If your school doesn't teach toward USMLE...what do you do?

[UAAWolf]

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Hey guys..just had a question.

Our school informed us that they do NOT teach towards the boards...and that they do not look @ what is tested on it. When they finally did, they found that some classes left out 50% of the subject matter on Step 1.

With that being said, what should I do? I have to learn the minutia/details to do well in class...but I also don't want to have to cram stuff I never have seen before into 3-4 weeks of studying (thats how much time we get @ my school).


Do you just study for class/boards separately during the entire ms2 year?

 

[MilkmanAl]

I chose to completely ignore the school and study on my own. My grades dropped a little but not much.

 

[dude1344]

I try to do both. It's a pain in the ass really.

I only started doing this 2nd year and my grades in school have dipped slightly (ie. honoring tests instead of obliterating the honor rate 😛) but I feel comfortable heading into my dedicated board studying.

I always read FA, Goljan, listen to Goljan, Robbins review Q's, and do the corresponding USMLERx questions during each block.

I don't spend as much time memorizing the useless crap only Phd's know, but I feel better overall conceptually.

 

[UAAWolf]

I chose to completely ignore the school and study on my own. My grades dropped a little but not much.

I am tempted to just do this...

However next year they are trying to make more mandatory classes (aka points for going to class) due to low attendance...blah.

This is the only reason I am debating studying for boards over summer (after ms1...) dumb I know.

 

[UAAWolf]

I don't spend as much time memorizing the useless crap only Phd's know, but I feel better overall conceptually.

This. I will get beat on some exams due to pointless details, but I feel excellent about the concepts and applications. It's a trade off kind of...you can rock every exam at my school and then get trashed on boards. And vice versa..so its a tad scary

 

[ChubbyChaser]

quit bitching and learn it on your own?

 

[Yope]

quit bitching and learn it on your own?

Correct.

 

[RySerr21]

I chose to completely ignore the school and study on my own. My grades dropped a little but not much.

amen. i stopped going to class, listening to lectures, or looking at ppts.

 

[golfman]

If the force you to go to class, here is what I would do. Take notes during class, try hard to jot down what your teacher emphasizes will be on the test.

After class, just study board stuff that is relevant to what you are learning. Repeat.

A day or two before the test, drop the Step 1 stuff (or at least cut back) and run through your class notes again. Your Step 1 studying will have paid off and will help you immensely. And going through the notes again from your teachers will help you do well on the test.

That's what I did. Worked like a charm for me. Did well in MS1-2 grades and did great on Step 1.

And I'm not going to lie, our school at times forced us to go to lectures, and during some particularly bad lectures (where they took attendance) I would sit in the back corner with earphones in (never got caught).

 

[2012mdc]

2nd half of M2 - stopped going to class, read FA and Goljan relevant to class material but still looked at powerpoints. Always did my Step 1 studying 1st to ensure I would get to it but would take a break from Step 1 stuff when test week got close.

Grades didn't suffer one bit, actually improved.

 

[UAAWolf]

And I'm not going to lie, our school at times forced us to go to lectures, and during some particularly bad lectures (where they took attendance) I would sit in the back corner with earphones in (never got caught).

I would say in most mandatory lectures I sit in the back and study on my own.

 

[ArcGurren]

The thing is, even though my school doesn't really teach towards the boards, a lot of what they do teach DOES show up on the boards... what they'll usually do is have a few pathology lectures/clinical pathophys lectures which have high yield boards material interspersed but for the most part will focus on overly detailed things which far from being boards relevant aren't even clinically relevant most of the time.

The best thing to do is learn it on your own.

 

[Mr hawkings]

The thing is, even though my school doesn't really teach towards the boards, a lot of what they do teach DOES show up on the boards... what they'll usually do is have a few pathology lectures/clinical pathophys lectures which have high yield boards material interspersed but for the most part will focus on overly detailed things which far from being boards relevant aren't even clinically relevant most of the time.

The best thing to do is learn it on your own.

Does any school really teach towards the boards as a policy (official or unofficially)?
My experience is that it is instructor-specific. The younger ones tend to take a peek at the review books and tailor lectures accordingly. The older ones or those from other countries just throw in everything they personally thing a med student should know regardless of low ve high yield for boards.

 

[2012mdc]

Does any school really teach towards the boards as a policy (official or unofficially)?
My experience is that it is instructor-specific. The younger ones tend to take a peek at the review books and tailor lectures accordingly. The older ones or those from other countries just throw in everything they personally thing a med student should know regardless of low ve high yield for boards.

