Is it necessary to remember things from KLN

[tundri]

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Hey guys, I'm in a dilemma (as usual). My major concern is that I have been preparing for a long time and the reason is because of my ambition of wanting to score very very well.

However, this is what I classify as a subtype of OCD and it's not letting me move forward to the next step. I know concepts but I have yet to memorize the tiny details that will take me from "ahh, this seems familiar" to "I definitely know the answer to this". Because of this, I'm now memorizing more and more detail but I'm doing it from kaplan LN combined with FA because I don't want to go to UW and feel like I'm guessing on questions.

Is this the correct approach? I mean, if I do it this way, it will take long, but it'll also give me the confidence I need to answer questions and for the test also. I read whatever this way, and if I do questions right after, I only miss like 2 out of 50 questions of that topic. Is this the usual?

Thanks.

 

[Phloston]

Hey guys, I'm in a dilemma (as usual). My major concern is that I have been preparing for a long time and the reason is because of my ambition of wanting to score very very well.

However, this is what I classify as a subtype of OCD and it's not letting me move forward to the next step. I know concepts but I have yet to memorize the tiny details that will take me from "ahh, this seems familiar" to "I definitely know the answer to this". Because of this, I'm now memorizing more and more detail but I'm doing it from kaplan LN combined with FA because I don't want to go to UW and feel like I'm guessing on questions.

Is this the correct approach? I mean, if I do it this way, it will take long, but it'll also give me the confidence I need to answer questions and for the test also. I read whatever this way, and if I do questions right after, I only miss like 2 out of 50 questions of that topic. Is this the usual?

Thanks.

Ditch the lecture notes.

Six things you need: FA, USMLE Rx, Kaplan QBank, UWorld, Microcards, BRS Path. That's it.

Do Rx and QBank before you do UWorld.

The bottom line is: read FA to give yourself foundation. Then do Rx because that is by the authors of FA and reinforces the book hardcore. After you finish those two, you're going to feel very confident you know what you're doing.

Kaplan lecture notes suck. They are over-generalized and too detailed. Kaplan teaches a broader medicine course that doesn't really bear much relevance to concise USMLE prep.

I think of it as Montagues and Capulets. There are some people who like Kaplan, but I'll never be one of them. I don't even get along with those people quite honestly. Definitely a personality thing too.

 

[Old Style Nanny]

Ditch the lecture notes.

Six things you need: FA, USMLE Rx, Kaplan QBank, UWorld, Microcards, BRS Path. That's it.

Do Rx and QBank before you do UWorld.

The bottom line is: read FA to give yourself foundation. Then do Rx because that is by the authors of FA and reinforces the book hardcore. After you finish those two, you're going to feel very confident you know what you're doing.

Kaplan lecture notes suck. They are over-generalized and too detailed. Kaplan teaches a broader medicine course that doesn't really bear much relevance to concise USMLE prep.

I think of it as Montagues and Capulets. There are some people who like Kaplan, but I'll never be one of them. I don't even get along with those people quite honestly. Definitely a personality thing too.

That said, some of Kaplan's lectures are excellent. Raymon for example. Then there's the Biochem guy who is brilliant. Biochem makes sense! And of course our real life Dr. Cox, Conrad Fisher in some of the Physio videos I've seen.

 

[tundri]

Cool. Thanks a ton guys!

🙂

 

[Phloston]

That said, some of Kaplan's lectures are excellent. Raymon for example. Then there's the Biochem guy who is brilliant. Biochem makes sense! And of course our real life Dr. Cox, Conrad Fisher in some of the Physio videos I've seen.

Once again, Montagues and Capulets. I own the eight books and have looked through them. I just find them off the mark. And let me make a point: this becomes increasingly clear the closer I get to my exam. In the beginning, I too just wanted to know everything. But after you sit a few NBME exams (I've sat 3 and 5 online and 1, 2, 4 offline = 1000 HY questions so far), you realize what the USMLE is actually looking for, and Kaplan is full of ****.

After I sat those NBMEs, my style transitioned from trying to know everything to literally just trying to learn bigger concepts.

