how high yield is RR Path?

[ENThopeful]

i know its a great book but I only have a few days to my test. Im doing well enough on UWorld problems and practice tests. To my chagrin, I opened up RR path today and realized while I read it 3-4 times, there was alot of stuff I didnt know in there. Im redoing UWorld + reading Fa, should that be enough for the final days of review? Did anyone's test have information just found in RR path and no where else?

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[stickshift]

It was very high yield for me. I had several questions on my exam where the answer was only found in RR path (not in FA, not in UWorld). I don't regret spending the time to read RR path at all.

 

[ENThopeful]

It was very high yield for me. I had several questions on my exam where the answer was only found in RR path (not in FA, not in UWorld). I don't regret spending the time to read RR path at all.

yikes. i only have 7 days till my test, would you recommend thumbing through it or is it too late.

 

[Lamotrigine]

I just took the exam today, nothing for me came straight out of RR path, there was some tricky pharm that I missed that was straigh out of first aid. I did the audio and passive reading + hardcore margin notes.

 

[stickshift]

yikes. i only have 7 days till my test, would you recommend thumbing through it or is it too late.

I thumbed through it in 3 days, paid most attention to the tables, diagrams, and blue margin notes....but there were definitely questions on my exam where the answer could be found in only one line in that book.

 

[Captopril]

i know its a great book but I only have a few days to my test. Im doing well enough on UWorld problems and practice tests. To my chagrin, I opened up RR path today and realized while I read it 3-4 times, there was alot of stuff I didnt know in there. Im redoing UWorld + reading Fa, should that be enough for the final days of review? Did anyone's test have information just found in RR path and no where else?

Don't know abt the real test, but UW path qs are a joke after reading RR

 

[ENThopeful]

Don't know abt the real test, but UW path qs are a joke after reading RR

yea thats what im worried about. i read rr path for the last time about a month ago, im not sure i remember everything.. i may read over it if i have time but all my NBMEs had stars next to the path section with small bars of errors i dont know if its the best use of my time at this point...

does anyone else who took the test have feedback?

 

[XRanger]

would you guys recommend RR or BRS for path?

 

[ENThopeful]

would you guys recommend RR or BRS for path?

rr hands down brs is crap

 

[fergustsi]

rr hands down brs is crap

RR is crap, dont waste your time with it. just wing it man.

 

[stickshift]

would you guys recommend RR or BRS for path?

BRS skips out on alot of details...details that showed up on my actual exam.

 

[kdburton]

I did the audio like 2X through plus BRS Path. I think BRS wouldn't have been as good if I didn't listen to the corresponding Goljan audio right before reading the BRS chapter, but I think after doing that it was very good. I'm an auditory learner, so that method worked well for me. I thought RR Path was too long and after flipping through it there was definately a lot stuff that did not show up on UW, NBMEs and the real deal. BRS didn't explain things as well, but it cut to the chase. Theres always going to be questions that arent in one some of the review books and you just have to deal with that fact. If you've already got the book then flip through it quickly and see if its worth your time, otherwise you should realize that you could probably review EVERYTHING in that last 7 days rather than just path if you skip RR Path

 

[tpw2k]

RR path is easily the most important book outside of FA to get the fundamentals down.

path is so much easier once you've read this book and path is like 60% of the exam

 

[Captopril]

RR path is easily the most important book outside of FA to get the fundamentals down.

path is so much easier once you've read this book and path is like 60% of the exam

Gotta agree with this logic

 

[psychforme]

Judging from the NBMEs this exam isn't "60% path."

 

[Instatewaiter]

I chose RR path because it contained a lot of physiology review, some pharm and path well laid out.

The BRS book for path alone is probably just as good and about half the lenght. The highest score ever at my school came from someone who use BRS.

In terms of wrap up, I think FA is higher yield and will bring everything together. While a quick thumb through RR for a day may be helpful if you have a week or so, I think for the last 3-5 days, going through first aid is worth while.

 

[jp104]

Judging from the NBMEs this exam isn't "60% path."

Yeah it seems more like 50% or a little lower based on the UWSAs and NBMEs. I'd LOVE to get a test with 70% path.

