Is it possible to finish DIT in 15 days, while doing 2 blocks of Uworld per day?

[FutureDoctor317]

Not doing as well as I hoped on Uworld so I am considering buying DIT. However being 4 weeks away from the test, I would have to quickly do DIT while doing 2 blocks of Uworld a day. How possible is this?

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[justace]

I did DIT in about 18-20 days. I was started out slow, but then started doing like 14-15 lectures a day. It was not fun. Plus, being at a desk for so long can start to make you wonder about getting a DVT and ironically dying from the same disease that you're studying. I finished a week ago, and to be honest, I don't know how much I've retained. I guess my world score has gone up a bit. I'm two weeks away from the test.

 

[Phlame217]

I'm doing DIT in 15. Ive already completed uworld and the usmlerx qbanks and am just now starting combank (I am DO taking both).

This last week we had a board review from Dr Goljan and I did 150 uworld a night to finish up. We spent 7 hours a day for lecturing then I spent 3 hours reviewing and doing questions.

It's possible.

 

[dyeguy21]

It depends on what you're planning on doing with the information from Uworld. If you're planning on annotating then its probably not gonna work. Because in 15 days you have to do

148/15 = 9.8 lectures per day (could take about 9-10 hours depending on which you do)

plus

92 questions which can take two hours to complete but annotating into FA could take 2 hours hours each (so a total of 6 hours)

So is it possible? Yea if you feeling like doing 16 hour days for 15 days straight. (8am-Midnight w/o lunch, dinner, exercise or breaks) However, this is a recipe for burnout, plus if you go through it slowly the first time it should stick in there better and you can go through FA faster the next time around.

I'd say do DIT in 15, but only do one set of 46 with that (thus giving you three hours between 8-midnight to do normal human things). Then when you are done with DIT and just re-reading FA you can do...28 days (4 weeks till test) - 15 days = 13 days, 46 * 15 = 690 Qs finished, thus (2091-690)/13 = 107.8 questions per day. Which is very doable while just rereading 1/4 of FA a day.

 

[Alvarez13]

I'm doing DIT in 15. Ive already completed uworld and the usmlerx qbanks and am just now starting combank (I am DO taking both).

This last week we had a board review from Dr Goljan and I did 150 uworld a night to finish up. We spent 7 hours a day for lecturing then I spent 3 hours reviewing and doing questions.

It's possible.

How the hell do you do 150 UW questions a night? From experience and what others have said, 100 ?s takes about 5 hrs to do and then review properly.

Can you send me some of whatever you're taking?

 

[The kitchen sink]

I'm doing DIT in 15. Ive already completed uworld and the usmlerx qbanks and am just now starting combank (I am DO taking both).

This last week we had a board review from Dr Goljan and I did 150 uworld a night to finish up. We spent 7 hours a day for lecturing then I spent 3 hours reviewing and doing questions.

It's possible.

I can barely get through 46 questions a day. Ya'll are wylin.

 

[Phlame217]

How the hell do you do 150 UW questions a night? From experience and what others have said, 100 ?s takes about 5 hrs to do and then review properly.

Can you send me some of whatever you're taking?

I can barely get through 46 questions a day. Ya'll are wylin.

I did random-timed-unused with blocks of 40. It'd take me about 15 minutes to get through and answer everything and then spend another 25 minutes reviewing. I typically would solidly answer 10 out of 40, 20 out of 40 I'd be narrowed to 2 or 3, and then 10 out 40 I would say WTF. Spend my time reviewing where weak and move on.

I ended with a 68% in UW on first pass and on 2nd pass of random-timed-missed questions I averaged 85%.

 

[Amdavadi]

I did random-timed-unused with blocks of 40. It'd take me about 15 minutes to get through and answer everything and then spend another 25 minutes reviewing. I typically would solidly answer 10 out of 40, 20 out of 40 I'd be narrowed to 2 or 3, and then 10 out 40 I would say WTF. Spend my time reviewing where weak and move on.

