How do you have time to read First Aid / supplemental material in M1?

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Foot Fetish

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I see a lot of people on here talking about how they follow along in First Aid or do supplemental subject-specific Q banks on top of their M1 classes. To me that seems like a waste of time given the more immediate need to master the class material. We haven't had our first exam yet, but I'm basically memorizing the professors' lecture slides as my Bible. I feel as though this will give the highest-yield in the short term. If I spent time reading supplemental sources, that would only detract from time that could be spent studying material that is guaranteed to pop up on the exam (the professor's slides)...Is my perspective wrong? Should I be using supplemental information or can I safely continue focusing just on lecture material? My top priority right now is achieving the highest class rank I possibly can.

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Fellow MS1 here. I've been using some board review sources to reinforce topics I learned in class. For example, my friend gave me his Lippincott's Biochem book and it was very useful to skim through certain sections that I knew would be on my upcoming biochem exam.

Some of the review books do an excellent job of giving you a big picture perspective as well as some useful tips and tricks. I do not try to learn my material from these books however! They are called "review books" for a reason. Learn from your class material and skim other resources if needed.
 
I see a lot of people on here talking about how they follow along in First Aid or do supplemental subject-specific Q banks on top of their M1 classes. To me that seems like a waste of time given the more immediate need to master the class material. We haven't had our first exam yet, but I'm basically memorizing the professors' lecture slides as my Bible. I feel as though this will give the highest-yield in the short term. If I spent time reading supplemental sources, that would only detract from time that could be spent studying material that is guaranteed to pop up on the exam (the professor's slides)...Is my perspective wrong? Should I be using supplemental information or can I safely continue focusing just on lecture material? My top priority right now is achieving the highest class rank I possibly can.

I basically only used school resources the first year. Second year for our organ system blocks a lot of our lecturers went way to heavy into the nitty gritty of the new and now research on that system (often describing the experimental protocol of something they were doing in their own lab for 2 hours) and so many of us switched from gunning for top grades in our classes which were pass/fail anyway to getting decent grades and learning the more board and clinically relevant information from resources like Pathoma (Dr. Sattar is life.)

At our school our MSPE does not say class rank. AOA selection is solely based upon clinical year grades. So our MS1/2 grades mean essentially nothing as long as we pass without having to remediate. So I got like a 95% overall in anatomy and killed myself. I got a 79 in renal and had more of a life and learned more clinically relevant stuff from outside sources. Doing that second year really helped me beat my goal for step 1.

Also didn't you ask like 2 weeks ago about using uworld with classes and now you are scoffing about people trying it?
 
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My first exam of med school is in 2 hours :scared: but I've been preparing by studying the slides and using questions from BRS to prep for the exam. It helps to find holes in your knowledge base if you get a ton of questions wrong on a specific subject.

Also practice questions/alternate sources may give you a more flexible knowledge of the material...at least that's what the 2nd years tell us :rolleyes:
 
My first exam of med school is in 2 hours :scared: but I've been preparing by studying the slides and using questions from BRS to prep for the exam. It helps to find holes in your knowledge base if you get a ton of questions wrong on a specific subject.

Also practice questions/alternate sources may give you a more flexible knowledge of the material...at least that's what the 2nd years tell us :rolleyes:
Don't worry, you'll be fine! Show that southerners aren't stupid inbreds (although that's what my classmates think of me :whistle:)
 
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I see a lot of people on here talking about how they follow along in First Aid or do supplemental subject-specific Q banks on top of their M1 classes. To me that seems like a waste of time given the more immediate need to master the class material. We haven't had our first exam yet, but I'm basically memorizing the professors' lecture slides as my Bible. I feel as though this will give the highest-yield in the short term. If I spent time reading supplemental sources, that would only detract from time that could be spent studying material that is guaranteed to pop up on the exam (the professor's slides)...Is my perspective wrong? Should I be using supplemental information or can I safely continue focusing just on lecture material? My top priority right now is achieving the highest class rank I possibly can.

Your perspective is fine for first year. In a month or two you'll figure out what study method is most efficient for you and can add supplements as you need. I didn't really get into my studying groove until mid-October. Don't worry about resources like Qbanks until second year unless that's how you learn best. Dominate class rank first year, focus heavily on boards in year two (preferably starting around beginning of second semester), rock shelves and kiss ass third year, fourth year profit.

By having no life at all.

Life? What's that?
 
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I see a lot of people on here talking about how they follow along in First Aid or do supplemental subject-specific Q banks on top of their M1 classes. To me that seems like a waste of time given the more immediate need to master the class material. We haven't had our first exam yet, but I'm basically memorizing the professors' lecture slides as my Bible. I feel as though this will give the highest-yield in the short term. If I spent time reading supplemental sources, that would only detract from time that could be spent studying material that is guaranteed to pop up on the exam (the professor's slides)...Is my perspective wrong? Should I be using supplemental information or can I safely continue focusing just on lecture material? My top priority right now is achieving the highest class rank I possibly can.

