How many readings of RR Patho are necessary?

[NoWayOut]

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How many readings of RR Patho are necessary to answer most of the patho q's on the real test??
I have done one good through reading of Goljan's 2nd ed. months ago and it really helped me grasp concepts, but I feel I have a more general understanding compared to knowing all those irritating details, ect ..like stuff in his tables (those are a killer).
Kind of concerned at this point cuz not sure how to fit it in with the rest that I need to do.
Your thoughts please....

 

[drizzt3117]

How many readings of RR Patho are necessary to answer most of the patho q's on the real test??
I have done one good through reading of Goljan's 2nd ed. months ago and it really helped me grasp concepts, but I feel I have a more general understanding compared to knowing all those irritating details, ect ..like stuff in his tables (those are a killer).
Kind of concerned at this point cuz not sure how to fit it in with the rest that I need to do.
Your thoughts please....

I'd prolly go through it again.

 

[knuckles]

What about the fact that posters who've already sat the exam, commenting that most of the path was in FA?

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

How many readings of RR Patho are necessary to answer most of the patho q's on the real test??
I have done one good through reading of Goljan's 2nd ed. months ago and it really helped me grasp concepts, but I feel I have a more general understanding compared to knowing all those irritating details, ect ..like stuff in his tables (those are a killer).
Kind of concerned at this point cuz not sure how to fit it in with the rest that I need to do.
Your thoughts please....

I'd say another pass would really help.

 

[drizzt3117]

What about the fact that posters who've already sat the exam, commenting that most of the path was in FA?

It might be mentioned in fa, it's just not sufficient to necessarily answer a q about it.

 

[PokerDoc]

It might be mentioned in fa, it's just not sufficient to necessarily answer a q about it.

if you see something in first and you can say oh I know exactly what that is, is that sufficient? Even if its only mentioned in passing? I am debating whether to fly through goljans blue margin notes or to listen to select subjects on his audio that I am weakest in. I dont have time for both unfortunately.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

if you see something in first and you can say oh I know exactly what that is, is that sufficient? Even if its only mentioned in passing? I am debating whether to fly through goljans blue margin notes or to listen to select subjects on his audio that I am weakest in. I dont have time for both unfortunately.

hmmm....it probably depends on how weak you are in those subjects. If you're getting a lot of questions wrong for a certain subject, I say it would be worth it to listen to the audio lecture for that subject. If not, the margin notes do a good job of giving you a summary of all the important facts.

 

[PokerDoc]

hmmm....it probably depends on how weak you are in those subjects. If you're getting a lot of questions wrong for a certain subject, I say it would be worth it to listen to the audio lecture for that subject. If not, the margin notes do a good job of giving you a summary of all the important facts.

Thats the thing.. im not 'weak' anywhere, Im just not overpowering anywhere either.. im consistently in the 60th percentile for just about everything in UW as far as path goes. The only areas i appear lower in are hepatobiliary (which actually might be a slight weakness since GI was was the only below avg bar on my NBME 7 and gastro itself on UW is one of my biggest strengths but hepatobil is low) and dermatology but the sample size is like 50 questions and i basically have 50% right on them so my percentile is like in the 40s or something.

WhenI get questions wrong in UW, its because theyre asked in a way ive never been presented with before (duh), thats why i still think going over my UW wrong answers is top priority to make sure Im not fooled twice by the same question. I wont have time to go over every single question I got wrong, so what ill prob end up having to do is only read answers that I marked and/or got wrong the 2nd time through.. if I get it right and didnt mark it, i cant waste time reading it again.

 

[PokerDoc]

btw I meant from a path perspective.. i definitely need to spend some time on pharm.. I worked real hard on biochem which used to be my biggest weakness and now I am ok there.

Pharm is flat out not sticking though, especially the psych drugs, those are a &*#$#$.. i can never remember if something is an SSRI or MAO-I etc..

I think what I might do though is, whatever I go overin FA during the day, listen to the goljan audio for that chapter at night before bed.. Its lower stress since its listening, not reading, so I dont think it will cause any overload problems and itll reinforce what I read in the day and maybe add in a few things.

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

btw I meant from a path perspective.. i definitely need to spend some time on pharm.. I worked real hard on biochem which used to be my biggest weakness and now I am ok there.

Pharm is flat out not sticking though, especially the psych drugs, those are a &*#$#$.. i can never remember if something is an SSRI or MAO-I etc..

I think what I might do though is, whatever I go overin FA during the day, listen to the goljan audio for that chapter at night before bed.. Its lower stress since its listening, not reading, so I dont think it will cause any overload problems and itll reinforce what I read in the day and maybe add in a few things.

sounds like a good plan. Good luck, and hang in there.

 

[doc29]

i started reading goljan RR last night, and it HELPED me a lot! The pics and blue margins are super. I am planning to read 2-3 chapters everyday (finished reading my two weak topics -hematology and immunology last night).

 

[drizzt3117]

Are you using only fa for pharm? It does list most of the drugs you need (except for chemo drugs) but it won't explain what you need to know about them.

Honestly I think instead of going thru rr again I think it'd be of value to go through more Uw questions. You should know everything about ALL of the answer choices, not just the right one.

Thats the thing.. im not 'weak' anywhere, Im just not overpowering anywhere either.. im consistently in the 60th percentile for just about everything in UW as far as path goes. The only areas i appear lower in are hepatobiliary (which actually might be a slight weakness since GI was was the only below avg bar on my NBME 7 and gastro itself on UW is one of my biggest strengths but hepatobil is low) and dermatology but the sample size is like 50 questions and i basically have 50% right on them so my percentile is like in the 40s or something.