 

[Captopril]

Yeah it seems more like 50% or a little lower based on the UWSAs and NBMEs. I'd LOVE to get a test with 70% path.

I wonder if the popularity or efficacy of Goljan's materials have anything to do with this. NBME might have noticed a sudden surge in Path scores after people started using GA and RR, and counteracted it by increasing the yield of the other 6 subjects.

 

[fergustsi]

I wonder if the popularity or efficacy of Goljan's materials have anything to do with this. NBME might have noticed a sudden surge in Path scores after people started using GA and RR, and counteracted it by increasing the yield of the other 6 subjects.

i met a 9 month old taking enalapril while on peds today. just thought youd want to know.

 

[ENThopeful]

I did the audio like 2X through plus BRS Path. I think BRS wouldn't have been as good if I didn't listen to the corresponding Goljan audio right before reading the BRS chapter, but I think after doing that it was very good. I'm an auditory learner, so that method worked well for me. I thought RR Path was too long and after flipping through it there was definately a lot stuff that did not show up on UW, NBMEs and the real deal. BRS didn't explain things as well, but it cut to the chase. Theres always going to be questions that arent in one some of the review books and you just have to deal with that fact. If you've already got the book then flip through it quickly and see if its worth your time, otherwise you should realize that you could probably review EVERYTHING in that last 7 days rather than just path if you skip RR Path

yea im trying to decide between a 5 day review of FA + a going over neuro again or 4 days of FA + 2 days of RR path.

its hard to justify RR path just cause its such a convoluted book at times and I dont know if i can really retain that much. maybe a morning just to look through it is in order, as opposed to a few days dedicated to it.

but then regret is a b*tch and i dont want to be kicking myself for not going over path one more time. its still one of my strong points according to Uworld and my NBMEs. but who knows what they will throw at me in the on the real thing..

 

[strv04]

I found RR Path to be as equally important to success as first aid (possibly more so).

 

[Deferoxamine]

how high yield is RR Path?

I'll know in 6 days.

 

[Redrox]

i know its a great book but I only have a few days to my test.

Is the book very useful given plenty of time to study? Yes, hell, yes.

Would it be good to go through now with only a few days left? No, hell, no.

But if you do a few chapters that you are weak in and through in the blue side notes you should be good. Just remember that with the test coming fast you need to know everything solid, not vaguely "oh I've seen that before."

Next wednesday (USMLE), we'll see if I know what I'm talking about, maybe tomorrow if Comlex gets its act together.

Good luck, dude, you've seemed pretty sharp in your previous postings. I'll be rooting for an ENT worthy score for ya.

 

[ENThopeful]

Is the book very useful given plenty of time to study? Yes, hell, yes.

Would it be good to go through now with only a few days left? No, hell, no.

But if you do a few chapters that you are weak in and through in the blue side notes you should be good. Just remember that with the test coming fast you need to know everything solid, not vaguely "oh I've seen that before."

Next wednesday (USMLE), we'll see if I know what I'm talking about, maybe tomorrow if Comlex gets its act together.

Good luck, dude, you've seemed pretty sharp in your previous postings. I'll be rooting for an ENT worthy score for ya.

thanks for the support and everyone's input!

i think im going to just read the blue notes on the side and the chapters im weakest on, mainly the first 3-4... too low yield at this point. plus i annotated whatever i thought i didnt know into FA so hopefully that will suffice.

im so ready for this test to be done!

 

[Captopril]

When I read RR, my brain is constantly going "OMFG OMFG OMFG" in response to all the information that I had no idea about previously.

 

[Rik825]

I feel like the more you read it, the faster it gets. I read the book 4 times. The first time took me just about 5 days.... The last time through took my barely over 1 day. I re-read the entire book the day before my test and there were definitely 4 or 5 questions that I was able to answer more confidently as a result.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Do we really need to beat this thread to death? Obviously it's HY, we got it.

Now answer some real questions, like would you just skip FA path sections and just read RR path? Or would you annotate RR path into FA and just use FA? For those who might have annotated, how did you go about doing this? This will help me (and im sure others) a lot when studying for the USMLE.