 

[Old Style Nanny]

Once again, Montagues and Capulets. I own the eight books and have looked through them. I just find them off the mark. And let me make a point: this becomes increasingly clear the closer I get to my exam. In the beginning, I too just wanted to know everything. But after you sit a few NBME exams (I've sat 3 and 5 online and 1, 2, 4 offline = 1000 HY questions so far), you realize what the USMLE is actually looking for, and Kaplan is full of ****.

After I sat those NBMEs, my style transitioned from trying to know everything to literally just trying to learn bigger concepts.

Yes, and I think that is exactly where those LNs come into play - well, at least some of the lectures. If I'm going to go through the lectures, it certainly wouldn't be for memorizing the facts!

 

[Phloston]

Yes, and I think that is exactly where those LNs come into play - well, at least some of the lectures. If I'm going to go through the lectures, it certainly wouldn't be for memorizing the facts!

Listen, if someone had told me early in my prep to ditch the KLN, I still would have looked at them anyway. And guess what? I did. They're just not high-yield enough, and for 2CK, which I'll take eventually, I won't even bother with Kaplan aside from a quick pass of the QBank.

 

[WarriorMD]

Ummm, I just spent all of my pre-UWORLD/FA prep banging my head against those kaplan books day in day out. I even annotated a bit of info into FA and made flash cards on info that I never found in FA.

I'm starting to worry about how much time I have wasted... I try not to bog down in details, but then the obsessive worrying about not knowing something kicks in and I end up learning it all. A lot of things in FA seem sooo vague and I start to worry that maybe it's for the smart people and I need to work harder and know more.

Am I officially a victim of kaplan? lol? 200 odd hours of video, 8 books annotatted corner to corner and I'm starting to feel like I could have just kicked back and casually watched them just to get the big picture and then hit FA/UW for the real memorizing versus wasting months and months trying to master all these books full of random info🙁🙁 Officially in FML mode.

 

[Phloston]

Ummm, I just spent all of my pre-UWORLD/FA prep banging my head against those kaplan books day in day out. I even annotated a bit of info into FA and made flash cards on info that I never found in FA.

I'm starting to worry about how much time I have wasted... I try not to bog down in details, but then the obsessive worrying about not knowing something kicks in and I end up learning it all. A lot of things in FA seem sooo vague and I start to worry that maybe it's for the smart people and I need to work harder and know more.

Am I officially a victim of kaplan? lol? 200 odd hours of video, 8 books annotatted corner to corner and I'm starting to feel like I could have just kicked back and casually watched them just to get the big picture and then hit FA/UW for the real memorizing versus wasting months and months trying to master all these books full of random info🙁🙁 Officially in FML mode.

Kaplan is FINE if you are starting early in MS1 and need background but don't feel like reading other books recommended to you by your SoM. If you're within one year of your exam, there's just way too much additional HY material out there to waste spending your precious time on the KLNs. That is, if you're within one year of the exam, getting USMLE Rx, Kaplan QBank and UWorld done, as well as at least three reads of FA completed, should be the top priority before even considering the KLNs for side-use.

I'm just saying that Kaplan teaches a lot of b***s*** that would never show up on the USMLE in a million years! And their questions test overly specific details (particularly the KLN ones) that also would never show up.

After I had finished ~10,000 practice questions at the end of September, I spent two days going back through KLN questions because I was looking for ways to burn time before starting UWorld the first day of October. Biggest waste of time ever.

And once again, I've only realized how full of crap Kaplan is after having already sat several NBME exams. When you sit those exams and get a feel for what the USMLE actually wants you to know / actually will test you on, you realize how ******edly low-yield so much of Kaplan's material is.

 

[Old Style Nanny]

Kaplan is FINE if you are starting early in MS1 and need background but don't feel like reading other books recommended to you by your SoM. If you're within one year of your exam, there's just way too much additional HY material out there to waste spending your precious time on the KLNs. That is, if you're within one year of the exam, getting USMLE Rx, Kaplan QBank and UWorld done, as well as at least three reads of FA completed, should be the top priority before even considering the KLNs for side-use.

I'm just saying that Kaplan teaches a lot of b***s*** that would never show up on the USMLE in a million years! And their questions test overly specific details (particularly the KLN ones) that also would never show up.

