No idea how to study in a P/F, no-ranking system

[skiing]

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I go to a school that is P/F, no-ranking, with very few exams (we have exams every few months or so). I'm doing my best to be diligent and do my work, but I feel as if I am only play-acting as a student, only moonlighting as one. There is no sense of accountability, no feedback, and I have no idea how to study. I'm afraid I'm not really learning anything at all and that I'll know nothing when boards roll around. How do people in a similar system stay on top of things? How do you study when there is no structure?

 

[mdeast]

I go to a school that is P/F, no-ranking, with very few exams (we have exams every few months or so). I'm doing my best to be diligent and do my work, but I feel as if I am only play-acting as a student, only moonlighting as one. There is no sense of accountability, no feedback, and I have no idea how to study. I'm afraid I'm not really learning anything at all and that I'll know nothing when boards roll around. How do people in a similar system stay on top of things? How do you study when there is no structure?

I wouldn't sweat it. Most of your first year classes aren't super-relevant to Step 1 anyway. 80% of Step 1 stuff is second year material once you go beyond "how things work" to "how things go wrong". I'm sure your tests will be more often than every few months once you get to that point. In other words, you'll be getting frequent feedback and if anything is wrong someone will say something.

Just make sure to develop good study habits, buy some outside review materials, and make sure you're taking home the "key points". At the same time, your school is P/F most likely because they want you to have the time to pursue other interests in medicine. Take a few elective classes, start some research. Don't overload yourself, but make sure to take advantage of the extra time you have as compared to other students who actually have to worry about grades.

 

[Etorphine]

.

 

[JMK2005]

I go to a school that is P/F, no-ranking, with very few exams (we have exams every few months or so). I'm doing my best to be diligent and do my work, but I feel as if I am only play-acting as a student, only moonlighting as one. There is no sense of accountability, no feedback, and I have no idea how to study. I'm afraid I'm not really learning anything at all and that I'll know nothing when boards roll around. How do people in a similar system stay on top of things? How do you study when there is no structure?

They still keep track. That's how people get into AOA.
If you're not gunning for AOA, keep up with the work and do the best you can.
The priority is to do well on Step 1. pass/fail system is nice because it takes the stress off grades.

 

[MilkIsGood]

They still keep track. That's how people get into AOA.
If you're not gunning for AOA, keep up with the work and do the best you can.
The priority is to do well on Step 1. pass/fail system is nice because it takes the stress off grades.

not at all schools. OP said his still is p/f unranked. My school is p/f unranked as well for preclinicals. AOA based on 3rd yr grades and step.

 

[yehhhboiii]

not at all schools. OP said his still is p/f unranked. My school is p/f unranked as well for preclinicals. AOA based on 3rd yr grades and step.

i've read a post here saying that they thought their school was unranked but then they found out that they won some award for being in the top 10% of the class

 

[WaylonS]

not at all schools. OP said his still is p/f unranked. My school is p/f unranked as well for preclinicals. AOA based on 3rd yr grades and step.

My school is P/F, but preclinical grades definitely count towards AOA/class rank in your dean's letter

 

[mcloaf]

They still keep track. That's how people get into AOA.
If you're not gunning for AOA, keep up with the work and do the best you can.
The priority is to do well on Step 1. pass/fail system is nice because it takes the stress off grades.

My school does AOA based on Step 1 and M3 grades.

 

[skiing]

My school does not have AOA, nor do scores factor at all into the Dean's letter - the Dean wouldn't even have the numbers if he wanted to include them, because they aren't kept around.

 

[Jemeni]

What do you do?

Uh, pass. I love having a P/F system, but always make sure to pass.

 

[alpinism]

I wouldn't sweat it. Most of your first year classes aren't super-relevant to Step 1 anyway. 80% of Step 1 stuff is second year material once you go beyond "how things work" to "how things go wrong". I'm sure your tests will be more often than every few months once you get to that point. In other words, you'll be getting frequent feedback and if anything is wrong someone will say something.

Just make sure to develop good study habits, buy some outside review materials, and make sure you're taking home the "key points". At the same time, your school is P/F most likely because they want you to have the time to pursue other interests in medicine. Take a few elective classes, start some research. Don't overload yourself, but make sure to take advantage of the extra time you have as compared to other students who actually have to worry about grades.

I assure you, you are still being held accountable in a P/F system. Just wait until boards come around. This is especially true for those of you in systems based schools, who have path 1st year.

They still keep track. That's how people get into AOA.
If you're not gunning for AOA, keep up with the work and do the best you can.
The priority is to do well on Step 1. pass/fail system is nice because it takes the stress off grades.

i've read a post here saying that they thought their school was unranked but then they found out that they won some award for being in the top 10% of the class

My school is P/F, but preclinical grades definitely count towards AOA/class rank in your dean's letter

He's at Yale guys. Pure P/F. No rankings, no AOA, and optional anonymous exams.

Set a daily schedule for studying and just keep up with the seminars/lectures. You should still have access to practice exams...make sure you know the material well enough to get good scores. If you're really motivated, you can get BRS textbooks etc that have practice questions to see if you're learning the material well enough.

Ditto on step 1. The vast majority of the exam is based on M2 material. Once 2nd year rolls around you can start looking at board prep material to see where you stand and what you should be focusing on.

 

[sobored]

I wouldn't sweat it. Most of your first year classes aren't super-relevant to Step 1 anyway. 80% of Step 1 stuff is second year material once you go beyond "how things work" to "how things go wrong". I'm sure your tests will be more often than every few months once you get to that point. In other words, you'll be getting frequent feedback and if anything is wrong someone will say something.

Just make sure to develop good study habits, buy some outside review materials, and make sure you're taking home the "key points". At the same time, your school is P/F most likely because they want you to have the time to pursue other interests in medicine. Take a few elective classes, start some research. Don't overload yourself, but make sure to take advantage of the extra time you have as compared to other students who actually have to worry about grades.

I would just like to know why this gets thrown around SDN ad nauseum. Aren't most schools on systems-based curriculums now? Maybe it was just my school but we did path/pharm/micro all throughout first year with each system we were covering, so the whole "M1 material isn't relevant for boards" was always very weird to me. Also, I've taken boards and I can say that there was a lot of M1 material on my exam. But I guess lots of people are still on the traditional curriculum I guess.

 

[Textbookversion]

I would just like to know why this gets thrown around SDN ad nauseum. Aren't most schools on systems-based curriculums now? Maybe it was just my school but we did path/pharm/micro all throughout first year with each system we were covering, so the whole "M1 material isn't relevant for boards" was always very weird to me. