Is it fair if it's not from FA+UW+Pathoma?

[purplelife]

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Is it fair for NBMEs to ask questions not on FA+UW+Pathoma? Like some anatomy questions we never came across before? Like some muscle in our lower abdominal area? How can we prepare for such things and what if there are many qs like that? I'm only good with anatomy from these 3 sources and I would rather not go beyond these since it's already too much.

 

[Fox800]

Is it fair for NBMEs to ask questions not on FA+UW+Pathoma? Like some anatomy questions we never came across before? Like some muscle in our lower abdominal area? How can we prepare for such things and what if there are many qs like that? I'm only good with anatomy from these 3 sources and I would rather not go beyond these since it's already too much.

Lol, you can't very serious.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Is it fair for NBMEs to ask questions not on FA+UW+Pathoma? Like some anatomy questions we never came across before? Like some muscle in our lower abdominal area? How can we prepare for such things and what if there are many qs like that? I'm only good with anatomy from these 3 sources and I would rather not go beyond these since it's already too much.

trololololol

 

[purplelife]

Guys, I just wanted to know if there's another source I should use. I just saw a question on one of the NBME and it's a muscle I have never gone over, but anyway, never mind now. I didn't mean to be funny.

 

[Brain Bucket]

The resources are built around the exam, not the other way around.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Guys, I just wanted to know if there's another source I should use. I just saw a question on one of the NBME and it's a muscle I have never gone over, but anyway, never mind now. I didn't mean to be funny.

You could go through a massive anatomy textbook and memorize it cover-to-cover. But would that be a high-yield activity? Face it, on Step 1, we will encounter questions we will just not know the answer to, and perhaps someone else will. But it's better to get the basics down first, and if you have the time, then you can start memorizing the finer details.

One of my MS4 friends had a question on red yeast rice on his Step 1. He had no idea what it did and neither is it covered in any USMLE review source. If I had that question, I would have known that red yeast rice = lovastatin because I did a lot of independent research on nutrition way back when. Likewise, when I take my Step 1 soon, I will probably encounter some questions to which I will have no idea about, but one of my friends would consider it a freebie based on their exposure to the material.

That's just the way it is.

 

[purplelife]

I'm having such hard time with immuno. Even after going over it multiple times, I keep on forgetting all those cytokines/CD markers/etc after a week. What should I do???

 

[CherryRedDracul]

I'm having such hard time with immuno. Even after going over it multiple times, I keep on forgetting all those cytokines/CD markers/etc after a week. What should I do???

If you have the time, I suggest reading the Immuno section in Lange: Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. It's ~90 pages, but I've been killing immuno questions after reading it. Right now, it's my strongest subject.

For cytokines and CD markers, flash cards + cram. But if you have a good understanding of immunology, the cytokines will eventually become second nature to you because they dictate immunological processes.

 

[purplelife]

If you have the time, I suggest reading the Immuno section in Lange: Review of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. It's ~90 pages, but I've been killing immuno questions after reading it. Right now, it's my strongest subject.

For cytokines and CD markers, flash cards + cram. But if you have a good understanding of immunology, the cytokines will eventually become second nature to you because they dictate immunological processes.

I don't have that much time, but thanks a lot for your advice.

 

[AlmostAnMD]

Immuno is killing you? That stuff comes easy for me. What's killing me is micro. how can you possibly remember all that jazz about gram negative this, ampicillin susceptible that, amifostine if this, raltegravir that, etc.

Of all the areas on step one micro is the only one that really terrifies me. Didn't do well in that class, either.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Immuno is killing you? That stuff comes easy for me. What's killing me is micro. how can you possibly remember all that jazz about gram negative this, ampicillin susceptible that, amifostine if this, raltegravir that, etc.

Of all the areas on step one micro is the only one that really terrifies me. Didn't do well in that class, either.

Micro is mostly mnemonics for me. It's something you can logically figure out only to a certain degree.

 

[purplelife]

lol .. I'm good with micro. What worked for me was making up my own funny names/drawings/stories and posting it on my bedroom wall to look at it. Only the ones that are hard to remember. Seriously, try to do it yourself instead of buying picmonic and put it on your bedroom wall. My entire room is full of my own drawings. lol..

And draw that g+ and g- chart many times and draw cartoons like salmon fish full of sulfur next to salmonella and you will remember it forever.