After I had finished ~10,000 practice questions at the end of September, I spent two days going back through KLN questions because I was looking for ways to burn time before starting UWorld the first day of October. Biggest waste of time ever.

And once again, I've only realized how full of crap Kaplan is after having already sat several NBME exams. When you sit those exams and get a feel for what the USMLE actually wants you to know / actually will test you on, you realize how ******edly low-yield so much of Kaplan's material is.

That is a bit extremist don't you think? Like I have said before, you don't do Kaplan Lecture Series for HY or for the facts. If you are a person who can only read a book and memorize every word in it, stay the hell away from them.

But if you are one who doesn't have a solid understanding of concepts and haven't had concepts integrated between subjects in your medical school (like a lot of FMGs), Kaplan lectures are invaluable - well, at least some of them like Raymon Pharm, the Biochem guy, the Behavioral guy, Fisher Physio and Neuroanatomy (I believe this guy is Dr. White, the one who wrote Roadmap Neuroanat).

Phloston, how long did it take for you to put the concepts together with just FA, questions and Wikipedia? 3-4 months at least? I would guess that is exactly how long it might take to finish the Kaplan lectures as well, and I am only hypothesizing here, but I'm fairly certain the knowledge base acquired by that time would be equal.

Again, I am talking about the video lectures. I can't really imagine anyone reading the lecture notes by themselves anyway - they are just way too dry.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Phloston]

That is a bit extremist don't you think? Like I have said before, you don't do Kaplan Lecture Series for HY or for the facts. If you are a person who can only read a book and memorize every word in it, stay the hell away from them.

But if you are one who doesn't have a solid understanding of concepts and haven't had concepts integrated between subjects in your medical school (like a lot of FMGs), Kaplan lectures are invaluable - well, at least some of them like Raymon Pharm, the Biochem guy, the Behavioral guy, Fisher Physio and Neuroanatomy (I believe this guy is Dr. White, the one who wrote Roadmap Neuroanat).

Phloston, how long did it take for you to put the concepts together with just FA, questions and Wikipedia? 3-4 months at least? I would guess that is exactly how long it might take to finish the Kaplan lectures as well, and I am only hypothesizing here, but I'm fairly certain the knowledge base acquired by that time would be equal.

Again, I am talking about the video lectures. I can't really imagine anyone reading the lecture notes by themselves anyway - they are just way too dry.

Just my 2 cents.

There's nothing extremist. I'm just trying to save people time and frustration because I've put a s***load of time into studying for this exam, and I'm very impatient when my time is wasted. Kaplan, apart from their QBank, has only wasted my time.

It reminds me of when I was studying for the chemistry SAT-IIs back in HS. I picked up a Princeton Review book and, in the introduction, they compared themselves to the competition by giving a long circuitous paragraph on some topic that was meant to reflect how the competition (i.e. meant to be implicit of Kaplan, since Kaplan's their biggest competitor) would explain the concept, and then they said, "our translation = [ten words]." And it's so true, even for USMLE prep. Kaplan will take 600 pages explaining something to you that can easily be conveyed in 150 well-condensed flashcards or bullet points.

So yeah, if you look at KLNs, they just go on forever, and in detail that isn't even remotely relevant to the boards. That doesn't mean you won't learn those concepts; it's always great to have something explained in unnecessary, roundabout detail, but those concepts aren't even tested!

That's the point I'm trying to make. In contrast, other resources, such as Lange Pharm cards are >>>> more valuable than that entire KLN book on pharm, for instance. Stick to the concise resources and you'll cover much more USMLE-testable material in the same amount of time.

 

[Old Style Nanny]

Was it a cakewalk for you trying to understand the concepts outlined in First Aid and link one with another?

 

[Phloston]

Was it a cakewalk for you trying to understand the concepts outlined in First Aid and link one with another?

That's really too general of a question to answer. I have a degree in biochemistry, so that subject was never an issue, but PRACTICE QUESTIONS are how you link the concepts. That's why people who just read FA don't do that well on the exam. You've gotta have a QBank (or two or three) to back it up.

For physio and immuno, I suggest just doing a crapload of QBank practice questions.

For path, I suggest reading BRS Path cover-to-cover and doing the Webpath questions, in addition to QBank questions.

