Is it useful to Study for Boards after MS-I

[DotheDo]

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For those who have studied for boards after your MS-I, was it useful or not? I landed a research project which iwll eat up most my time during hte week..but i also wanted to study for boards. Should I stick w/ research or will it make a huge difference if I study for boards over the summer? thanks

 

[omarsaleh66]

Hey man i didnt study for the boards but a good idea would be for u to start doing questions over the crap u learned during ur first year. If u do that then, your knowledge of first year stuff will be solified, and then u wont have to worry about anything first year related until after 2nd year is over.

some good q for first year stuff could be the :

bootleg qbank
Qbook
First year sections of Appleton Lange
BSS
the BRS q in anatomy, phys, etc..(if u want) I dont know (this prolly is too much)
Pretest - again, prolly too much

If u dont want to work too hard, just do the qbook and Appleton Lange, these books are pretty good. The other questions prolly unneccessary cuz u still want to enjoy ur summer.

See by doing this, u really arent studying, cuz questions aren't that tedious and u will have enough time to do research, hang out, and solidify the stuff u learned first year.

I am only saying this cuz Im taking the step in about 6 weeks, and there's no way Ill have time to do first year questions, Im gonna be focusing on path and pharm

If i could go back in time, I would have done this. But then again, Im a dork and I think doing questions is fun.


later

 

[omarsaleh66]

on the other hand, u might not wanna waste questions. So just do the questions u know will not have time to do in the end of second year. From what bigfrank, lmbebo said about Appleton Lange, u might wanna save that for closer to the USMLE. I did the path q for Appleton Lange before I took the path shelf and that was one of the best materials in terms of resembling the NBME questions.

for example on the path shelf, I had 1-2 repeats from the bootleg qbank/qbook
maybe 1-2 repeats from robbins

and like 5-10 from appleton lange that were word for word, or very similar

later

 

[DOctorJay]

I've heard the people who do best on boards are those who do tons and tons of questions so what Omar is saying sounds like a good idea. I'm almost finished with first year and plan on doing questions about 15 minutes a day throughout the summer and during second year.

-Dork

 

[automaton]

don't worry about running out of questions. after you do qbank there will be iv qbank, robbins review of questions, appleton & lange, rapid review usmle, pretest, bss, brs, UCV, NBME, etc. trust me you will not run out of questions. my friend had one of the most ambitious prep regimens i've ever seen and i don't think he finished all his questions either.

but on whether studying during summer will help, it's doubtful but who really knows? i feel like it didn't add much, but i might have learned stuff without knowing. i wouldn't exactly call this worth the time however.

 

[Long Dong]

on the other hand, u might not wanna waste questions. So just do the questions u know will not have time to do in the end of second year. From what bigfrank, lmbebo said about Appleton Lange, u might wanna save that for closer to the USMLE. I did the path q for Appleton Lange before I took the path shelf and that was one of the best materials in terms of resembling the NBME questions.

for example on the path shelf, I had 1-2 repeats from the bootleg qbank/qbook
maybe 1-2 repeats from robbins

and like 5-10 from appleton lange that were word for word, or very similar

later

I didn't know A&L was that good, must add to my to do list.

 

[omarsaleh66]

I didn't know A&L was that good, must add to my to do list.

heck yeah man
who would have known such lame sounding books like NMS and Appleton and Lange would be so good. All u ever hear about is QBANK!!

 

[DotheDo]

thanks a lot for the information. well, I would like to review the material from the following courses over the summer and i guess do the probs in Qbook or A&L. tell me what you think?

Anatomy - Use BRS or High Yield?
Micro - Micro made simple?
Path - we have only had general Path -- so basicall first 4 chapters of BRS
Physio - BRS
Histo -- should I review histo
Embryology - High yield or BRS?

I just want to re-read the material and do some probs. I am think about hour a day -- maybe a few hours on sat and TQ's.

Any suggestions or ideas for other books...OH..and read first aid for these subjects. I want only one source for each subject if possible. what do you all think?

 

[DotheDo]

Also, what is the exact titel ofhte appleton and lange and its newest edition..thanks!!

 

[omarsaleh66]

All I would have done is the bootleg qbank stuff from first year. All of this can be done in like 2-3 days. I see these questions as wastable. From your list, that seems like too much studying. Ill just say this, I didnt study over the summer and Im so exhausted now that I honestly dont even care about my USMLE score (I do but I just kinda wanna get it over with) the way I did when i started second year. Rest in the summer is important so make sure u dont study too much. You gotta pace yourself, too much too early is disastrous if u cant get it together in the end (which can happen to me, if I dont get a kick in the ass soon). Look at the detroit pistons, they sucked all year and now they are playing like they can win it all. On teh flip side, cleveland cavaliers were in the playoffs, but couldnt do it at the end, and now lebron is talking about goign to the Knicks and Paxon the GM just got fired. This analogy should give u the message.