WhenI get questions wrong in UW, its because theyre asked in a way ive never been presented with before (duh), thats why i still think going over my UW wrong answers is top priority to make sure Im not fooled twice by the same question. I wont have time to go over every single question I got wrong, so what ill prob end up having to do is only read answers that I marked and/or got wrong the 2nd time through.. if I get it right and didnt mark it, i cant waste time reading it again.

 

[NoWayOut]

So when you guys say have another go at RR, does that mean memorize it to the core? or just a quick read? please be specific as to how about I should approach the last read. Sorry I am being picky about this but I realize how important his book is and my problem, like so many, is I don't have too much time to spare.
Thanks guys.

 

[drizzt3117]

So when you guys say have another go at RR, does that mean memorize it to the core? or just a quick read? please be specific as to how about I should approach the last read. Sorry I am being picky about this but I realize how important his book is and my problem, like so many, is I don't have too much time to spare.
Thanks guys.

You don't need to memorize it word for word but know all the diseases in it, even random ones. For example, know what's targeted in pemphigus vulgaris, what pityrasis rosea is, what the extracolonic manifestations of Gardner's and Turcot's are, what the difference is and how they're inherited, what b2-microglobulin does and why it's elevated in dialysis, why nephrotic syndrome is hypercoagulable, what disease has a cytochrome b5 reductase deficiency, what tumor causes Parinaud's and what cell line are the neoplastic cells from... Just a few examples.

 

[doc29]

You don't need to memorize it word for word but know all the diseases in it, even random ones. For example, know what's targeted in pemphigus vulgaris, what pityrasis rosea is, what the extracolonic manifestations of Gardner's and Turcot's are, what the difference is and how they're inherited, what b2-microglobulin does and why it's elevated in dialysis, why nephrotic syndrome is hypercoagulable, what disease has a cytochrome b5 reductase deficiency, what tumor causes Parinaud's and what cell line are the neoplastic cells from... Just a few examples.

what do u think of goljan 100 pages notes?

 

[drizzt3117]

what do u think of goljan 100 pages notes?

Aren't those from like 2002?

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

what do u think of goljan 100 pages notes?

They're too disorganized.

 

[doc29]

its from 2002.
i was thinking of reading biochem and anatomy from there?

 

[IMGUSMLEStep1]

They're still high yield...if you don't mind reading through pages of random facts then give it a try. I personally didn't like it.

 

[NoWayOut]

You don't need to memorize it word for word but know all the diseases in it, even random ones. For example, know what's targeted in pemphigus vulgaris, what pityrasis rosea is, what the extracolonic manifestations of Gardner's and Turcot's are, what the difference is and how they're inherited, what b2-microglobulin does and why it's elevated in dialysis, why nephrotic syndrome is hypercoagulable, what disease has a cytochrome b5 reductase deficiency, what tumor causes Parinaud's and what cell line are the neoplastic cells from... Just a few examples.

So basically pick out what I think is important and that stands out, in addition to being familiar with all diseases so nothing sounds too strange to me on the real thing. Thanks.
I just hope my schedule gives me the opportunity. I actually enjoyed Goljan's book when I first read it and learned so much, so would love to feel that I have a decent grasp on it, just enough for the test at least.

 

[NoWayOut]

They're still high yield...if you don't mind reading through pages of random facts then give it a try. I personally didn't like it.

I was told once that nearly everything in there is in one place or another found in FA. I guess that is why I never bothered with those.

 

[PokerDoc]

I was told once that nearly everything in there is in one place or another found in FA. I guess that is why I never bothered with those.

first aid has it all but not in enough detail to answer questions... thats why some people say FA + Qbanks is enough, cuz thats where you fill in the gaps..

but FA all by itself def wont get you a great score, but not a bad one.

 

[NoWayOut]

first aid has it all but not in enough detail to answer questions... thats why some people say FA + Qbanks is enough, cuz thats where you fill in the gaps..

but FA all by itself def wont get you a great score, but not a bad one.

Very true FA alone is not enough for a great score, but my reply was in regards to Goljan's 100 pages of High Yield notes. What I meant to say was that I heard once that the stuff he has in his 100 pages HY notes is pretty much already mentioned in FA. I have never tried those notes myself, but was only mentioning what I was told. I am not sure if you were also referring to the same, PokerDoc.

 

[PokerDoc]

I printed them out and read a few pages and was like F this... then threw them away, so I dont really know whats in them llol

 

[NoWayOut]

I printed them out and read a few pages and was like F this... then threw them away, so I dont really know whats in them llol

Good to know, Poker.

 

[PokerDoc]

Good to know, Poker.

i need to amend my previous statement, I don't hate the environment.. most of the pages were recycled and the rest i use the back of the page for scratch paper during practice blocks. 🙂

 

[aashkab]

its from 2002.
i was thinking of reading biochem and anatomy from there?

wait, goljan made a note set with biochem and anatomy in there?

the 2002 notes are the audio transcripts right? these have biochem/anatomy in it?

hoooly geebus, lol

 

[NoWayOut]

wait, goljan made a note set with biochem and anatomy in there?

the 2002 notes are the audio transcripts right? these have biochem/anatomy in it?

hoooly geebus, lol

No these are seperate. They are notes on every subject, even biostats. They are 100 pages, 36 pages ..and there was one more I can't remember. I personally have not read them (only flipped through them to see what they're about) bec I simply don't have the time and I figured his book and audios would be enough.

 

[drizzt3117]

I read through them the day before the test. For me there wasn't a single thing I didn't know and it was a complete and utter waste of time but ymmv.