Is it better to do random UWorld blocks or specific subject ones?

[medstudent87]

So, before I start watching Doctors in Training lectures, I have about 2 weeks to do some independent studying.

I was planning on starting each day with a random UWorld block, then studying all day, and finishing with another UWorld block specific to what I learned that day.

Thing is, I get a LOT more out of UWorld when I'm actually familiar with the subject. Practice questions are, by far, the best way for me to learn. BUT, I have yet to even touch any of the first-year stuff in FA, so I'm wondering if I'd just be wasting all those precious questions each morning as long as I haven't completed my first pass?

On the other hand, I need to start getting used to the pacing of the exam as well as the fact that questions will be totally random on test day...

What do you think?

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[unsung]

No point in doing random right from the start, unless you've already got a solid background understanding of all the topics.

Doing random is like playing a tennis game, while doing focused set is like doing focused tennis drills 😉

Personally I don't "improve" by just playing a lot of random games... but if I do a lot of drills on components of the game, inevitably the performance level shows that... eventually.

 

[michigator04]

How far out are you from the real test? If you're within a month, I'd vote for starting to do random to get used to having to really try hard for each question and can't predict what's coming next.

 

[ArcGurren]

I finished UW two days ago - I did it by System (GI, Hepatobiliary, etc) but within it I randomized all the subjects. I actually found it pretty helpful.

 

[medstudent87]

I've got about 5.5 weeks till my exam

 

[MossPoh]

Theoretically you have seen the material before and should have done your drilling then. I've found no real difference between myself and my classmates with regards to percentages in each block when random or subject specific at first. I do find that my averages seem to creep up more.

It depends more on whether you memory dump or not. I find random topics helps me in a number of ways. One is that I'm not primed for the answers, so it actually takes more thinking through. Another is that there is a constant reinforcement as I go along. I may absolutely SUCK with a specific topic. Get hammered on the question, read up a bit on it, annotate and go on my way. I then may do really well with it for a week. Two weeks later, I will get a similar question,which is right about when I'm forgetting the details.

The major problem with random is that it doesn't FEEL like you are improving. You can't look and say, "I did all the cardio questions!" If I take a retrospective viewpoint, I'm consistently more up to date on all topics than many people are in my class. Not because I'm smarter or better, but rather because I inevitably got pimped on a question along those lines a few hours before.

 

[ArcGurren]

Theoretically you have seen the material before and should have done your drilling then. I've found no real difference between myself and my classmates with regards to percentages in each block when random or subject specific at first. I do find that my averages seem to creep up more.

It depends more on whether you memory dump or not. I find random topics helps me in a number of ways. One is that I'm not primed for the answers, so it actually takes more thinking through. Another is that there is a constant reinforcement as I go along. I may absolutely SUCK with a specific topic. Get hammered on the question, read up a bit on it, annotate and go on my way. I then may do really well with it for a week. Two weeks later, I will get a similar question,which is right about when I'm forgetting the details.

The major problem with random is that it doesn't FEEL like you are improving. You can't look and say, "I did all the cardio questions!" If I take a retrospective viewpoint, I'm consistently more up to date on all topics than many people are in my class. Not because I'm smarter or better, but rather because I inevitably got pimped on a question along those lines a few hours before.

The thing is, I feel like most people use UW as a learning tool. I used it throughout my second year with my Pathology/Pharm class, so it was useful for me then. If you're doing a 6 week review thing then it's probably more useful to use it to learn from and maybe doing a practice section here and there, and use another Qbank to do fully randomized sections (I personally recommend Kaplan qbank for it).

 

[SlaveOfTCMC]

If you have the ability to obtain another qbank (namely USMLERx), then I would do World in random blocks (to simulate the real test taking conditions) and then do the other qbank in subject blocks for fundamentals.

 

[DrBowtie]

UWorld is the best TEACHING tool available so by all means use it however you like, it that means by subject then do that. People try to put lots of stock in the % and try to predict but there are far better PREDICTIVE tools available.

As for simulating the exam, you can always do some random blocks in the end the few weeks prior to ramp your stamina.

 

[turkeyjerky]

IMHO, it's much better to do random blocks. Use some other (much less valuable) source, like webpath or kaplan or FA questions, for subject specific stuff. UW repeats a lot of concepts over several questions, so if you do subject blocks you're gonna end up getting a lot of questions right b/c you just saw it on the last one; this doesn't necessarily mean you actually learned it. The questions on UW are so much better than the competition, that it'd be waste to "simulate" the real thing w/ anything else.

 

[da8s0859q]

Much ado about nothing, this whole random/focused block thing.

UWorld is great and all, but when we've got a bunch of NBME self-assessments to gauge our progress, I think it's unnecessary and potentially misleading to count on UW percentages to estimate Step performance. It's nice to be able to do that, but question banks are learning tools first, progress tools a distant second. IMO, whether you go random or subject/system-specific, it's gonna come out in the wash in the long run.

At least for me, there's also a psychological component to it. If I say today is a micro day, there's a very good chance I'm gonna make myself sit down and hammer out the 90 or so micro questions I have left in UW, even if I just read micro in FA. Much more palatable than just doing 90 random questions, and more of a feeling of accomplishment -- which makes it easier to do the same sort of thing tomorrow.

 

[21CentSouldier]

^
yup

says smack-dab right in the first paragraph when you login to uworld "we strongly suggest you use uworld as a learning tool, not just as an assessment of your knowledge."