Right now, I'm working on memorizing the nematodes/cestodes/trematodes...

 

[notbobtrustme]

if it's on pubmed, it's fair game for the boards. this is what a professor told us at our school because he sat on the NBME board that designs the board exams. that said, the stuff in pathoma/fa/uworld are the highest yielding things you can concentrate on. it doesn't cover everything, but no one has time to learn everything.

knowing how rubenstein-taybi syndrome presents and it's pathogenesis will not be the key to getting a good score. it might show up, but chances are very low and even then, it may be an experimental question. however, not knowing basic pharm/path/physio will definitely sink your score. concentrate on the stuff in uworld/fa/pathoma and you will get the score you want.

 

[dyspareunia]

Is it fair for NBMEs to ask questions not on FA+UW+Pathoma? Like some anatomy questions we never came across before? Like some muscle in our lower abdominal area? How can we prepare for such things and what if there are many qs like that? I'm only good with anatomy from these 3 sources and I would rather not go beyond these since it's already too much.

Finishing the pre-clinical medical curriculum. That's how.

 

[tantacles]

I'm having such hard time with immuno. Even after going over it multiple times, I keep on forgetting all those cytokines/CD markers/etc after a week. What should I do???

Hot T-Bone stEAk

 

[Apoplexy__]

Hot T-Bone stEAk

Possibly the best Immuno mnemonic out there. It's like the Some Nasty Killers mnemonic for Micro.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Possibly the best Immuno mnemonic out there. It's like the Some Nasty Killers mnemonic for Micro.

what's some nasty killers?

oh capsule.

just do half a PhD in micro, **** comes naturally then 😛

 

[Apoplexy__]

what's some nasty killers?

oh capsule.

just do half a PhD in micro, **** comes naturally then 😛

Are you speaking from experience? I'm not sure whether to feel bad for you or be envious.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Are you speaking from experience? I'm not sure whether to feel bad for you or be envious.

in a past life, I was part of a microbiology PhD program, so not a joke 🙁

 

[dyspareunia]

Possibly the best Immuno mnemonic out there. It's like the Some Nasty Killers mnemonic for Micro.

This mnemonic is great, except it doesn't cover GBS or E.coli 🙁

 

[DermViser]

if it's on pubmed, it's fair game for the boards. this is what a professor told us at our school because he sat on the NBME board that designs the board exams. that said, the stuff in pathoma/fa/uworld are the highest yielding things you can concentrate on. it doesn't cover everything, but no one has time to learn everything.

knowing how rubenstein-taybi syndrome presents and it's pathogenesis will not be the key to getting a good score. it might show up, but chances are very low and even then, it may be an experimental question. however, not knowing basic pharm/path/physio will definitely sink your score. concentrate on the stuff in uworld/fa/pathoma and you will get the score you want.

THIS. THIS. THIS. The key is not to freak out bc you don't know the answer to a question.

 

[oingoboingo]

This mnemonic is great, except it doesn't cover GBS or E.coli 🙁

I learned it as
Even Some Pretty Nasty Killers Have Shiny Bodies
E coli - S pneumo - Pseudomonas - N meningitidis - Klebsiella - H flu b - S typhi - group B strep

 

[dyspareunia]

I learned it as
Even Some Pretty Nasty Killers Have Shiny Bodies
E coli - S pneumo - Pseudomonas - N meningitidis - Klebsiella - H flu b - S typhi - group B strep

Nice. In the time it took me to think up a memorable mnemonic I ended up memorizing the bugs anyway.

 

[Vexare]

Is it fair for NBMEs to ask questions not on FA+UW+Pathoma? Like some anatomy questions we never came across before? Like some muscle in our lower abdominal area? How can we prepare for such things and what if there are many qs like that? I'm only good with anatomy from these 3 sources and I would rather not go beyond these since it's already too much.

Of course it's fair. Medicine isn't confined to what's presented in FA, UWorld and Pathoma. If you're looking for study resources to give you every possible answer that could appear on boards then you're going about it all wrong. Focus on understanding over memorization whenever possible and you'll do just fine.

 

[spartan564]

i needed a good laugh. thanks. also related to your post which was coincidentally mentioned in this thread, pseudomonas is an encapsulated organism NOT listed in FA under encapsulated organisms or mentioned in UW (to my memory). Important because it is the most important pathogenic factor in cystic fibrosis patients according to kaplan q bank