I ended with a 68% in UW on first pass and on 2nd pass of random-timed-missed questions I averaged 85%.

 

[Phlame217]

you can :thumb down all you want but it works for me. I am not out to be a superstar 270+, just a 240 or so. NBME 7 i scored a 240 before UW and I am taking 11 on Tuesday before I start DIT.

 

[Alvarez13]

I did random-timed-unused with blocks of 40. It'd take me about 15 minutes to get through and answer everything and then spend another 25 minutes reviewing. I typically would solidly answer 10 out of 40, 20 out of 40 I'd be narrowed to 2 or 3, and then 10 out 40 I would say WTF. Spend my time reviewing where weak and move on.

I ended with a 68% in UW on first pass and on 2nd pass of random-timed-missed questions I averaged 85%.

Hopefully my tone didn't come off as doubt. I'm amazed. I feel really lazy now .

 

[premedchelli]

Hopefully my tone didn't come off as doubt. I'm amazed. I feel really lazy now .

everyone learns differently - do what makes you learn best.

as for the 15 day DIT thing - I am doing it now (on my last two days) the days I took longer to finish the lectures i retained mroe than the days I tried to get through them to meet my 10 video/day goal.

just do what makes you learn it and move on. no time to sit there and doubt yourself. keep going.

 

[kingb05]

I'm realizing how nearly impossible a 15 day DIT run is. Throw uworld on top of that and I feel like I'm going crazy. I'm only on day 4! How do I recalibrate my expectations? smh...

 

[premedchelli]

ask yourself - how well do i know this stuff.... if you know it pretty well then go thru the lec faster to make time for qs. If its something you don't really know that well in and out or something that (while you go thru the lec) you realize they are making connections you never made before, then slow down and take it in. making those connections is so much more important than getting thru qbank questions and then memorizing answers to stuff. the connections are what help you know the answer in confidence without looking at the choices and without doubting yourself.

 

[usmleq]

I did random-timed-unused with blocks of 40. It'd take me about 15 minutes to get through and answer everything and then spend another 25 minutes reviewing. I typically would solidly answer 10 out of 40, 20 out of 40 I'd be narrowed to 2 or 3, and then 10 out 40 I would say WTF. Spend my time reviewing where weak and move on.

I ended with a 68% in UW on first pass and on 2nd pass of random-timed-missed questions I averaged 85%.

I don't know how you averaged 68% if you were guessing on 3/4s of your questions???

And you spent only 25 seconds on each question - half of them take that long to read, no less think about.

And then to review them you spent like 35 seconds on each question? Most UW explanations take at least 2-3 minutes to read, no less look up in first aid/annotate.

 

[Alvarez13]

I don't know how you averaged 68% if you were guessing on 3/4s of your questions???

And you spent only 25 seconds on each question - half of them take that long to read, no less think about.

And then to review them you spent like 35 seconds on each question? Most UW explanations take at least 2-3 minutes to read, no less look up in first aid/annotate.

That's what I'm saying. I go through UW one by one with a stop watch. I have a minute to read and answer and then max 3 min to read the response and look up stuff.

 

[chiefMD]

no its not possible. if you want to really learn it. theres a difference between doing stuff just to get it done and doing it to learn it.

 

[LaCasta]

That's what I'm saying. I go through UW one by one with a stop watch. I have a minute to read and answer and then max 3 min to read the response and look up stuff.

I have done about 200 U World questions so far, and it has taken me 4 hours on average to get through a block of 46 questions on tutor mode while I read the explanations thoroughly and annotate. Setting a limit on how long I can spend reviewing a question like you did seems like a good idea. I need to start getting through twice as many questions in that time.

 

[Alvarez13]

I have done about 200 U World questions so far, and it has taken me 4 hours on average to get through a block of 46 questions on tutor mode while I read the explanations thoroughly and annotate. Setting a limit on how long I can spend reviewing a question like you did seems like a good idea. I need to start getting through twice as many questions in that time.