I mention physio, path and immuno because those are the concepts probably most heavily concept-based.

Most other subjects are just pure memorization from FA.

Pharm and micro are easily grabbed from practice questions, FA and the Microcards/Lange pharm cards, respectively.

 

[Gooner007]

Kaplan for the concepts. That's all. For me, its good to just get a general idea of what the Step 1 is after. I don't plan or intent do memorize much at all. Memorizing the Kaplan Lecture notes would be a complete waste of time.

I do plan to go over them just once though. And after I get a general idea of the concepts, I plan to literally devote my time to FA and uworld. that's it. after that, some NBME exams to see where i am at. and i'll go from there.

expecting to memorize Kaplan is a complete waste of time, at least imo. but going over it, just for the concepts, and to give some direction in your study, i think might be a good idea, especially for FMG's.

 

[Gooner007]

That's really too general of a question to answer. I have a degree in biochemistry, so that subject was never an issue, but PRACTICE QUESTIONS are how you link the concepts. That's why people who just read FA don't do that well on the exam. You've gotta have a QBank (or two or three) to back it up.

For physio and immuno, I suggest just doing a crapload of QBank practice questions.

For path, I suggest reading BRS Path cover-to-cover and doing the Webpath questions, in addition to QBank questions.

I mention physio, path and immuno because those are the concepts probably most heavily concept-based.

Most other subjects are just pure memorization from FA.

Pharm and micro are easily grabbed from practice questions, FA and the Microcards/Lange pharm cards, respectively.

I couldn't agree with you more on Practice Questions!! My final 2 months will be nothing but practice questions and FA. i think that is where the bulk of my study/preparation will come from.

 

[Old Style Nanny]

That's really too general of a question to answer. I have a degree in biochemistry, so that subject was never an issue, but PRACTICE QUESTIONS are how you link the concepts.

Different strokes for different people I guess. Some people prefer the easy way of listening to lecturers link the concepts up, while others like to work hard for it. 😉

 

[tundri]

That's really too general of a question to answer. I have a degree in biochemistry, so that subject was never an issue, but PRACTICE QUESTIONS are how you link the concepts. That's why people who just read FA don't do that well on the exam. You've gotta have a QBank (or two or three) to back it up.

For physio and immuno, I suggest just doing a crapload of QBank practice questions.

For path, I suggest reading BRS Path cover-to-cover and doing the Webpath questions, in addition to QBank questions.

I mention physio, path and immuno because those are the concepts probably most heavily concept-based.

Most other subjects are just pure memorization from FA.

Pharm and micro are easily grabbed from practice questions, FA and the Microcards/Lange pharm cards, respectively.

👍 I like this post.

 

[da Vincis World]

Hey guys, I'm in a dilemma (as usual). My major concern is that I have been preparing for a long time and the reason is because of my ambition of wanting to score very very well.

However, this is what I classify as a subtype of OCD and it's not letting me move forward to the next step. I know concepts but I have yet to memorize the tiny details that will take me from "ahh, this seems familiar" to "I definitely know the answer to this". Because of this, I'm now memorizing more and more detail but I'm doing it from kaplan LN combined with FA because I don't want to go to UW and feel like I'm guessing on questions.

Is this the correct approach? I mean, if I do it this way, it will take long, but it'll also give me the confidence I need to answer questions and for the test also. I read whatever this way, and if I do questions right after, I only miss like 2 out of 50 questions of that topic. Is this the usual?

Thanks.

Let me just say that to "score very very well" you'll need to be very comfortable with guessing......being a good/educated guesser is what takes you to the very high scores.

Limit your sources....it's better to know a few sources very well than to know a little bit from a bunch of different sources. I primarily used FA(~10x), Pathoma(2x), and uWorld(~3x).....this is plenty to do very well.

 

[san2]

The Kaplan LN are NOT meant to memorize. They are meant to be used as a reference, if you dont understand a concept.

I dont know why people dont talk about Kaplan Medessentials and why it is not advertised enough. It is ONE book taking all the high yield stuff from the kaplan LN all together in one book.

I used this book, in addition to First Aid and Uworld and half of kaplan qbank and did really well. There is no need for Pathoma, BRS Phys/Path, HY Neuro, DIT or any of the other recommended books.