 

[docbill]

So I am not sure if you anyone else noticed this. But the kaplan pathology notes are very similar to RR. I suspect they were prepared by Goljan himself when he was doing the review course for Kaplan. Before he moved to Falcon. Perhaps it was kaplan that leaked the Audio to get back at him.

 

[humabot]

So I am not sure if you anyone else noticed this. But the kaplan pathology notes are very similar to RR. I suspect they were prepared by Goljan himself when he was doing the review course for Kaplan. Before he moved to Falcon. Perhaps it was kaplan that leaked the Audio to get back at him.

there is some serious plagiarism going on with all these resources. especially FA...

 

[Captopril]

Do we really need to beat this thread to death? Obviously it's HY, we got it.

Now answer some real questions, like would you just skip FA path sections and just read RR path? Or would you annotate RR path into FA and just use FA? For those who might have annotated, how did you go about doing this? This will help me (and im sure others) a lot when studying for the USMLE.

I would suspect that annotating a 600pg book into FA would be an extremely daunting task. I'd stick with a read through of the book itself.

 

[ObamaCare]

I would suspect that annotating a 600pg book into FA would be an extremely daunting task. I'd stick with a read through of the book itself.

yea, annotating is probably one of the least efficient things I see med students do. just read the book slowly...then read it again with all the time you saved.

At the end of my study period, my FA looked like i just bought it -- no regrets at all.

 

[Knicks]

Do we really need to beat this thread to death? Obviously it's HY, we got it.

Now answer some real questions, like would you just skip FA path sections and just read RR path? Or would you annotate RR path into FA and just use FA? For those who might have annotated, how did you go about doing this? This will help me (and im sure others) a lot when studying for the USMLE.

I annotated the main points from each of the pathologies in RR into FA and I am also annotating whatever I deem necessary from UW into FA.

When I read the explanations for some of the UW questions and then look up that appropriate page in FA, often times I see that something I annotated from RR was written into FA by me in that section of FA. (Did that make sense? lol)

My $0.02.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

yea, annotating is probably one of the least efficient things I see med students do. just read the book slowly...then read it again with all the time you saved.

At the end of my study period, my FA looked like i just bought it -- no regrets at all.

Good for you.
Everyone learns differently, I am one who can't RETAIN info and learn things by just reading. I have to make annotations of main points for each thing and then I learn by reading my own points and my own connections I make on that margins. If I need more info, I can always read right next to it what FA says in sentence format.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

I annotated the main points from each of the pathologies in RR into FA and I am also annotating whatever I deem necessary from UW into FA.

When I read the explanations for some of the UW questions and then look up that appropriate page in FA, often times I see that something I annotated from RR was written into FA by me in that section of FA. (Did that make sense? lol)

My $0.02.

Thanks ... so did u mainly annotate blue notes and whatever was "big"?
Did you find situations where FA did not mention a pathology mentioned in RR path?

 

[jackets5]

I probally will not look at the FA path sections and simply stick with the RR book, annotating pretty much every other section of FA though.

 

[Knicks]

Thanks ... so did u mainly annotate blue notes and whatever was "big"?
Did you find situations where FA did not mention a pathology mentioned in RR path?

I annotated numerous blue margin notes, not all of them though. I also annotated whatever I felt was a key point.

And yes, there were many things not in FA that I felt I had to annotate in from RR. People are correct in saying that FA is just a bare-minimum backbone.

Good luck.

 

[ENThopeful]

Do we really need to beat this thread to death? Obviously it's HY, we got it.

Now answer some real questions, like would you just skip FA path sections and just read RR path? Or would you annotate RR path into FA and just use FA? For those who might have annotated, how did you go about doing this? This will help me (and im sure others) a lot when studying for the USMLE.

dont skip FA all together, remember FA is updated yearly, so it has the newest stuff from last years test. there were several things that are not in the 2008 that are now in the 2009 cause people's tests had them... mccune albright, presbycusis, and orititic aciduria comes to mind. so dont ignore fa, if anything, take knick's approach and annotate whats missing (which is what i did).