how important are questions really

[Ramoray]

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Well as time runs down i find myself not going to be able to do NEARLY as many questions as planned. Actually i think i will only finish robbins q book, katzung pharm questions and Lange micro questions. But in my opinion and for me i feel my time is better spent learning the material or learning/reviewing more material rather than questions. I mean atleast for me i have spent the last 2 yhears, probably taking a 100 multiple choice, clinical vignette questions, 1000s of questions- i know how to do questions and so do most med students. I mean come test day the odds of seeing the same question as you havfe practiced is slim and i would rather go into a question with a larger base of konwledge, giving me more tools to use, rather than having practiced doing questions.
I am wondering how much of it is the premed/med mindset that they must prepare in certain ways. It starts out with mcat which i agree is a diffferent test and practice for mcat is mandatory as it is more of a comphrension test that you can learn to get better. Med students also struggle with skipping class causes they feel they must be anal and atttend even though they know its better to spend time outside class. And most medstudents feel they need a prep course since that is what they are "supposed" to be doing evne though they admit it is a huge time drain. I also think that is alot of how it is for questions. Medstudents feel like they should be doing as many practice questions as they can because that is what they have engrained.
I do agree some people learn alot from questions and that is fine. Also if you do them to build stamina that is also usefull but assuming your stamina is fine i just dont really understand the benefit of doing alot of questions. For one say you are getting 70 percent of your questions right. That means you have spent 70 percent of your time going over something you would have known anyway, you would have goetten it right on test day since you got it right on practice. That means only 30 percent of your time is spent learning something new, if you even learn well from an explanation or is it just a bad question. Like qbank has alot of nit picky bad questions so if you attribute another 10 percent of what you get wrong to that, then 10 plus 70 percent of right, gives you 80 percent of the time you spent on stuff you either knew or wouldnt be asked. So you are spending a grand total of 20 percent of your time learning new things that only POSSIBLY will be asked. While in the same time you could spend 100 percent of your time on concepts that you know will be asked- ie learn the review material more etc

Just my opinion. Dont get my wrong i wanted to do a ton of questions but i am finding my studying is taking longer and id rather not sacrifice going over something thoroughly. Anyway i am not saying if it is for confidence, stamina or to get used computer based questions or if your school didnt havef clincal vignette types then i understand.. Anyway this long post is to say, whats your opionion on questions

 

[idq1i]

I do questions because I studied hard enough for 2 years. I don't feel that I could learn anything new by going over the same material. By doing lots of questions, I'm filling in the small gaps that remain after 2 years

 

[Ramoray]

wow you learned and understood everything there is to konw in every subject in a short two years, that is impressive, maybe your a doogie look alike. come to think of it the only time you post is when you try to sound like a konw it all answering someones question. i may add your answers are never clear or rarely explain and help answer someone who doesnt understand.. are you sure you have learned everything? i might recheck that

 

[Long Dong]

I do question because I'm a ******* who can't retain anything unless I've seen it as a question, also because I get really sleepy after staring at a review book for more then 3 hours, so I do questions to stay awake.

 

[Row Jimmy]

The one thing I would do differently is to do more questions. I did Robbin's book and all of Q-Bank and upon leaving the center the one thought I had was that I wished I would have done more questions.

RJ

 

[HiddenTruth]

Ram, I know what you are referring to--and I don't think I will have enough time as I thought either to do lots fo q's (i had lots planned, and im just finding that the little subjects which I had kinda blew off in the beginning of my study are the bane fo my existance, and taking longer (embryo and gross--ahh, i hate these) than i had planned. And, I have to go through stuff multiple times to stick. And, I have also spent lotsa' time in the beginning "looking up" stuff in robbins, etc (looking up, meaning spending couple hrs jus reading a topic)....anyways, so, im kind of in your situation, but I think I am officially going to start qbank and be religious about it. I see your point, but I think q's, depending on the quality of them, can sometimes tie things or twist it around and stump you, and therefore, u end up learning a decent amount from it. Granted, that u may get 70% right, and you may consider it as wasting time since you already knew that 70%, but i am sure there was at least few that u guessed on, or a few that u got wrong that u knew the material, but couldn't put it together. That's where q's help I think. Basically, you've read the material and you know it, but you and I both know that the areal q's are tricky, and they expect you to manipulate your knowledge and apply it in various ways...so in that way, I think q's can help--because they test a topic in various ways, often times, different than how you've read it in robbins or wherever....and so there is something to learn. Now, sources like pretest, which are straight fact recall may not be that great in this aspect, but I think qbank, and robbins q's are the least we can do--anyways, just my two cents...take it for it's worth.