This is absolutely more than enough. Kaplan ME + FA + Uworld + Kaplan Qbank. I would highlight in orange color stuff Kaplan ME what I found in FA, write in green ink in kaplan ME stuff which was in FA and not in Kaplan ME, highlight yellow stuff from Uworld, write in blue ink stuff from uworld, and in pink/highlight pink stuff found in Kaplan qbank.

Then I would after having done that and learning a long the way, spent one and a half solid months just doing Kaplan ME with all my highlightings for about 9 hours a day and then took the exam. The hard work and time spent on it helped me tremendously.

For step 2, again the Kaplan LN are not meant to be a source to be memorized but to be used as a reference source. The primary sources are Kaplan Master the Boards, FA for Step 2, and Uworld and if time allows Kaplan Qbank

 

[OveractiveBrain]

Once again, Montagues and Capulets. I own the eight books and have looked through them. I just find them off the mark. And let me make a point: this becomes increasingly clear the closer I get to my exam. In the beginning, I too just wanted to know everything. But after you sit a few NBME exams (I've sat 3 and 5 online and 1, 2, 4 offline = 1000 HY questions so far), you realize what the USMLE is actually looking for, and Kaplan is full of ****.

After I sat those NBMEs, my style transitioned from trying to know everything to literally just trying to learn bigger concepts.

I used Kaplan. I read the notes. Twice. I watched the videos. Twice. I read First Aid, 5 times. I did all of Kaplan Qbank. I did UWorld. I got a 246.

Kaplan is spot on, as long as you dont have an ass hat of a lecturer (the jamaican guy for physio when I was doing it was AWFUL). Lionel Raymond did Biochem and Pharm. Raped those sections.

What Phloston is getting at, I believe, is the concept of resource overload. Some people cannot handle the large volume of resources and they get bogged down by it. That is not to say Kaplan Lecture Notes are bad. They are awesome. I

. If you are going to use Kaplan, I suggest just using Kaplan's Step 1 materials. If you have time and opportunity I strongly recommend Kaplan Step 1 online or live lectures. It takes about 6-8 weeks, but is there for augmentation.

When I say "augmentation" what I mean is this. First Aid, Step Up, Secrets, etc. give you the content you are almost guarenteed to see on the exam. It is the content that is worth learning all the time. What they all leave out is the peripheral content. To push above a 240 you have to learn 10 things you wont use for every 1 you will. That's alot of effort. You have to know all the "core" material found in the review books, then a ****ton of more details. Since the questions are random, and all material is fair game, you have to know far more than you will need to get a higher score. The way you get that is with a program designed to give you those details.

While going through KLN for YOU may not be a good idea. Do not just write them off. They are potent. Kaplan is designed to get you scoring highly. Read the section, watch the video, do the questions. Its repetition that most people end up winning from.

 

[usmlefighter]

Ditch the lecture notes.

Six things you need: FA, USMLE Rx, Kaplan QBank, UWorld, Microcards, BRS Path. That's it.

Do Rx and QBank before you do UWorld.

The bottom line is: read FA to give yourself foundation. Then do Rx because that is by the authors of FA and reinforces the book hardcore. After you finish those two, you're going to feel very confident you know what you're doing.

Kaplan lecture notes suck. They are over-generalized and too detailed. Kaplan teaches a broader medicine course that doesn't really bear much relevance to concise USMLE prep.

I think of it as Montagues and Capulets. There are some people who like Kaplan, but I'll never be one of them. I don't even get along with those people quite honestly. Definitely a personality thing too.

I agree with you for everything except your opinion about kaplan LN+kaplan videos.

Kaplan LN and Videos are must to get good hold of concepts and to interlink various topics. I agree that finally we need to practice as many qs as possible.

Some guys psychologically feel good only after reading kaplan LN+videos followed by Q bank qs but NOT only Q bank qs exclusively. No two persons are same and i persnally feel that if you dont have strong basic foundation then kaplan LN+Videos are must at least once or twice

Some videos are excellent like Dr.raymond, Fischer,Kudrath, Robert etc..all are very good teachers who makes the subject simple.

kaplan itself recommends doing as many qs as possible...thanks

Thanks