I downloaded a stop watch app. Based on the time you get for each block on the actual test, I think it came out to ~80 sec/question. Therefore, I only give myself that long to work a problem out and finalize an answer. When I started, I was spending like 5 min sometimes just trying to answer. No good.

 

[premedchelli]

I don't know how you averaged 68% if you were guessing on 3/4s of your questions???

And you spent only 25 seconds on each question - half of them take that long to read, no less think about.

And then to review them you spent like 35 seconds on each question? Most UW explanations take at least 2-3 minutes to read, no less look up in first aid/annotate.

nice... i def think its better to get through and really understand the concepts, it makes no sense to just memorize answers to questions wtihout really knowing the concept behind it. how many uworld questions are going to show up on our step 1?

 

[The kitchen sink]

I did random-timed-unused with blocks of 40. It'd take me about 15 minutes to get through and answer everything and then spend another 25 minutes reviewing. I typically would solidly answer 10 out of 40, 20 out of 40 I'd be narrowed to 2 or 3, and then 10 out 40 I would say WTF. Spend my time reviewing where weak and move on.

I ended with a 68% in UW on first pass and on 2nd pass of random-timed-missed questions I averaged 85%.

This is what happens with Goljan as your Path professor.

 

[premedchelli]

I am finishing DIT today and have 3 weeks till my exam but haven't done much UWorld - what should i do? My plan was to do 2 blocks a day but it was impossible, as watching these videos took too much itme. on hindsight i probably should've prioritized uworld over DIT... but i can't turn back time now.

what do I do!? sorta freaking out here. Any advice on what to do for my next 3 weeks (exam on june 18) is greatly appreciated. (I'm at 85% left of UWorld)

 

[LRAccord624]

I am finishing DIT today and have 3 weeks till my exam but haven't done much UWorld - what should i do? My plan was to do 2 blocks a day but it was impossible, as watching these videos took too much itme. on hindsight i probably should've prioritized uworld over DIT... but i can't turn back time now.

what do I do!? sorta freaking out here. Any advice on what to do for my next 3 weeks (exam on june 18) is greatly appreciated. (I'm at 85% left of UWorld)

I'd probably spend ~4 hrs/day reading FA and the rest of the time doing 3 blocks of questions. That way you'll finish uworld in ~13 days, and have a few days left to review incorrect questions and keep rereading FA. Hope my math was right haha.

 

[Phlame217]

I don't know how you averaged 68% if you were guessing on 3/4s of your questions???

And you spent only 25 seconds on each question - half of them take that long to read, no less think about.

And then to review them you spent like 35 seconds on each question? Most UW explanations take at least 2-3 minutes to read, no less look up in first aid/annotate.

I am a fast reader I guess. I finished NBME 7 in 2 hours 15 minutes and NBME 11 in 2 Hours 25 minutes. Thats between 20-22 seconds a question average. How it really works out is I answer questions in about 15-20 seconds and then spend extra time on tougher questions.

To further clarify my UW strategy, I would read the stem and watch for buzz words or key patterns of symptoms. I would form a differential in my head (usually the top 2-3 with a definitive number 1) and then look at the answers. If number one is there, I choose it. Sometimes I couldn't arrive at a number one (so it happened 2/4 questions) so those 2-3 I came up with were usually there so I'd re-read buzz words and go with the gut. The 1/4 I said WTF I usually went the completely wrong way with a differential or just had no idea. I'd spend extra time there and use systems understanding and go best guess.

I also annotated my first aid directly from my course work while studying so I hardly annotated anything from UW that wasn't already there. Most of the time I just didn't make the 2nd or 3rd degree connection/higher reasoning needed to answer the question.

 

[shadowfox87]

I'm doing DIT in 21 days with 1-2 blocks (46 qs each block) of UWorld per day. I find the information sticks that way. I could do more in one day but then I wouldn't retain the information.

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

I am a fast reader I guess. I finished NBME 7 in 2 hours 15 minutes and NBME 11 in 2 Hours 25 minutes. Thats between 20-22 seconds a question average. How it really works out is I answer questions in about 15-20 seconds and then spend extra time on tougher questions.

