NEED HELP!! <14days

[BBSpooner]

Hey
So Ive never actually posted on here before, but do read posts many times when I need help or advice and everyone has been amazing. I joined today because I really need help with something. I am a 4th yr student who never took the USMLE. Im a DO student. Due to the specialty I want to do and the University which is my top choice I was STRONGLY urged to take it. So I decided I would with 3 weeks to do it and study. I know you may have comments on that, but whats done is done and Im taking it so I really dont want any naysayers or negative thoughts.
With that said..I now have 2 weeks left....For my last two weeks I want to keep it minimal..and strictly finish UW and FA.
MY only catch....And where I need your advice please... My question is Study with the 2009 or use my old annotated 2007??

I bought FA 2009 2 weeks ago and slowly underlined, doing a first read-through. I couldnt find my old one. This past week, I found it! My old FA 2007 is annotated with RR golijan and such throughout. I am at a loss for which to concentrate on. I DO see nicer organization, quick fact recals, some NEW items (oritic acid, aortic stenosis etc) in the 2009 not in 2007. The 2009 also has some better explanations of things than the 2007 and in other places my 2007 notes written in are better. I dont know which one to use..... Neither feels extremely familiar to me or better. They are different and have pros and cons.
I do not have time to combine the two and I cant keep studying Both back and forth which is what Ive been trying to do this week bc It only frustrates me and takes up way too much time.

My old one has ALMOST TOO much annotating and its diff to read all the crap whereas with the new one I'm not sure Ill remember all the MOA and extra cementing details that I had included in the old 2007. As someone formerly mentioned...The newer one is supposed to have the "most recently tested material". Honestly how much can change in medicine though in just 2 years? > 15% ?? I dont have time to read thru Golijan again and finish my UW questions.
So I am completely mentally exhausted trying to figure out my BEST bet for my last 2 weeks to learn the most and do my best. My question is Study with the 2009 or use my old annotated 2007?? I really dont want to hear "YOURE SCREWED" or other comments that arent helpful. But if you have a suggestion, Id really like to hear it and I really appreciate all your help in advance. Thanks

Frustratingly,
A 4th yr.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[NucleusAccumben]

Hey, I mostly used FA (one through) and UW (80 % complete, 60% correct) with some chapters of Goljan RR Path, and BRS Physio (some chapters not all) and got a 231. You can take my advice if you want, but I think taking the time to reannotate is going to be a waste of time. I only annotated stuff I got wrong from World or something I didn't understand. Sometimes taking too many notes is a waste of your time. It's quality vs. quantity sometimes when studying. FA and World are important aspects for studying, and it would be good for you to focus on those if you are short on time. Hope that helps. Good Luck!

 

[BBSpooner]

Hey and THANK YOU....SO are you saying I should use the 2007 or the 2009 one? My old anntated written all over one to read or the new one with not much else added?
Again...thank you for commenting

 

[Elfy]

Hey and THANK YOU....SO are you saying I should use the 2007 or the 2009 one? My old anntated written all over one to read or the new one with not much else added?
Again...thank you for commenting

I'd say use the old one. It's been already filtered through your brain so it's the best deal for YOU, forget anyone else. Yes, 2009 has way nicer organization. But FA seems to me like a highly useful book only if annotated anyway.

 

[NucleusAccumben]

Hey, I used FA 2008, so I don't think it's necessary to use a newer one. I would use the 2007 b/c you've combined it already, unless it's a complete jumbled mess with notes and you can't understand anything. FA 2009 is like 50 pgs longer than FA 2008, I think. I don't think it's necessary to have the most current version of FA, that's more of a marketing ploy to an extent. Don't forget to do questions! World definitely helped me the most. Do what you think is best for yourself. If you start using one source and it isn't working for you switch.

 

[fergustsi]

Why not buy the 09 FA, use DIT (15 days of lectures) and do Uworld the rest of the time. this would work great for you i think.

Hey
So Ive never actually posted on here before, but do read posts many times when I need help or advice and everyone has been amazing. I joined today because I really need help with something. I am a 4th yr student who never took the USMLE. Im a DO student. Due to the specialty I want to do and the University which is my top choice I was STRONGLY urged to take it. So I decided I would with 3 weeks to do it and study. I know you may have comments on that, but whats done is done and Im taking it so I really dont want any naysayers or negative thoughts.
With that said..I now have 2 weeks left....For my last two weeks I want to keep it minimal..and strictly finish UW and FA.
MY only catch....And where I need your advice please... My question is Study with the 2009 or use my old annotated 2007??

I bought FA 2009 2 weeks ago and slowly underlined, doing a first read-through. I couldnt find my old one. This past week, I found it! My old FA 2007 is annotated with RR golijan and such throughout. I am at a loss for which to concentrate on. I DO see nicer organization, quick fact recals, some NEW items (oritic acid, aortic stenosis etc) in the 2009 not in 2007. The 2009 also has some better explanations of things than the 2007 and in other places my 2007 notes written in are better. I dont know which one to use..... Neither feels extremely familiar to me or better. They are different and have pros and cons.
I do not have time to combine the two and I cant keep studying Both back and forth which is what Ive been trying to do this week bc It only frustrates me and takes up way too much time.

My old one has ALMOST TOO much annotating and its diff to read all the crap whereas with the new one I'm not sure Ill remember all the MOA and extra cementing details that I had included in the old 2007. As someone formerly mentioned...The newer one is supposed to have the "most recently tested material". Honestly how much can change in medicine though in just 2 years? > 15% ?? I dont have time to read thru Golijan again and finish my UW questions.
So I am completely mentally exhausted trying to figure out my BEST bet for my last 2 weeks to learn the most and do my best. My question is Study with the 2009 or use my old annotated 2007?? I really dont want to hear "YOURE SCREWED" or other comments that arent helpful. But if you have a suggestion, Id really like to hear it and I really appreciate all your help in advance. Thanks

Frustratingly,
A 4th yr.

 

[FictionalGirl]

Okay, my suggestion is this.... You're familiar with the 2007 , you've read, you've annotated, its going to be easier to study. However, a lot of stuff has been added in the 2009 edition that reflects the test. So what I'd do is open them both, study the section of your choice with 2007 because its going to be faster and easier do to familiar, and then go look at 2009 and pick up the points that 2007 didn't cover. That way, you get the best of both worlds.

Goljan's lectures (40 hours or so) are another great, high yield way to organize path information in your head and easy to listen to in the morning or at night when you're warming up or down.

Use First aid as your study outline, make sure you really understand all of the points, because its not just fact recall, and First aid tends to show you an equation, then ask yourself do you understand what you use it for? how it changes? what it looks like in a graph? even though FA won't show you that stuff. If you can't, then go to an additional review book like Goljan's RR path, or the BRS series which I find quick and helpful, esp. in physio.

Those things should be plenty for your last two weeks. Also, getting a huge white board or piece of butcher paper and drawing out the connections between all of the biochemical pathways is more helpful than anything for biochem, since FA is very fragmented.

Then in two weeks you'll take the test, do great and good luck! Also, make sure to do Kaplan QBANK or USMLE world question banks for a little every day, i suggest a 3 module "practice test" on the weekend of 48 ?'s each to get prepped. The practice questions are the absolute best way to get the material down once you've studied it. So, its pretty straightforward. don't overdo the review books you'll get bogged down. You'll pick up a lot of nonFA extras from the qbanks.