 

[Ramoray]

Ram, I know what you are referring to--and I don't think I will have enough time as I thought either to do lots fo q's (i had lots planned, and im just finding that the little subjects which I had kinda blew off in the beginning of my study are the bane fo my existance, and taking longer (embryo and gross--ahh, i hate these) than i had planned. And, I have to go through stuff multiple times to stick. And, I have also spent lotsa' time in the beginning "looking up" stuff in robbins, etc (looking up, meaning spending couple hrs jus reading a topic)....anyways, so, im kind of in your situation, but I think I am officially going to start qbank and be religious about it. I see your point, but I think q's, depending on the quality of them, can sometimes tie things or twist it around and stump you, and therefore, u end up learning a decent amount from it. Granted, that u may get 70% right, and you may consider it as wasting time since you already knew that 70%, but i am sure there was at least few that u guessed on, or a few that u got wrong that u knew the material, but couldn't put it together. That's where q's help I think. Basically, you've read the material and you know it, but you and I both know that the areal q's are tricky, and they expect you to manipulate your knowledge and apply it in various ways...so in that way, I think q's can help--because they test a topic in various ways, often times, different than how you've read it in robbins or wherever....and so there is something to learn. Now, sources like pretest, which are straight fact recall may not be that great in this aspect, but I think qbank, and robbins q's are the least we can do--anyways, just my two cents...take it for it's worth.

this is my exact thought, i was trying to just take a look at the other side as i guess i am a bit bummed i wont get to all the questions i wanted, gosh not nearly as many. I just found that it took longer to read things than expected. Its like you would read one thing and then that could lead to a entire new can of worms( pardon the gay saying) so you would get side tracked etc.. In a perfect world of course questions would be beneficial, i guess i was saying if it came down to one or the other and you knew that there was still alot of stuff you didnt know which would it be, quetsions or studying and i guess i am choosing studying as of now, ill see if i regret it. I do agree with everyone there are a ton good about questions. Thanks for yoru thoughts

 

[HiddenTruth]

this is my exact thought, i was trying to just take a look at the other side as i guess i am a bit bummed i wont get to all the questions i wanted, gosh not nearly as many. I just found that it took longer to read things than expected. Its like you would read one thing and then that could lead to a entire new can of worms( pardon the gay saying) so you would get side tracked etc.. In a perfect world of course questions would be beneficial, i guess i was saying if it came down to one or the other and you knew that there was still alot of stuff you didnt know which would it be, quetsions or studying and i guess i am choosing studying as of now, ill see if i regret it. I do agree with everyone there are a ton good about questions. Thanks for yoru thoughts

instead of devoting full time to questions, why don't u do q's each day for couple hrs...and then rest of the day, read. That's what i am trying to do...and that way you can spend a majority of your time reading, but still do q's as u go along...and that way you won't have like "oh my gosh, i have to do 2000 questions" typa feeling at the end...plus, they are all used as a learning tool

 

[idq1i]

wow you learned and understood everything there is to konw in every subject in a short two years, that is impressive, maybe your a doogie look alike. come to think of it the only time you post is when you try to sound like a konw it all answering someones question. i may add your answers are never clear or rarely explain and help answer someone who doesnt understand.. are you sure you have learned everything? i might recheck that

Any reason for the personal attack? Perhaps you would like to point out where I misled anyone in this forum? Or perhaps where I tried to make it seem like I "knew everything"? You sound like one of my classmates who get angry when he learns that I beat him on a test

I never said I knew everything in my previous post. I simply said that I was comfortable with my level of knowledge to the point where "studying" is not necessary. Reviewing, on the other hand, is quite necessary.

If doing questions doen't work for you, fine. There is no reason to project your anger onto other people

 

[HamOnWholeWheat]

Hey Ram,

My worry is that I'm studying and learning a ton of great stuff that won't show up on the exam. Ex: You could fall into Embryo for a week if you felt like it, but that doesn't mean that the details of the functioning of the different homeobox complexes are going to show up on the exam. So I'm doing questions to focus my studying, and build up stamina (something you eluded to in your original question).

One bit of experience for what its worth. I did ZERO practice tests for the MCAT and got an extremely mediocre 30. I learned the error of my ways and did practically nothing but practice tests for the GRE, which I took last summer, and absolutely smoked it. I know, I know, apples and oranges though.

We all learn differently, but I would try and make time for at least 50 Q's per day, just to keep you focused on what's likely to be emphasized.

