MD How to approach NBME Anatomy

[rtmsf95]

Hey guys,

I'm a rookie MS1 and medical school is starting this week. The first course is General Anatomy, and I go to a school that exclusively utilizes NBME exams. The thing is though, that the professors select the NMBE questions, so there's probably some focus on what is taught in lecture. I wanted to get opinions on potential study plans, and perhaps even recommendations for new study plans.

Best Content Review Resources?
Classmates from upper classes hand down scribes, and apparently those are helpful for beginning MS1s such as myself who haven't developed the skill to filter material productively. I'll also utilize Lecture slides, obviously.

Aside from this, any recommendations? ECA seems to be way too wordy and may take too long to read (but does offer clinical correlates), and I'm the type of reader that goes kinda (too) slowly and thoroughly. Other options I've seen are BRS and High Yield...any recommendations on that?

Best Tool to Memorize/Test?
For me, I think it takes too long to write down extensive notes and then to go over those notes, but I've seen resources that speed up this process: anki and firecracker.
In my past premed courses, anki really does help me memorize content super fast, but the drawback is the time it takes to create these cards specific to my curriculum. I've taken up a free trial with FC so I'll see how that goes, but the caveat is that I don't have the exact cards/pieces of information that I'd like to memorize. So which source would be better to memorize the content learned from scribes/lectures?
Perhaps there are other methods which have better efficiency and results than either of these options, such as creating study guides quickly and repeatedly reviewing? Keep in mind all exams are STEP 1 Style, however.
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(For anatomy lab, I plan on using anki image occlusion + rohen's + netters)

Lastly, I apologize if there are other threads which cover this. I myself couldn't find one that could precisely hit the nail on the head with what I'd like to see answered. Thanks for all your help as I transition to medical school.

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[ortnakas]

The Gray's Anatomy Review Book (aka "Green Gray's") was the best resource my class found for practice questions.

 

[ImmovableMover]

Fellow UTMBer

 

[theonlytycrane]

@ortnakas

Is it this one?

My school is doing NBME as well- luckily we're a p/f system.

 

[Oh_Gee]

@ortnakas

Is it this one?

View attachment 223063
My school is doing NBME as well- luckily we're a p/f system.

i used that. some solid questions in there but there are some random ones about topics that aren't even mentioned in the textbook

 

[rtmsf95]

Update on my resource dilemma:

I think I figured out a good system. Will basically preread scribes and lecture slides, then attend lecture and write supplemental notes on top of scribes, and then make Anki cards out of facts/concepts that I don't know by heart. Then will focus on Firecracker, BRS, and maybe now even look into this Green Gray's for pure NBME practice questions.

Lemme know if there's anything y'all wanna add to this! I guess it's more about studying hard and putting in the hours than the resources used, but I like having a clear cut plan when possible.

 

[Oh_Gee]

Update on my resource dilemma:

I think I figured out a good system. Will basically preread scribes and lecture slides, then attend lecture and write supplemental notes on top of scribes, and then make Anki cards out of facts/concepts that I don't know by heart. Then will focus on Firecracker, BRS, and maybe now even look into this Green Gray's for pure NBME practice questions.

Lemme know if there's anything y'all wanna add to this! I guess it's more about studying hard and putting in the hours than the resources used, but I like having a clear cut plan when possible.

def do all relevant BRS and GAR before a test

 

[theonlytycrane]

@rtmsf95

how's anatomy going? My anatomy block starts soon and I'm currently organizing my resources.

 

[rtmsf95]

Sorry, haven't been on SDN for a while. So anatomy is definitely going. I think I studied not-so-efficiently for a bit in the beginning. Essentially, was making anki cards, but got so swamped by making them (made 2000 of them in 3 weeks...yikes), that I didn't even really review them. Still, making them was enough to learn the information. But you really wanna keep your approach more problem based. So like every weekend, make sure that you spend several hours working on BRS questions. Apparently UMich also has good questions, and the green gray's atlas has questions as well. I also got a firecracker subscription and plan on doing those questions as well.

I hit the obvious realization that knowing the content like the back of your hand only gets you a high C/low B. If you're targeting A's in courses that utilize NBME questions, definitely focus a lot more on practice problems. And for anatomy, BRS has the best problems.

Anki is a great tool, but I personally think more helpful in the organ systems, when you can use Zanki and other pre-made step decks. In anatomy, at least in our school, it just takes too long to make the cards and then to go over them. Maybe if you filter what you make, then it's manageable; however, I probably had no filter the first few weeks of med school, and made cards over every single thing.