Lange Smart Charts??
- Thread starter quideam
- Start date
quideam said:
I never used the smartcharts, but I used pharmcards during the year, and pathcards for board prep. Here's my take on it, for what its worth.
Smartcharts: dunno.
Pharmcards: Well done, and thorough. They were somewhat helpful during the schoolyear, but they were overkill for the boards. Everything you need to know about pharm for the boards is in First Aid. No kidding. I was really surprised by this, but its what others had told me and it turned out to be true on my exam.
Pathcards: ABSOLUTE GOLD for the boards. I didn't use them in class (didn't know about them), but a friend of mine sent them to me to use for the boards. I went through them 3 times, all while working out at the gym, and they paid off HUGE! Go to the store and buy them right now. Go. They're worth the $25 or whatever.
The magic combination for me was to hit the pathcards religiously at the gym, skim BRS Path (it was redundant after the pathcards), and solidify it by going though Robbins Question Book cover to cover two weeks before the exam. I filled in the gray areas with class notes. You really can't go wrong if you do all that, in my opinion.
BTW, I got a 259 (just qualifying the advice).
HamOn
I just got the pathcards (the Lange ones with the cartoon character on the front); they're really good - they're cases, and they follow right along with BRS. They're a really good way (i think) of helping the material stick. I've been using them for the past week or so as I learn heart path, and I like them.
pa2do said:
...or how about any other subjects for flashcards (Lange or otherwise). I noticed that every one of these publishers seems to have a flashcard version. I think flashcards are good for when you're just travelling around, but I bought Pharmcards on somebody's rec, and I think they are WAY too much detail. Don't want to waste any of that valuable real estate up above with anything that isn't necessary....
I agree about the pharmcards - i bought them too, and they really are way too much detail. I actually did buy the lange smartcharts, and i think they're really good - it's basically the essential info from lippincott's in chart form. So I use a combination of the info from FA and the smart charts (plus some lecture notes) to make my own drug flashcards. I think that's the best way to go (at least for me) to avoid the huge amount of deatail in the pharmcards but still have a constant review source.