HamOn

 

[guarana]

my opinion on questions--
i agree, they are not the best way to learn things, however i am finding them very useful. i think sometimes when you are hitting the books it is easy to get exhaused--you know, you start staring into space, thinking about what to eat, what you heard on the radio, etc etc. i think questions are a good way to continue studying but allow yourself a bit of a change. i'm in the same boat as ham on whole wheat, i did no q's for the mcat and really regretted it. for me, doing q bank has at least (hopefully!) gotten me used to sitting at a screen for 50 question intervals and learning to pace myself also. plus, i feel like it is just another way to learn--you know, some people like to hear things, some like to see things, some are very visual learners....i think doing questions kind of works into that scheme, for some students.
just my opinion. in the end, i haven't done nearly as many questions as i'd hoped either b/c i'm more concerned about getting through some other stuff!

 

[tigershark]

Questions are extremely important.

They allow you to identify strengths/weaknesses and assess how well you really understand a topic so you can then focus your studies.

Additionally, as a second year medical student you have no f'ing clue what information is really important. Out of the thousands of topics you might sit there studying blindly, only a relatively small percentage of a few key topics will be tested repeatedly. A well-written question bank will help you to identify the information that the people who write shelf 1 think are important.

And for me personaly, answering questions helps me retain information after I study it. I'm much more likely to remember a key point if I had to answer a question about it.

At the end of second year you have seen everything that will be on step 1, if you are having to learn new stuff something is wrong. At that point it should be all about recall and synthesis, for which questions are vital.

 

[Kluver_Bucy]

The one thing I would do differently is to do more questions. I did Robbin's book and all of Q-Bank and upon leaving the center the one thought I had was that I wished I would have done more questions.

RJ

What made you feel you should have done more questions? What is the thought process that made you come to that conclusion. I heard other people say the same thing. Anyone that feels that they should have done more questiosn after taking the exam please explain.

Thanks for the insight. I'm struggling whether I should continue to read or do questions.

 

[Idiopathic]

Just some insight from someone who has been there:

I do/did questions primarily as a study tool because of the advice of a professor who will remain nameless, but you all know. (His name gets thrown around too much anyway). He told me he thought it was the best way to study and his method for helping us review his class during the year was to give us 300-400 questions every two weeks and tell us: "your test will only come from questions on this list". Now, that didnt mean that they would come verbatim, but in some form or another. For whatever reason, it worked both in the class and on boards. If you took all the question sources out there (NMS, BSS, QBank, A+L, Robbins) and studied the same way, I would imagine your score would be pretty good.

I am sure that it is an example of one method that works for some people and I am also sure that it does not work for everyone. The bottom line is that if you know the material and dont freak out during the test (stay composed) then you will do fine, regardless of how many practice questions you did.

 

[ytiffwang]

Hi I am new to this forum, can you suggest some q sources besides qbank, BSS, iv q bank, and Robbins which I already have? My goal for exam is 99 🙄 Thanks

 

[Ramoray]

thanks guys, you convinced me, an i will def make more time for questions. I mean from the beginning i ideally wanted to complete qbank, a and l, nms, and robbins q. but i just found studying takes up so much time and you really have to cut yourself off from wasting the whole day studying but i guess it is silly not to be able to budget 2 hours a night for questions. Thanks for the push, what would i without sdn! And to the person who needs to learn nothing but review only, i forget your name off hand, sorry about the bash, was up at 2am, not in a great moood considering i was looking at finishing hardly any questions! so i apolozize you have been very helpul and i have learned alot from your posts, you sound quite knowledgeable. And of course i am jelous, who wouldnt be jelous of someone who needs to learn nothing! i mean i studied hard too but the fact of the matter with the amount of material inever felt that i learned everything as well asw i wanted so to me i can easily and do still easily learn alot each tiem i go over something. anyway thanks again!

 

[Long Dong]

Hi I am new to this forum, can you suggest some q sources besides qbank, BSS, iv q bank, and Robbins which I already have? My goal for exam is 99 🙄 Thanks

Here is a list of question sources (recomemded to me by others who have done well) that I've used thus far and how I've done with them.


Things finished after last final exam.
-CBSE 88~245 (10 weeks b4 exam).
-BSS ~72%, started in jan doing 50 Qs/day/5 days a week (finished 9 weeks b4 exam).
-Qbank 78%, all random, all timed (finished 5 weeks b4 exam).
-Step 1 released items (41,43,44)=85% (4 weeks b4 exam).
-NMS 78% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Kaplan full length simulated 77% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Blueprints 85% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Pretest vignettes 76% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Rapid review usmle step 1 qbook 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-Blackwell free online exam 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-NBME form 1 670~252 (10 days b4 exam).

