how relevant is goljan audio?

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dr.sartorius

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It seems his audio has been around for a very long time. Has anyone who recently took their board exam, within the last few years, found it accurate on what is high yield, or how they present certain scenarios? Would be good to know before I dedicate 37 hours listening to it. Thanks in advance.
 
Step 1 is a lot about the basic physiology & pathology which tends not to change (i.e. RF is still a antibd against Fc of IgG)

40 hours is not that bad considering the 4 weeks most people spend...as long as you take good notes etc
 
I listened to it all while at the gym over the month I was studying for step 1. There were some good bits in there still relevant for the exam. And he's funny.
 
It seems his audio has been around for a very long time. Has anyone who recently took their board exam, within the last few years, found it accurate on what is high yield, or how they present certain scenarios? Would be good to know before I dedicate 37 hours listening to it. Thanks in advance.

I have gone through the audio (did most of it on a road trip) and while I have not taken Step 1 yet, it definitely related to my coursework. I would take anything he says will definitely be on the boards with a grain of salt, but as far as a pathophys resource and review, it's pretty good. And for a resource that can fill the dead time in your schedule (ie. working out and driving), it can't be beat. Definitely gonna do it again the month or so before my exam.
 
I have several friends who used it and thought it was definitely worth it. They say you can cut down on the 37 hours by listening to it at 2x. It apparently not only has high yield facts but helps break down the physiology to aid in learning. Especially in renal path they say.
 
As someone said above, I think it's worth doing at the gym or while running or driving/commuting.

I haven't taken step 1 yet, but it's been helpful in classes and with general prep. I wouldn't sit and just listen, especially during dedicated though.
 
Yeah, thirding the listen at the gym/driving/doing something else mindless advice. They are definitely still high yield from a material standpoint, but more important is his way of thinking and integrating that's valuable.

His treatment of heme/onc is still probably the best I've seen from any source.
 
Listened to it many times. It's very relevant. Recent discoveries don't find their way into the tests until years later. New textbook publications usually have more to do with making money than providing better/newer content.
 
Off topic: does anyone else's hemodynamics and acid/base lecture cut off midway?
 
I took it last July and there were a couple questions I had that were almost verbatim things that he said. If you have a good understanding of the high yield basics and how to apply them you'll do well on the exam, so listening to him will definitely help you out, even if he doesn't directly give you an answer on the test (same thing with Pathoma). Just watch out for anything where he says the empirical treatment is antibiotic x or the highest incidence of something is y. Besides that everything is still relevant.
 
Thank you for the replies, looks like i'll be listening to Poppie for the next few months :headphone:
 
+1 regarding the idea of listening to it at (and driving to and from) the gym.

(Some people may think that you're weird if/when you start grinning at some of his jokes. But who cares?)
 
The weird thing is that I remember his stories better than his lecture. Then again, there were times in step 1 that I could hear his voice giving me the right answer, must have gotten at least 5 right from hearing him talk it out to me
 
i'm not saying that i condone this but there are other ways of obtaining the data. i purchased his book though
 
Best resource with World for boards just a few years ago, I assume it still is.
 
SDN discussion from years past has indicated that Goljan himself knows they're out there and he knows he's made his fame from them. Kaplan is probably less than amused though.

Though Kaplan are kind of a scammy company that's now running a for-profit college, so F them.
 
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The concepts, relationships, and general information is still true. Some of the facts are outdated and wrong (e.g. skunks aren't the #1 cause of rabies, e.coli isn't the #1 cause of sepsis), but otherwise the audios are good. Of course, I've personally never downloaded or been in possession of the files myself... I've just overheard them being played on laptop speakers.
 
I listen to Goljan Audio about 5 times through over second year. When I took Step 1, hardly anything that was mentioned as high yield came up.

Would I still suggest giving it a listen? Of course. The audio was invaluable for 2nd year coursework and my thought processes during clerkships. I probably just had a bad draw for Step 1.
 
I listen to Goljan Audio about 5 times through over second year. When I took Step 1, hardly anything that was mentioned as high yield came up.

Would I still suggest giving it a listen? Of course. The audio was invaluable for 2nd year coursework and my thought processes during clerkships. I probably just had a bad draw for Step 1.

