HY video course showdown. Compiling the best of.

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uNiq1

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Hey all,

I'm interested in using either DIT, Kaplan HY videos, or FA express.
Does anyone know what would be best for my situation?

My situation:
Studied pathoma along with courses (almost done). Goljan RR for some things. Did Kaplan 2010 lectures for most of physio.
I haven't done any questions as of yet (or read FA)
I'm thinking of using a HY video course + Qs from U world for the final month. Personally I love understanding and find I forget things if I don't have the background explanation behind them (hate superficial stuff)

What do you guys think?

Oh and I don't mind picking and choosing. I have 2 other friends who agreed that we could buy 2 or all 3 of the courses if some topics are taught better in some vs others.

If you know anything about any specific topics that are good or bad from these video courses please post and I'll try to update the info below as much as possible allowing others to choose their course based on weaknesses/strenghts.

Thanks for reading.

Showdown.
So far I did some research and found
FA express:
Good: Immuno, Neuro, and Embryo (shan564 original posting with confirmation from a friend). Micro pretty good (same guy as neuro and embryo I think)
Bad: Pscyh, GI (read from FA directly)
Meh: Behavioral (added a little on top of FA w/ examples)


DIT is bland overall but apparently he correlates things back and forth
Good for???
Bad at???

Kaplan HY:
GI
I found the micro very superficial had some HY associations and rules you could follow to get the answer (or so I'm guessing)
Kaplan HY has "kaplan essential" at the end of most chapters and those I gotta say are phenomenal videos! If anything I'll definitely watch those. Well explained felt like goljan detail with pathoma level explanations (the GI acute pancreatitis one) from what I can tell.Apparently Kaplan can teach but most students look for the 50hr course buzzwords and shy away from the longer review courses even though they can be well taught. Result = superficial videos!
 
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Personally, I'm following something similar to the DIT recommended schedule, which suggests that you get through FA at least once (with the help of whatever other resources you might need), then do the DIT course in three weeks, and then do one more pass of FA in the last week before your test.

I've been using FA Express to help me make that first pass through FA, especially for the particularly dry topics. I've also watched about 90% of Pathoma and used other resources as needed. Plus about 3-400 questions a week.

I'll still use DIT in addition to that, since it's a bit more than just a FA review. They say that you should already know FA pretty well by the time you start DIT, so it's reasonable to do both Express and DIT.

I'm not using Kaplan because I didn't like their sample lecture.

You have about as much time as I did, so I think it would be reasonable to do the same thing. I can't say whether it works for sure, but I've definitely seen an improvement in my Qbank scores in the last month.
 
Personally, I'm following something similar to the DIT recommended schedule, which suggests that you get through FA at least once (with the help of whatever other resources you might need), then do the DIT course in three weeks, and then do one more pass of FA in the last week before your test.

I've been using FA Express to help me make that first pass through FA, especially for the particularly dry topics. I've also watched about 90% of Pathoma and used other resources as needed. Plus about 3-400 questions a week.

I'll still use DIT in addition to that, since it's a bit more than just a FA review. They say that you should already know FA pretty well by the time you start DIT, so it's reasonable to do both Express and DIT.

I'm not using Kaplan because I didn't like their sample lecture.

You have about as much time as I did, so I think it would be reasonable to do the same thing. I can't say whether it works for sure, but I've definitely seen an improvement in my Qbank scores in the last month.

Besides the above things that you posted about is there any other topics that you found were taught well or taught poorly in FA express? My friend and I are probably going to use kaplan HY to supplement whatever is poor in FA express.

For the end we will all use our own DIT separately if we want as that only has 2 views.

Finally I wonder if you did pathoma is there anythign additional you get out of path sections in FA Express?
 
I just watched a bit of biochem and micro today in FA Express, and both were pretty good. I thought that biochem was especially good, probably because it was done by the same guy who did immuno (Peter Gayed).

The only system that I watched in FA Express was neuro, and it's hard to comment on the path section there because path is so closely integrated with anatomy. I thought it was useful... definitely not more comprehensive than Pathoma, but First Aid is always a good supplement to Pathoma because it helps highlight the highest-yield things that you need to retain from the Pathoma lectures.
 