Qbook, Appleton & Lange, and robbins review of path, these books I did during second year. Hopefull after having done all these Qs I can get a 99 too.

 

[ytiffwang]

thanks Dr. Long Dong. may I ask what specialty you want to pursue? Among all the q sources you did , can you recommend the top four? Thanks in advance 😛

 

[HiddenTruth]

Here is a list of question sources (recomemded to me by others who have done well) that I've used thus far and how I've done with them.


Things finished after last final exam.
-CBSE 88~245 (10 weeks b4 exam).
-BSS ~72%, started in jan doing 50 Qs/day/5 days a week (finished 9 weeks b4 exam).
-Qbank 78%, all random, all timed (finished 5 weeks b4 exam).
-Step 1 released items (41,43,44)=85% (4 weeks b4 exam).
-NMS 78% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Kaplan full length simulated 77% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Blueprints 85% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Pretest vignettes 76% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Rapid review usmle step 1 qbook 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-Blackwell free online exam 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-NBME form 1 670~252 (10 days b4 exam).

Qbook, Appleton & Lange, and robbins review of path, these books I did during second year. Hopefull after having done all these Qs I can get a 99 too.

damn that's off the heezy sheezy, at least the nbme form 1 score. You'll kick a$$ man...wow, that's pretty money, having time to do all those q's--i waste so much time reading....and it's so slow too...

 

[Pox in a box]

Here is a list of question sources (recomemded to me by others who have done well) that I've used thus far and how I've done with them.


Things finished after last final exam.
-CBSE 88~245 (10 weeks b4 exam).
-BSS ~72%, started in jan doing 50 Qs/day/5 days a week (finished 9 weeks b4 exam).
-Qbank 78%, all random, all timed (finished 5 weeks b4 exam).
-Step 1 released items (41,43,44)=85% (4 weeks b4 exam).
-NMS 78% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Kaplan full length simulated 77% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Blueprints 85% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Pretest vignettes 76% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Rapid review usmle step 1 qbook 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-Blackwell free online exam 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-NBME form 1 670~252 (10 days b4 exam).

Qbook, Appleton & Lange, and robbins review of path, these books I did during second year. Hopefull after having done all these Qs I can get a 99 too.

My MVP nomination is...

 

[Kluver_Bucy]

Here is a list of question sources (recomemded to me by others who have done well) that I've used thus far and how I've done with them.


Things finished after last final exam.
-CBSE 88~245 (10 weeks b4 exam).
-BSS ~72%, started in jan doing 50 Qs/day/5 days a week (finished 9 weeks b4 exam).
-Qbank 78%, all random, all timed (finished 5 weeks b4 exam).
-Step 1 released items (41,43,44)=85% (4 weeks b4 exam).
-NMS 78% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Kaplan full length simulated 77% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Blueprints 85% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Pretest vignettes 76% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Rapid review usmle step 1 qbook 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-Blackwell free online exam 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-NBME form 1 670~252 (10 days b4 exam).

Qbook, Appleton & Lange, and robbins review of path, these books I did during second year. Hopefull after having done all these Qs I can get a 99 too.

Long, did you skip classes? How did you find time to do all those questions during the school year and still attend lecture? That is unreal!

When are you taking the exam. I can't wait to read your experience. You are going to rock the exam! Great Job!!! 😍 👍 😍

 

[Pox in a box]

Could you please also write out the names (rather than abbreviations), and the easiest/fastest way to get a hold of the material? Thanks

MVP = "Most Valuable Player"

 

[omarsaleh66]

Long Dong is the prime of example of why people should do as many questions as they can. Trust me, its alot harder than it looks. Doing questions take a lot of time so start early. Excellent work man, u are a great help and I think u are gonna kick ass!!!

Ramoray - doing questions is great; looks like u got ur answer. I think as long as u see everything once before u take the exam and do alot of questions, u will be set. gluck

 

[fukdbyMIT]

Long Dong is the prime of example of why people should do as many questions as they can. Trust me, its alot harder than it looks. Doing questions take a lot of time so start early. Excellent work man, u are a great help and I think u are gonna kick ass!!!

Ramoray - doing questions is great; looks like u got ur answer. I think as long as u see everything once before u take the exam and do alot of questions, u will be set. gluck

Q's are very important. Long Dong, u are insane! mad props

 

[Pox in a box]

Here is a list of question sources (recomemded to me by others who have done well) that I've used thus far and how I've done with them.


