too ! Dont want to be burned out before you even begin the year lol

 

[ipizzy]

I feel like if you're going to start studying 1+ years out from the step 1 exam, your best bet is to use something like Firecracker/GT that will actually stick with you and has material appropriate to your level in med school. Doing something like Pathoma or any of the review books prior to learning path in MS2 is going to be an uphill battle and likely a waste of time.

I used Firecracker (back when it was called GT) and *loved* it. It's a flashcard-based program that covers material from FA and RR Path (along with a small amount of other random info) with daily review quizzes that are tailored to how well you're retaining the flashcard information. I spread it out over MS2 so it never got too overwhelming. I credit Firecracker/GT with not only helping me get a great step 1 score but also with helping me remember those little tidbits from MS1-2 that serve as fodder for pimp questions from residents/attendings on the wards.

Aside from Firecracker, I would save UWorld until you've actually learned some path. Don't waste the questions before then.

 

[Brain Bucket]

Seriously?

Yes. Comments?

If you don't memorize Robbins, Harrisons and every article on Uptodate by the start of M2 year you are very behind.

Trite. Be original. And subtle. Your attempt at sarcasm makes me think of this:

“I know a limping verse when I hear it,” I said. “But this isn’t even limping. A limp has rhythm. This is more like someone falling down a set of stairs. Uneven stairs. With a midden at the bottom.”

I feel like if you're going to start studying 1+ years out from the step 1 exam, your best bet is to use something like Firecracker/GT that will actually stick with you and has material appropriate to your level in med school. Doing something like Pathoma or any of the review books prior to learning path in MS2 is going to be an uphill battle and likely a waste of time.

I used Firecracker (back when it was called GT) and *loved* it. It's a flashcard-based program that covers material from FA and RR Path (along with a small amount of other random info) with daily review quizzes that are tailored to how well you're retaining the flashcard information. I spread it out over MS2 so it never got too overwhelming. I credit Firecracker/GT with not only helping me get a great step 1 score but also with helping me remember those little tidbits from MS1-2 that serve as fodder for pimp questions from residents/attendings on the wards.

Aside from Firecracker, I would save UWorld until you've actually learned some path. Don't waste the questions before then.

Main Pro: Uses spaced repetition.

Main Con: Too much errata for me.

 

[AceH]

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