Need to strenghten understanding of pathophysiology

[coconutlover]

Would you say reading robbins basic pathology is overkill and waste of time? I have severe deficiencies in pathophys. Ive done most of third party but I find third party gives good idea of what I should know but doesnt help me understand or reason through it. I understand I can do uworld questions, but I am a textbook/understanding type of person not just memorizing

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[Redpancreas]

What makes you think you’re deficient in pathophysiology?

 

[coconutlover]

What makes you think you’re deficient in pathophysiology?

honest self reflection, uworld questions

I feel like fundamental to preclins is being able to know cold patho phys of like a couple 100 conditions that essentially form the diagnostic buckets that doctors use for rest of career, so for my own prfoessional development but also to ace step scores I want to really understand patho phys. I feel that strong understanding of patho phys translates into pharm understanding being easy and then those three + uworld I feel guarantee high board scoreas

 

[Redpancreas]

honest self reflection, uworld questions

I feel like fundamental to preclins is being able to know cold patho phys of like a couple 100 conditions that essentially form the diagnostic buckets that doctors use for rest of career, so for my own prfoessional development but also to ace step scores I want to really understand patho phys. I feel that strong understanding of patho phys translates into pharm understanding being easy and then those three + uworld I feel guarantee high board scoreas

Do you have an example?

 

[coconutlover]

Do you have an example?

example where I am deficient in pathophys?

 

[Redpancreas]

example where I am deficient in pathophys?

Yes. In my opinion, medicine’s pretty simple conceptually relative to the prerequisites so I’m confused about what pathophysiology you’d need help with. To me, medicine’s difficult because you have to learn a million facts and exceptions.

 

[coconutlover]

Yes. In my opinion, medicine’s pretty simple conceptually relative to the prerequisites so I’m confused about what pathophysiology you’d need help with. To me, medicine’s difficult because you have to learn a million facts and exceptions.

Well yeah thats the issue, remembering all the pathophys, how else do I do that without going thru a 1 pass of pathophys I should know through like using robbins or do you think 1 pass pathoma is better

 

[Redpancreas]

Well yeah thats the issue, remembering all the pathophys, how else do I do that without going thru a 1 pass of pathophys I should know through like using robbins or do you think 1 pass pathoma is better

Reading an entire textbook you haven't been asked to is not an effective use of your time, especially if you're an M3 and preparing for Step 2CK because now the focus should be on clinical reasoning, not pathophysiology. If you're an M2, there's still a lot of pathophysiology to learn. Regardless, I would just find one comprehensive pathophysiology source, but rather than reading it, refer to it. This is what I would do:

1.) Create a OneNote on your desktop. Makes files based on field (OB/Med/Surgery) or subjects (Cardio/Renal/Heme)
2.) Find a comprehensive PDF. It can be your course syllabus, Pathoma, Harrison's, Robbin's, AMBOSS, etc.
3.) When you do UWorld and you run into an issue where you "don't understand the pathophys" ctrf+F the topic in the PDF and read that page or two. Crop that information and type a little in there.

I think it's more a matter of repetition, than a deficit that's going to be remedied by reading the best pathophysiology book cover to cover.

 

[coconutlover]

Reading an entire textbook you haven't been asked to is not an effective use of your time, especially if you're an M3 and preparing for Step 2CK because now the focus should be on clinical reasoning, not pathophysiology. If you're an M2, there's still a lot of pathophysiology to learn. Regardless, I would just find one comprehensive pathophysiology source, but rather than reading it, refer to it. This is what I would do:

1.) Create a OneNote on your desktop. Makes files based on field (OB/Med/Surgery) or subjects (Cardio/Renal/Heme)
2.) Find a comprehensive PDF. It can be your course syllabus, Pathoma, Harrison's, Robbin's, AMBOSS, etc.
3.) When you do UWorld and you run into an issue where you "don't understand the pathophys" ctrf+F the topic in the PDF and read that page or two. Crop that information and type a little in there.

I think it's more a matter of repetition, than a deficit that's going to be remedied by reading the best pathophysiology book cover to cover.

Thanks for insight. To give more background, I am still in my preclinial years, but plan to take step 1 in 3-4 months. What would you suggest to then for this? Just do Uworld and take notes on pathophys I dont remember?

 

[Redpancreas]

Thanks for insight. To give more background, I am still in my preclinial years, but plan to take step 1 in 3-4 months. What would you suggest to then for this? Just do Uworld and take notes on pathophys I dont remember?

Still the same…Time is a scarce commodity in medical school. If I’m not mistaken, you’re balancing Step prep, classes, research, and whatever else you’ve got going on. If you’ve passed all your courses and done OK, you would do better on your USMLEs with the above strategy rather than spending hours of your day trying to passively read Robbin’s cover to cover. Focus on active learning methods. That’s my take.