Things finished after last final exam.
-CBSE 88~245 (10 weeks b4 exam).
-BSS ~72%, started in jan doing 50 Qs/day/5 days a week (finished 9 weeks b4 exam).
-Qbank 78%, all random, all timed (finished 5 weeks b4 exam).
-Step 1 released items (41,43,44)=85% (4 weeks b4 exam).
-NMS 78% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Kaplan full length simulated 77% (3 weeks b4 exam).
-Blueprints 85% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Pretest vignettes 76% (2 1/2 weeks b4 exam).
-Rapid review usmle step 1 qbook 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-Blackwell free online exam 80% (2 weeks b4 exam).
-NBME form 1 670~252 (10 days b4 exam).

Qbook, Appleton & Lange, and robbins review of path, these books I did during second year. Hopefull after having done all these Qs I can get a 99 too.

Hey, weren't you "in deep doo doo" doing the Robbins Review Book (twice!)? Mad props for the question sources. You're going to take the NBME out to steak.

 

[Long Dong]

Okay to answer some questions. If I had to rank which question sources in order of importance.
1. Robins review of path, idiopathic got me hooked on this one, after doing this twice all other path questions seem easy by comparsion.
2. Board Simulator Series a guy named Dr. Cuts (carribean grad who matched rads) told me about this. This series doesn't represent the current testing format but I've seem to learn the bread and butter from this comprehensive source. One poster once said it is like training with heavy weights, other questions after are just light reps. Requires some time to get threw them all. The body systems books are pretty good, lots of thinking and questions with arrows going up and down. The basic concepts and normal/abnormal books not as good, more like factoid memorization.
3. Qbook and Appleton & Lange (big frank and omarsaleh introduced me to this one) rank about the same good basics to practice after having reviewed the subject.
4. Qbank I didn't like it to much, I didn't think I learned to much from it except for how to pace myself under timed conditions, deal with doing random blocks and guessing when you get 5-10 question in a row that make you say WTF. But you just have to do it cause you're just afraid that you'll be missing out on what others have learned.
5. Pre test clinical vingettes for the usmle step 1, big frank recommended, good thinking questions.
6. Blueprints Q&A, Rapid Review for the usmle step 1, and Blackwells online exam are like icing on the cake mostly vingettes. The only reason they rank so low is because I've already seen most of what they are testing from other sources, but are good if you don't have the time to get threw BSS.
The one I thought sucked a$$ was NMS alot of nit picky detail (eg SH2 second messenger after Tyrosine kinase, and TF2D binds tata box).

As for MVP for the class of 2007 that will go to P53 with his 770 on from 1.

As for how did I do all these question I learned from BF and idio that those guys started like nov and dec of second year. These guys are also top ranked in their class, so an average guy like me would have to put in at least as much effort to get any where near them. I couldn't get myself to start that early but I did start after partying my a$$ off on new years. BF went ocd with the FA on the toilet thing, Jalby read big robbins cover to cover, idio did ~11,000 questions. I liked idios idea and did questions. I would do them during my lunch, and by the time school got out I had finished robbins review, BSS, Kaplan Qbook and A&L. I also tend to get sleepy after staring at a reveiw book for more then 3 hours so I did questions for the rest of the day during the past 7 weeks that I've been studying for boards.

So I take form 2 on tuesday and the real deal on the June 20th will keep you guys up to date.

 

[Pox in a box]

As for MVP for the class of 2007 that will go to P53 with his 770 on from 1.

770, yeah right.

 

[Long Dong]

Hey, weren't you "in deep doo doo" doing the Robbins Review Book (twice!)? Mad props for the question sources. You're going to take the NBME out to steak.

Yeah I thought I was in deep turd cause the first time I did it in Jan I barely broke 70%. Looking at other post, people who did good where hitting 80% and up on robbins review.

But here is the update just took nbme form 2 got 710~257 (5 days b4 I get mad drunk). Just hope I can keep my cool and not choke out on the real deal when I get a bunch of WTF questions.

Can't wait for this crap to be over with, braking out in zits, to stressed out to even want any nookie from my lady, lost like 10 lbs cuz haven't hit the gym, can't sleep, when I do sleep I wake up early for no reason. I just had to vent cause it's 4:40 am on the west coast and I just finished that dam form 2 and still can't sleep.

But good luck pox, you're still taking it this week right? I'm sure you'll rock that biatch.

 

[felicia2001uk]

👍