Anatomy - do old qbank/qbook
Phys -the same
Path - Do the chapters in Robbins Review, Webpath of the stuff u have learned
Embryo- First Aid if anything
Histo - look at the pictures in your atlas really quick
Micro - old qbank/ qbook or pretest (i havent used it but i heard its good)

This sounds pretty doable and pretty easy. Should give u give u plenty of time to chill and do research or whatever, and at the same time, doing this will give u enough confidence of your first year stuff that u wont have to worry about it when USMLE comes around.

again, i havent take the Step, im just telling u waht i would have done, and who knows how much it will help. so better advice can be given by the peeople who destroyed Step 1 here.

u can get Appleton at amazon: 0071377425 ISBN


later

 

[Pox in a box]

All I would have done is the bootleg qbank stuff from first year. All of this can be done in like 2-3 days. I see these questions as wastable. From your list, that seems like too much studying. Ill just say this, I didnt study over the summer and Im so exhausted now that I honestly dont even care about my USMLE score (I do but I just kinda wanna get it over with) the way I did when i started second year. Rest in the summer is important so make sure u dont study too much. You gotta pace yourself, too much too early is disastrous if u cant get it together in the end (which can happen to me, if I dont get a kick in the ass soon). Look at the detroit pistons, they sucked all year and now they are playing like they can win it all. On teh flip side, cleveland cavaliers were in the playoffs, but couldnt do it at the end, and now lebron is talking about goign to the Knicks and Paxon the GM just got fired. This analogy should give u the message.

Anatomy - do old qbank/qbook
Phys -the same
Path - Do the chapters in Robbins Review, Webpath of the stuff u have learned
Embryo- First Aid if anything
Histo - look at the pictures in your atlas really quick
Micro - old qbank/ qbook or pretest (i havent used it but i heard its good)

This sounds pretty doable and pretty easy. Should give u give u plenty of time to chill and do research or whatever, and at the same time, doing this will give u enough confidence of your first year stuff that u wont have to worry about it when USMLE comes around.

again, i havent take the Step, im just telling u waht i would have done, and who knows how much it will help. so better advice can be given by the peeople who destroyed Step 1 here.

u can get Appleton at amazon: 0071377425 ISBN


later

That plan is calling for a serious burnout. I'd just say review some of the difficult concepts you discovered in physiology. The rest will come to you in full force second year. You won't have a prayer if you start opening up Robbins and doing questions.

 

[omarsaleh66]

That plan is calling for a serious burnout. I'd just say review some of the difficult concepts you discovered in physiology. The rest will come to you in full force second year. You won't have a prayer if you start opening up Robbins and doing questions.

Th OP has done 4 chapters in path so far. U can do those Robbins questions in a day. Thats burnout? My plan is about 3-4 days of work. Then the OP can chill the whole summer. My plan will save the OP from burnout.

 

[Pox in a box]

Th OP has done 4 chapters in path so far. U can do those Robbins questions in a day. Thats burnout? My plan is about 3-4 days of work. Then the OP can chill the whole summer. My plan will save the OP from burnout.

I didn't read that post from the OP. I still wouldn't do them (the questions). Wait until Christmas to review the general pathology or just read the BRS sections that are applicable over the summer. Based on the schedule, it looks like only biochem and pharm remain. Do they get a whole semester for board prep? Reviewing histo would be overkill, even for serious board review.

 

[DotheDo]

I am sorry..im a bit tired -- here is a revised schedule of tasks to maybe get done. Were some of you talking about 3-4 days of studying for the entire summer? For path, we only started general path..so thats only about 4 chapters in BRS.

How is this:
Anatomy - Use BRS or High Yield?
Micro - Micro made simple?
Path (general)- we have only had general Path -- so basicall first 4 chapters of BRS
Physio - BRS
Biochemistry: High yield of BRS or review Lippincott?
Embryology - High yield or BRS?

And problem Qbook or Appleton and Lang questions for hte corresponding sections?

What are the best resources to reviews these subjects?

Thats what we have done thus far.

thanks

 

[trouta]

Look... my advice is enjoy your life. I didnt study that summer and did fine on the test. This is probably your last real free summer for quite some time. Enjoy it.

 

[ForceField]

Look... my advice is enjoy your life. I didnt study that summer and did fine on the test. This is probably your last real free summer for quite some time. Enjoy it.

Agreed. Relax and enjoy. I don't regret my summer one bit, and I didn't crack open one book.

 

[doc05]

Is it useful to Study for Boards after MS-I

absolutely NOT. anyone who spends ANY time (even one minute) studying during the ms1/ms2 summer is a complete tool.

(1) relax. go on a vacation
(2) do some research

step 1 is mostly ms2 material, and you'll review ms1 curriculum while you learn ms2 (there's a ton of repetition). don't even think about studying. you'll be wasting your time.

 

[GiJoe]

if you study for boards during the summer after MS-1 Mr. Hanky will kill you