He says everything is high yield
 
He says everything is high yield

And like none of it came up! Dead serious! Step 1 felt like none of my practice exams and I felt like I was going on intuition for 30-40% of the exam. The closest thing to it was UWorld and I had a few of the exact same images pop up. A lot more anatomy questions and CT images than I expected ...
 
so you had no questions on hypoxia, apoptosis, resp acidosis, pulmonary embolism, hyaline membrane disease, pulmonary edema, carbon monoxide, cytochrome oxidase, acetaminophen, alcoholic liver damage, cell cycle, cell hyperplasia, cardinal signs of inflammation, histamine, serotonin, complement, nitric oxide, pulmonary hypertension, cyclooxygenase, clostridium difficile, marfan's syndrome, scarring, granulomas, leukocytes, renal physiology, myasthenia gravis, esr, left shift, edema, albumin, hyponatremia, hypernatremia, dka, baroreceptors, cardiac output, different kinds of shock, salicylate overdose, croup, als, guillaine barre, polio, obstructive lung disease, restrictive lung disease, anorexia, bullemia, obesity, metabolic alkalosis, boerhaave syndrome, vitamins, pth, zinc, fiber, protein restriction in renal failure and cirrhosis, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, tumor nomenclature, most common cancers and metastases, oncogenes, grading and staging of cancers, cd8 t cells, cachexia caused by tnf alpha, anemia of chronic disease, paraneoplastic syndromes, tumor markers such as afp, psa, ca-125, cea, different kinds of anemia, alcohol's effect on heme synthesis, thalassemia, lupus, leukemia, lymphadenopathy, lymphomas, coagulation system, platelets, coagulopathies, abo and rh system, atherosclerosis, aaa, ehlers danlos, superior vena cava syndrome, osler weber rendu, spider telangiectasia, various vasculitis syndromes, hsp, pan, wegeners, raynauds, cardiac hypertrophy, heart sounds, murmurs and valvular defects, shunts, great vessel malformations, angina, acute coronary syndrome with complications, ards, pneumothorax, pneumonia, addison's disease, dysphagia, tracheoesophageal fistula, zenkers diverticulum, achalasia, barretts esophagus, esophageal varices, congenital pyloric stenosis, duodenal atresia, nsaid ulcers, h. pylori, digestion, diarrhea, small bowel obstruction, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, colon tumors, appendicitis, bilirubin metabolism, hepatitis, cholestasis, hemochromatosis, wilson's disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, gallstones, cystic fibrosis, pancreatitis, renal casts, urinalysis, polycystic kidney disease, nephritis syndrome, nephrotic syndrome, prerenal azotemia, acute renal failure, pyelonephritis, chronic renal failure, malignany hypertension, uti, renal adenocarcinoma, various problems with the penis and testes, prostate cancer and bph, pcos, amenorrhea, endometriosis, endometrial hyperplasia and cancer, various ovarian cancers, cushing's syndrome, waterhouse friderichsen syndrome, adrenal medullary tumors, meningitis, diabetes 1 and 2, gout, pseudogout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, anklosing spondylitis, lyme disease, osteogenic sarcoma, osteoporosis, duchenne muscular dystrophy, dermatomyositis, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, tinea capitis, pityriasis rosea, cerebellar tumors, hydrocephalus, arnold chiari, brain herniation, papilledema, tuberous sclerosis, spina bifida, neurofibromatosis, acoustic schwannoma, encephalitis, stroke, multiple sclerosis, alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease?
 
so you had no questions on hypoxia, apoptosis, resp acidosis, pulmonary embolism, hyaline membrane disease, pulmonary edema, carbon monoxide, cytochrome oxidase, acetaminophen, alcoholic liver damage, cell cycle, cell hyperplasia, cardinal signs of inflammation, histamine, serotonin, complement, nitric oxide, pulmonary hypertension, cyclooxygenase, clostridium difficile, marfan's syndrome, scarring, granulomas, leukocytes, renal physiology, myasthenia gravis, esr, left shift, edema, albumin, hyponatremia, hypernatremia, dka, baroreceptors, cardiac output, different kinds of shock, salicylate overdose, croup, als, guillaine barre, polio, obstructive lung disease, restrictive lung disease, anorexia, bullemia, obesity, metabolic alkalosis, boerhaave syndrome, vitamins, pth, zinc, fiber, protein restriction in renal failure and cirrhosis, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, tumor nomenclature, most common cancers and metastases, oncogenes, grading and staging of cancers, cd8 t cells, cachexia caused by tnf alpha, anemia of chronic disease, paraneoplastic syndromes, tumor markers such as afp, psa, ca-125, cea, different kinds of anemia, alcohol's effect on heme synthesis, thalassemia, lupus, leukemia, lymphadenopathy, lymphomas, coagulation system, platelets, coagulopathies, abo and rh system, atherosclerosis, aaa, ehlers danlos, superior vena cava syndrome, osler weber rendu, spider telangiectasia, various vasculitis syndromes, hsp, pan, wegeners, raynauds, cardiac hypertrophy, heart sounds, murmurs and valvular defects, shunts, great vessel malformations, angina, acute coronary syndrome with complications, ards, pneumothorax, pneumonia, addison's disease, dysphagia, tracheoesophageal fistula, zenkers diverticulum, achalasia, barretts esophagus, esophageal varices, congenital pyloric stenosis, duodenal atresia, nsaid ulcers, h. pylori, digestion, diarrhea, small bowel obstruction, diverticulitis, inflammatory bowel disease, colon tumors, appendicitis, bilirubin metabolism, hepatitis, cholestasis, hemochromatosis, wilson's disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, gallstones, cystic fibrosis, pancreatitis, renal casts, urinalysis, polycystic kidney disease, nephritis syndrome, nephrotic syndrome, prerenal azotemia, acute renal failure, pyelonephritis, chronic renal failure, malignany hypertension, uti, renal adenocarcinoma, various problems with the penis and testes, prostate cancer and bph, pcos, amenorrhea, endometriosis, endometrial hyperplasia and cancer, various ovarian cancers, cushing's syndrome, waterhouse friderichsen syndrome, adrenal medullary tumors, meningitis, diabetes 1 and 2, gout, pseudogout, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, anklosing spondylitis, lyme disease, osteogenic sarcoma, osteoporosis, duchenne muscular dystrophy, dermatomyositis, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, tinea capitis, pityriasis rosea, cerebellar tumors, hydrocephalus, arnold chiari, brain herniation, papilledema, tuberous sclerosis, spina bifida, neurofibromatosis, acoustic schwannoma, encephalitis, stroke, multiple sclerosis, alzheimer's disease, parkinson's disease?
How long did that take?
 