Just focus on your classes. It's not like you're being taught interpretive dance and not stuff that's pertinent to Step 1. Make sure you have your feet on solid ground with good grades in class, then add in UWorld/FA as a second year.
 
Our school recommended we follow along with FA as we learn stuff -- I stopped doing this 1 week into M1, because I genuinely did not have the time (we have mandatory attendance, so I only get ~6 hours of out of class time every day to study, eat, shower, exercise, etc. if I want to get 7 hours of sleep). Regardless, I think first year should be focused solely on developing strong study habits and mastering the material.

Second year is even more work, but I'm better at it so I've been able to find time for board study. Typically the lectures for my strong subjects I just study for boards, so this usually gets me about an hour per day. Sunday used to be my review day for the entire week's material, and I cut this out in favor of board studying. Overall this nets me about 12 hours per week, but I'm getting one less pass through the material and some lectures I'm just not watching at all. So, my days before exams are more stressful now, and my performance has dropped slightly, but that's the trade-off I've committed to. If I continue this strategy, I'll log between 450-500 hours of board study by the time second year is over, and then I'll have another 12 weeks dedicated solely to boards (~600 more hours).

You have to find what works for you. The average student won't be able to maintain a 4.0 and study for boards at the same time, so assuming you're not one of the 5 or so geniuses in every class, there's going to be some sort of trade-off and you just have to find the right balance. There are also many students that don't study at all for boards until their second year curriculum is over and do very well.
 
I see a lot of people on here talking about how they follow along in First Aid or do supplemental subject-specific Q banks on top of their M1 classes. To me that seems like a waste of time given the more immediate need to master the class material. We haven't had our first exam yet, but I'm basically memorizing the professors' lecture slides as my Bible. I feel as though this will give the highest-yield in the short term. If I spent time reading supplemental sources, that would only detract from time that could be spent studying material that is guaranteed to pop up on the exam (the professor's slides)...Is my perspective wrong? Should I be using supplemental information or can I safely continue focusing just on lecture material? My top priority right now is achieving the highest class rank I possibly can.

You just posted about how you're 2 weeks ahead of everyone in lecture. Have you ever considered not doing that?
 
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You just posted about how you're 2 weeks ahead of everyone in lecture. Have you ever considered not doing that?

I have considered that, but my #1 priority is getting top class rank right now. We haven't even had our first exams yet. I feel like I need to give it everything I got on this first once at least as a sort of litmus test to see where I stand. If I get the top grade in the class, maybe I will tone it down a bit and start reading some First Aid on the side...
 
I have considered that, but my #1 priority is getting top class rank right now. We haven't even had our first exams yet. I feel like I need to give it everything I got on this first once at least as a sort of litmus test to see where I stand. If I get the top grade in the class, maybe I will tone it down a bit and start reading some First Aid on the side...

I wish you, and especially your fiancee, good luck.
 
I see a lot of people on here talking about how they follow along in First Aid or do supplemental subject-specific Q banks on top of their M1 classes. To me that seems like a waste of time given the more immediate need to master the class material. We haven't had our first exam yet, but I'm basically memorizing the professors' lecture slides as my Bible. I feel as though this will give the highest-yield in the short term. If I spent time reading supplemental sources, that would only detract from time that could be spent studying material that is guaranteed to pop up on the exam (the professor's slides)...Is my perspective wrong? Should I be using supplemental information or can I safely continue focusing just on lecture material? My top priority right now is achieving the highest class rank I possibly can.


You hit the nail on the head FF. This is the best mentality to have first year. Review material is too basic at this point. Memorize your handouts like a bible.


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I see a lot of people on here talking about how they follow along in First Aid or do supplemental subject-specific Q banks on top of their M1 classes. To me that seems like a waste of time given the more immediate need to master the class material. We haven't had our first exam yet, but I'm basically memorizing the professors' lecture slides as my Bible. I feel as though this will give the highest-yield in the short term. If I spent time reading supplemental sources, that would only detract from time that could be spent studying material that is guaranteed to pop up on the exam (the professor's slides)...Is my perspective wrong? Should I be using supplemental information or can I safely continue focusing just on lecture material? My top priority right now is achieving the highest class rank I possibly can.
how do you have time to start a new sdn thread erryday
 
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M1 here. I use FA a little bit. If I study for several hours a certain topic I'll take 10 min at the end to look at what FA says about the topic. Sometimes it is useless but other times I have found it pretty useful for reinforcing what the most pertinent pieces of information I should memorize. It also has some good mnemonics. I don't use it for anything outside what is being covered in class.


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