To further clarify my UW strategy, I would read the stem and watch for buzz words or key patterns of symptoms. I would form a differential in my head (usually the top 2-3 with a definitive number 1) and then look at the answers. If number one is there, I choose it. Sometimes I couldn't arrive at a number one (so it happened 2/4 questions) so those 2-3 I came up with were usually there so I'd re-read buzz words and go with the gut. The 1/4 I said WTF I usually went the completely wrong way with a differential or just had no idea. I'd spend extra time there and use systems understanding and go best guess.

I also annotated my first aid directly from my course work while studying so I hardly annotated anything from UW that wasn't already there. Most of the time I just didn't make the 2nd or 3rd degree connection/higher reasoning needed to answer the question.

. I wish I could go through questions that quickly

 

[Valadi]

no its not possible. if you want to really learn it. theres a difference between doing stuff just to get it done and doing it to learn it.

Disagree. I was in a tighter time crunch than OP before I chose DIT (3 wks away and realized I had been goofing off for the last... 2 years). I studied for a few days before the workbook arrived, did DIT in 15 days with 2 blocks UW/day, then took 5 days to review material and finish UW, and took the exam. Did fine. However, I also studied for 17hrs/day during this time. It was no fing joke.

If you're going to blitz DIT, you have to make sure you review that day's lectures AND yesterday's lectures every day. Also you have to force yourself to be actively engaged. If you're half asleep while listening it's not going to stick. Pause as often as you need to to get a concept before moving on. It will save you time in the long run if you pause to understand a concept during a lecture than dismissing it until later.

 

[Valadi]

I am finishing DIT today and have 3 weeks till my exam but haven't done much UWorld - what should i do? My plan was to do 2 blocks a day but it was impossible, as watching these videos took too much itme. on hindsight i probably should've prioritized uworld over DIT... but i can't turn back time now.

what do I do!? sorta freaking out here. Any advice on what to do for my next 3 weeks (exam on june 18) is greatly appreciated. (I'm at 85% left of UWorld)

You have 3 weeks until the exam. Even if you had 2000 questions left (which you don't), 100 questions a day is super possible and you would finish with 1 day left for review.

If I were you I'd grab a beer to celebrate the half-way mark then start uworld with gusto tomorrow. Do the first half on tutor mode then the rest timed, random. Increasing # of question blocks each day as your speed increases. And make sure to review, review, review. Every night, before bed.

 

[premedchelli]

thank you thank you thank you ALL for all the help.

so i've been trying to do a a few uworld blocks a day, some days I can get in a lot, other days I can't do as much b/c the concepts maybe take me a bit longer to get down. BUT - i'm getting there.

JUST wondering - if anyone suggest adding Pharm/Micro cards at this point? And what priority would that take over all of this (currently I am doing a second pass of FA, DIT workbook and at 64% of uworld left - knocked out about 20% in 3.5 days)

 

[Valadi]

thank you thank you thank you ALL for all the help.

so i've been trying to do a a few uworld blocks a day, some days I can get in a lot, other days I can't do as much b/c the concepts maybe take me a bit longer to get down. BUT - i'm getting there.

JUST wondering - if anyone suggest adding Pharm/Micro cards at this point? And what priority would that take over all of this (currently I am doing a second pass of FA, DIT workbook and at 64% of uworld left - knocked out about 20% in 3.5 days)

They would take 0 priority over what you just mentioned.

It is better to milk those 3 sources dry before you move onto another one. You need to eat and sleep with FA because knowing it cold will be better than knowing a little bit over many other things. I think doing 2 passive readings of it is fine, but also make sure you dive into it when you finish a UW block and are reviewing answers. Annotate and for whatever page you turned to for an answer, then read that WHOLE page. You will do more passes this way than by passively reading and retention will be better.

After you've gone through FA+DIT 2-3 times and 50% of UW go ahead and add flashcards to drill in details. But once you add them, do not neglect continually going back to FA to look things up, annotate from UW, etc.