How to kill basic science/ite exams?

[xtina0]

Hey all, with pre-lim year almost being over and just have taken ite as a pgy1 I'm getting really excited to start ca1 year. I really want to be a killer anesthesiologist and also be able to ace these anesthesia exams. I've been hearing Mikhail and Morgan , m5, ace. What's the best ? I'm great at picking one source and memorizing it ??? Also when do we take basic sciences? End of ca1 year?

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[pgg]

What you read matters less than the fact that you read enough. Daily reading is best. Everyone says they do it; most don't. Schedule your reading, and stick to the schedule. For me, that meant getting up a couple hours early most of my CA-1 year to read before the day started. Then, when I got home, after calling my staff to talk about the next day's cases, I could turn off my brain for the night and have family time.

To start, pick a basic textbook. Baby Miller or M&M will do. Read them. In the weeks or month before the AKT-6, do a bunch of questions from any source, but focused on the limited subjects on that specific test (the test's content outline is online). The AKT-6 can be gamed a bit by strategic studying. The ITEs can't.

 

[Vaporized]

100% strategic studying for AKT. For me using the first section of baby Miller(all the drugs, machines, vapors, etc) plus CV and pulm chapters yielded exceptional results.

 

[kazuma]

Use M5 throughout the year and read any answer you didn't know in Barash or M&M. Like others have said you need to consistently study daily for your cases plus focused reading/questions on specific topics. If you understand everything in M5 (not just memorize answers) then you have a very high chance of scoring in the top 25th percentile on the ITE.

Standford has a good crash course CA1 PDF on their website that is very high yield for the AKT 0/1. Between that and the first 5-8 chapters in M&M you should easily be able to score~90th on the AKT.

Your results may vary but that's been a tried and true method for many of my colleagues and I. We have done very well on the AKT/ITE every year.

 

[Urzuz]

I don't necessarily agree with the "study every day" mantra that everyone seems to repeat. Everyone is different. You've taken plenty of big exams with a lot of material to learn up until this point, so you know how you study best. I never studied every day through residency (or in med school, undergrad, etc). At the beginning of CA-1 I read every day, mainly because I didn't know anything. Then, leading up to big exams, I would buckle down and read every day. This was possible for me because I didn't have family obligations and it was easy for me to devote weeks leading up to big exams to nothing but studying. I can understand it being more challenging if you have a family or other obligations that you can't just push aside for several weeks at a time. And for reference, I did well on all my exams including Part 1 of the ABA.

One thing I will say -- though I didn't read every day, reading about anesthesia did (and does) genuinely interest me. Occasionally I found and still find myself wrapped up in an article about strong ion differences or the mathematical pharmacokinetics of propofol, for nothing more than just my curiosity on these subjects. What has always served me well, through undergrad, med school, and residency, is understanding what you're reading rather than rote memorization. It not only leads to better retention, but in my opinion, it makes you a better physician overall.

 

[xtina0]

Thanks everyone, I'm so excited to start studying.

When are the AKT's given?
and which does everyone prefer baby miller of m&m ?
I plan on purchasing one now to start reading and to start the stanford videos in hopes of getting through it all by start of CA1

 

[xtina0]

http://ether.stanford.edu/ca1_2010.pdf and id this the pdf you are talking about?

 

[pgg]

Thanks everyone, I'm so excited to start studying.

When are the AKT's given?
and which does everyone prefer baby miller of m&m ?
I plan on purchasing one now to start reading and to start the stanford videos in hopes of getting through it all by start of CA1

AKT-0 at the start of your CA1 year
AKT-1 a month later (it's the same test as the AKT-0)
AKT-6 is six months into your CA1 year
AKT-24 is two years in (there used to be an AKT-18)

I preferred Baby Miller and read it first. There's enough in it to kill the AKTs and pass the written exam.

Kudos for starting early. It's hard to make any of it stick though, when you're not applying and reinforcing the reading with cases every day. I tried reading Faust in the few months before my CA1 year. I didn't retain much of anything.

 

[amandaeleven]

http://ether.stanford.edu/ca1_2010.pdf and id this the pdf you are talking about?

I think they update it annually - the 2014 edition is here: http://ether.stanford.edu/ca1_new/Stanford Anesthesia - CA1 Tutorial Book.pdf

 

[deleted171991]

I think they update it annually - the 2014 edition is here: http://ether.stanford.edu/ca1_new/Stanford Anesthesia - CA1 Tutorial Book.pdf

That "book" is the perfect CA-1 starter.

 

[vector2]

Got a top 10% letter for the basic exam. Did the vast majority of hall questions, all of M5, all pass machine q's (these and the associated lectures are pretty average except for Naveen Nathan's), a couple recent ace exams, read the first 7-8 chapters of baby miller and some relevant trivia chapters in M&M (anesthesia machine, how NMB affect neuromuscular dz, etc)

IMO, if you take the time to understand all the concepts covered in M5 and hall explanations there is no exam you will take in your residency which you can't crush. Seriously, do a lot of of practice questions. And when you're tired of doing practice questions do some more.

 

[kazuma]

I think they update it annually - the 2014 edition is here: http://ether.stanford.edu/ca1_new/Stanford Anesthesia - CA1 Tutorial Book.pdf

Yes that's the Stanford PDF I was talking about. Its AKT0/1 gold and every intern should read it in June.