Memorize First Aid???!!!

[Willamette]

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My word! I've heard all sorts of people who have taken the exam say that you can get a pretty decent score if you do QBank and MEMORIZE First Aid...Maybe I'm the only one who thinks so but, there seems to be a CRAPLOAD of stuff jammed into First Aid. If you TRULY knew EVERYTHING in First Aid, you'd really know a lot! And as for BRS Pathology, it's a fantastic book, but MEMORIZING it too? I don't think so...Anyone else have a take?


Willamette

 

[fernj1975]

First Aid is a great book to refresh your memory about the most likely tested material however, I firmly believe that there is not enough pathology in it to truly help you get a great score. Also the Step is not just about regurgitation, from what I hear you need to think critically so memorization will help as long as you can apply it. Good luck.

 

[Willamette]

First Aid is a great book to refresh your memory about the most likely tested material however, I firmly believe that there is not enough pathology in it to truly help you get a great score. Also the Step is not just about regurgitation, from what I hear you need to think critically so memorization will help as long as you can apply it. Good luck.

I agree 100%. I've done fairly well on all the nbme diagnostic stuff, and am progressing nicely in QBank, it's just that all this "memorize X" stuff that floats around (both school and to a certain extent here) has me amazed. Do some folks actually try to MEMORIZE the stuff? It seems like I know about 40% of the answers are correct when I choose them, another 40% are best guesses (i.e. I know something about the physiology of the process and I thus narrow it down to a "best guess" -or- my "best guess" is one of 2 or 3 possible answers), 10% are "shoot, I know right where to find this answer, but I don't think I'm gonna wait the 5-10 minutes it's gonna take for me to remember, and another 5-10% I think "What the rock? I've never even heard of this...or...I'm not even sure what they're asking!" Maybe I'm just too stubborn to put in the time necessary to make ALL the stuff stick? Who knows?

Willamette

 

[phllystyl]

Maybe I'm just too stubborn to put in the time necessary to make ALL the stuff stick? Who knows?

Maybe if you weren't wasting so much time BOLDING words on SDN you would be able to memorize STUFF .

j/k 🙂

 

[Willamette]

Maybe if you weren't wasting so much time BOLDING words on SDN you would be able to memorize STUFF .

j/k 🙂

You're probably right!


But what do you think about the "memorization" issue?

Willamette

 

[mpp]

I guess it would be great to have the best of both worlds...memorize the crap you need to memorize, and know your stuff well enough to apply it.

I think there is a lot of memorization that has to be done...you can't 'apply your knowledge' to the names of microbiology bugs or which ones are novobiocin resistant versus optochin sensitive...sorry but this crap you need to memorize...for the test (real life is a whole 'nother story). And that's what I used first aid for. I learned concepts during the school year (some of which of course I review...like renal physiology). But if I don't want to go through Robbins to learn the salient points behind the differences between M2 and M4 AML...First Aid to the rescue. Memorize that table and your set. Again, no real life application, but it sure helps with the exam.

 

[Willamette]

I guess it would be great to have the best of both worlds...memorize the crap you need to memorize, and know your stuff well enough to apply it.

I think there is a lot of memorization that has to be done...you can't 'apply your knowledge' to the names of microbiology bugs or which ones are novobiocin resistant versus optochin sensitive...sorry but this crap you need to memorize...for the test (real life is a whole 'nother story). And that's what I used first aid for. I learned concepts during the school year (some of which of course I review...like renal physiology). But if I don't want to go through Robbins to learn the salient points behind the differences between M2 and M4 AML...First Aid to the rescue. Memorize that table and your set. Again, no real life application, but it sure helps with the exam.

So at this point (with 17 study days left 'til the big day), given the fact that I went all the way through (but by no means "memorized") BRS Path during late March and April, is it best in your opinion to hit BRS Path again or focus on the stuff in First Aid? I still want to hit Micro, review Pharm, spend a few days on an "overall" review, and finish 1500 more QBank mcqs...Again, I'm only looking for opinions, not a non-existent "number-one-right-every-time" answer.

Willamette

 

[rxfudd]

Honestly, I think that with 17 days left you can hit both FA and BRS path. If you're putting in 8 hour days, you should be able to get through BRS path within 3-4 days, and FA path should take no more than 1 day. That should cover you with path. In fact, you should be able to get through all of FA in about 4-5 days as well. At least that's what I'd do...

 

[musicman1991]

Yes do you best to memorize First Aid especially Embryo, Anatomy, Histology, Biochem. Read it deeply a few days before the test. Better to understand Path or Physio but if you memorize them from first aid it will work just fine.

Trust me, there were many questions that I saw on my test that I did not memorize in first aid but I knew I had read it. For example, the embryonic derivatives of the heart chambers, etc.