Watched a bit more of biochem in FA Express. It's also excellent... almost as good as immuno. Peter Gayed is a champ.

Also started DIT, and I have to say that it's just in an entirely different league from the rest. The other courses focus on telling you things, which is great if you're just preparing yourself for DIT... DIT focuses on making you learn it actively.

My main criticism so far is that the lecturer (Brian Jenkins) tries a bit too hard to have a "dynamic" personality... it's pretty clear that he's just trying to force himself to put more emotion and tone variation in his voice, which is quite annoying because it's clearly artificial. But when I turn up the speed of the lectures, that artificiality seems to fade away a bit. And in the end, what matters most is the content.
 
Watched a bit more of biochem in FA Express. It's also excellent... almost as good as immuno. Peter Gayed is a champ.

Also started DIT, and I have to say that it's just in an entirely different league from the rest. The other courses focus on telling you things, which is great if you're just preparing yourself for DIT... DIT focuses on making you learn it actively.

My main criticism so far is that the lecturer (Brian Jenkins) tries a bit too hard to have a "dynamic" personality... it's pretty clear that he's just trying to force himself to put more emotion and tone variation in his voice, which is quite annoying because it's clearly artificial. But when I turn up the speed of the lectures, that artificiality seems to fade away a bit. And in the end, what matters most is the content.


Thanks for your input. It's really helpful. Yeah neuro for Pathoma was by far the least comprehensive IMO. I do find that to be the one lacking. The others are pretty good. I guess I have to get on the DIT train soon. Thanks again!
 
Interested to hear more about your DIT experience. I'm almost 5 weeks out and maybe considering getting it for my second pass through of First Aid. But, also don't want to waste time on something I could do myself. Been using Kaplan HY, but only find it useful for some things.
 
Well, I've only been through one day of DIT so far... he does present things straight out of First Aid, but he adds a few high-yield points, stresses the specific things that are likely to show up on the exam, etc. They recommend that you do 1-2 passes of FA before even doing the course, so it won't just be pure repetition of what you already know. I thought I knew FA fairly well already, but the first day of DIT definitely helped nail down the concepts that I thought I knew but I still might miss on the test. In addition to the lectures, there's also a great workbook that forces you to learn things.

But then, that's just me. If you're already in the 250 range, then you might not benefit as much from it. I got a 228 on my last NBME, and he says their average score increase is 15%... I think it's a bit overly optimistic to think that he'll get me another 33 points, but I'd be ecstatic with a 10% increase.
 
Well, I've only been through one day of DIT so far... he does present things straight out of First Aid, but he adds a few high-yield points, stresses the specific things that are likely to show up on the exam, etc. They recommend that you do 1-2 passes of FA before even doing the course, so it won't just be pure repetition of what you already know. I thought I knew FA fairly well already, but the first day of DIT definitely helped nail down the concepts that I thought I knew but I still might miss on the test. In addition to the lectures, there's also a great workbook that forces you to learn things.

But then, that's just me. If you're already in the 250 range, then you might not benefit as much from it. I got a 228 on my last NBME, and he says their average score increase is 15%... I think it's a bit overly optimistic to think that he'll get me another 33 points, but I'd be ecstatic with a 10% increase.

I'm more worried about the time. It's like 70 hours of videos? In other words, takes at least 3 weeks full-time. I'm a little worried that it just might be a poor use of my time in the last month as I should just be doing questions and reviewing? I take the test May 23rd and I'm taking my first full diagnostic NMBE this weekend. Hoping to break the 220s on the first round (and break the 240s on the actual thing).
 
It's definitely 3 weeks full-time. It's meant to be a standalone review program. Basically, instead of reviewing on your own, you review according to their schedule. They'll keep you pretty busy every day for those three weeks if you include lecture time, quizzes/activities, and "home" review of the day's material. And then they recommend that you do a block of questions on your own time. I think it's pretty exhausting, but I feel like I'm learning a lot... more than I expected at this stage in my prep.
 
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