It's definitely instructor specific.

Our pathophys prof was tough and Step 1 seemed easier. The way she wanted us to think was helpful for Step 1 even when some of the random questions weren't.

Our path prof was tough but excellent. Didn't teach specifically for the boards but prepared us well

Our main micro prof would use FA liberally and definitely taught toward the boards. Others not so much

I don't think our pharm department is aware that Step 1 exists

 

[Jolie South]

I don't understand why this is such a crisis. 🙄

Kill classes by studying what they want you to. Then, take 6 weeks and learn everything for boards. This is what I did.

 

[2012mdc]

I don't understand why this is such a crisis. 🙄

Kill classes by studying what they want you to. Then, take 6 weeks and learn everything for boards. This is what I did.

Did you not study anything specific for the boards till those 6 weeks? What was your score?

 

[Jolie South]

Did you not study anything specific for the boards till those 6 weeks? What was your score?

I used FA as a base, also used Goljan and did tons of questions. I haven't gotten my score back, but when I was taking the test there were very few questions I hadn't "seen" before. I felt very prepared.

 

[Depakote]

I don't understand why this is such a crisis. 🙄

Kill classes by studying what they want you to. Then, take 6 weeks and learn everything for boards. This is what I did.

👍

Just use M1 and M2 to learn the foundation material and study for the tests. Then use your dedicated Step 1 study time to study for Step 1.

You're overthinking it dude.

 

[xanthomondo]

I chose to completely ignore the school and study on my own. My grades dropped a little but not much.

I agree with this (sorta). Don't ignore your school completely but I would focus less on the crap details that your school makes you memorize and try to learn stuff they don't cover as you go along.

 

[2012mdc]

I used FA as a base, also used Goljan and did tons of questions. I haven't gotten my score back, but when I was taking the test there were very few questions I hadn't "seen" before. I felt very prepared.

Did you wait till the last 6 weeks to use FA, Goljan, and do questions?

One of your previous posts implies that you did not do Step prep until those last 6 weeks

 

[Jolie South]

Did you wait till the last 6 weeks to use FA, Goljan, and do questions?

One of your previous posts implies that you did not do Step prep until those last 6 weeks

I did zero board prep outside those 6 weeks that I dedicated to step study.

 

[myhandsarecold]

really? 🙄 well i wish your med school's primary goal is not to have you get a high score on the USMLEs!!! lol, i guess no one really goes to med school anymore to become a very very good doctor. my whole experience would probably had been so much better if they had incorporated more clinical stuff in there (1st 2 years) rather than having us USMLE stuff that only 0.0000001% of the population might have. you might already know this but everyone's learning the same stuff as you and in order to get ahead you need to do some serious amount of independent studying on top of your standard med school curriculum.

 

[Jolie South]

really? 🙄 well i wish your med school's primary goal is not to have you get a high score on the USMLEs!!! lol, i guess no one really goes to med school anymore to become a very very good doctor. my whole experience would probably had been so much better if they had incorporated more clinical stuff in there (1st 2 years) rather than having us USMLE stuff that only 0.0000001% of the population might have. you might already know this but everyone's learning the same stuff as you and in order to get ahead you need to do some serious amount of independent studying on top of your standard med school curriculum.

My school has one of the highest USMLE Step 1 averages in the country. I don't think we're having a problem.

 

[vicinihil]

I agree with the above. I stopped pursuing AOA and focused on the boards. I wish I was able to do both but wasn't that smart or that dedicated. This leads to the age old argument on these forums as to what is more important high boards or AOA and I think the consensus is high boards.

I studied the material 50% of the time 2nd semester of 2nd year and spent the other 50% of the time studying Goljan, FA, and board review Pharm and Micro cards. You learn the material regardless but will probably lose a couple of points here and there for minor details that board studying didn't cover. Pays off well in the end.

 

[2012mdc]

I did zero board prep outside those 6 weeks that I dedicated to step study.

Interesting. What kind of prep did you do? I would like to give the MS2's at my school a different type of plan - especially the ones who will have difficulty passing and will not start studying until after classes are done.

 

[Jolie South]

Interesting. What kind of prep did you do? I would like to give the MS2's at my school a different type of plan - especially the ones who will have difficulty passing and will not start studying until after classes are done.

Listened to Goljan audio, reviewed rapid review path and FA, did UWorld and Kaplan questions. That's it. I repeated FA review over and over again until the test. Put in about 8 hours a day.