LECOM students; how do you study for PBL?

[lolomghelp]

Hi everyone, I am a first year medical student at LECOM. We are completely PBL, and I have yet to adapt to this style of learning. I have tried Anki, but I end up making A TON of cards, so much so that I can't keep up with them and it can be overwhelming. I take notes, but then it takes me the whole day to finish a required reading.

I'll admit, I'm probably doing a lot of things wrong, like focusing too much on tiny details. But, I was wondering if there are any second/third/forth year students who have tips for me, which I then can pass along to my fellow colleagues, who are also struggling in PBL and wondering how to succeed.

thank you

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[Oligodinero]

Use USMLERx to go over the topics you assigned in your PBL sessions. If there's any micro use Sketchy. Use Pathoma for any pathology readings. The Robbins path review book has great questions to see if you're understanding the material, as does the review book for physiology. As for pharm....well you can use Sketchy for that as well but there will be some drugs on the test that weren't covered by sketchy.
Pictorize and Physeo are also helpful if you can afford them, as is B&B.
Using the above strategy, I got As all 4 semesters in PBL. YMMV. Good luck.

 

[cw2013]

Unsuspend all zanki decks that are related. Do the whole deck and end new cards a week before the exam, do all readings 1x without notes. Last week fill in gaps.

I don’t get As, I get Bs.

 

[Cooper1990]

Use USMLERx to go over the topics you assigned in your PBL sessions. If there's any micro use Sketchy. Use Pathoma for any pathology readings. The Robbins path review book has great questions to see if you're understanding the material, as does the review book for physiology. As for pharm....well you can use Sketchy for that as well but there will be some drugs on the test that weren't covered by sketchy.
Pictorize and Physeo are also helpful if you can afford them, as is B&B.
Using the above strategy, I got As all 4 semesters in PBL. YMMV. Good luck.

So you didn't read from the textbooks that much? I'm also having the same problem as OP. I read, take notes, and watch videos on topics I'm confused on but it gets too overwhelming cause I don't have time to review

 

[Oligodinero]

I did less textbook reading than I thought I'd need to do. Especially the physiology reading as it takes too long to get through the information....the sites I mentioned above teach it better faster, to be honest. Then it's a matter of doing tons of practice questions to understand what they're asking for and how the test writers will ask their questions....but I was also in PBL...so we basically had very few lectures....all our test material came from reading selections we chose in our PBL cases.

 

[rG-OWL]

I did less textbook reading than I thought I'd need to do. Especially the physiology reading as it takes too long to get through the information....the sites I mentioned above teach it better faster, to be honest. Then it's a matter of doing tons of practice questions to understand what they're asking for and how the test writers will ask their questions....but I was also in PBL...so we basically had very few lectures....all our test material came from reading selections we chose in our PBL cases.

So for the neuroanatomy block did you keep this strategy or end up reading a lot of the textbook?

 

[Oligodinero]

So for the neuroanatomy block did you keep this strategy or end up reading a lot of the textbook?

Yeah neuroanatomy was a lot of using the neuroanatomy book and questions in TrueLearn, USMLE Rx, and World. The various syndromes are really pattern recognition after a point.....syringomyelia, Broca's, Wernicke's aphasia. Knowing the humunculus is essential and knowing which arteries feed those areas is as well. After doing those questions over and over you start to get a feel for it and will be able to answer most questions appropriately. I didn't bother dealing with learning brainstem/midbrain cross sections. Too much time to learn that and too little return on that investment. on both Step/Level 1 and 2 there were only like 4 questions representing that material. Better to focus on HY/commonly tested material instead.

 

[Oligodinero]

Yeah neuroanatomy was a lot of using the neuroanatomy book and questions in TrueLearn, USMLE Rx, and World. The various syndromes are really pattern recognition after a point.....syringomyelia, Broca's, Wernicke's aphasia. Knowing the humunculus is essential and knowing which arteries feed those areas is as well. After doing those questions over and over you start to get a feel for it and will be able to answer most questions appropriately. I didn't bother dealing with learning brainstem/midbrain cross sections. Too much time to learn that and too little return on that investment. on both Step/Level 1 and 2 there were only like 4 questions representing that material. Better to focus on HY/commonly tested material instead.

If you have access to Kulesza's Neuroanatomy cheat sheets, it's worth your time to spend a day or two learning those.

 

[rG-OWL]

If you have access to Kulesza's Neuroanatomy cheat sheets, it's worth your time to spend a day or two learning those.

Yes we do, as always Dr. Kulesza has provided us with plenty of material/resources. Thank you!

 

[Oligodinero]

Oh I forgot to mention they like to ask spinal cord lesions: anterior cord, posterior cord, Brown-Sequard, central cord, etc. Also know what pathologies can cause anterior cord syndrome.