I took the exam last year and listened to his lectures at x2 the speed (saves a LOT of time) while reading a transcript of the audio lectures found online. This was the only way I could understand what was going on and retain any of what he said. The copy of the lectures I had was incomplete: I think the Gynae, Endo or Neuro lectures are either insufficient or missing.

He is definitely no substitute for Pathoma, but I would recommend listening to them. I don't think his textbook is useful for Step 1. How useful is my advice? Probably not useful if you want a 260 (you'd want to get advice from someone who scored that high) but if you want a 256 it might help.
 
whoever made that transcript is a saint. I couldn't listen to the recordings for more than 30 seconds without wondering if I was at a sporting event
 
His treatment of heme/onc is still probably the best I've seen from any source.

Goljan is the only reason I know anything about heme/onc. I would recommend Pathoma for the other chapters though.
 
Actually I thought Pathoma's heme/onc chapters were very well done. His framework is excellent and you'll find that you remember it even during clinical rotations. Goljan's heme/onc sections are supposedly good but not for learning the material the first time. I think they're better for passive listening and for hitting some interesting review points. If you're learning it for the first time and want a solid framework for thinking about these diseases, Pathoma all the way. It's easily one of his better sections in the whole book.
 
I took the exam last year and listened to his lectures at x2 the speed (saves a LOT of time) while reading a transcript of the audio lectures found online. This was the only way I could understand what was going on and retain any of what he said. The copy of the lectures I had was incomplete: I think the Gynae, Endo or Neuro lectures are either insufficient or missing.

He is definitely no substitute for Pathoma, but I would recommend listening to them. I don't think his textbook is useful for Step 1. How useful is my advice? Probably not useful if you want a 260 (you'd want to get advice from someone who scored that high) but if you want a 256 it might help.

If you use the bare-bones minimum (Pathoma, FA, UWorld), you're really taking a chance WRT scoring 260+.

If you're aiming for 260+ and don't want to take too much of a chance on test day, read RR Path.
 
If you use the bare-bones minimum (Pathoma, FA, UWorld), you're really taking a chance WRT scoring 260+.

If you're aiming for 260+ and don't want to take too much of a chance on test day, read RR Path.

How my brain translated that sentence:

All I need to study is Pathoma, FA, and UWorld.
 
How my brain translated that sentence:

All I need to study is Pathoma, FA, and UWorld.

🙂 I see your point, but I think that it always pays to shoot for as high a score as possible. Unless you're set on Psych or PM&R and don't care about location.
 
Actually I thought Pathoma's heme/onc chapters were very well done. His framework is excellent and you'll find that you remember it even during clinical rotations. Goljan's heme/onc sections are supposedly good but not for learning the material the first time. I think they're better for passive listening and for hitting some interesting review points. If you're learning it for the first time and want a solid framework for thinking about these diseases, Pathoma all the way. It's easily one of his better sections in the whole book.

Well Pathoma's heme chapter was outstanding, for white blood cell disorders though I do think that Goljan is a good start. Goljan really breaks down Leukemia and Lymphoma to a simple way where anyone can understand. Read Pathoma but still go through Goljan first.
 
That is true. The only reason I said that is because, personally, I am aiming for a middle-ish competitive specialty, have absolutely no issues with weird locations, and I don't care about prestige.
You lucky AMG's.. Here I am an IMG wondering whether I'll even match or not.
 
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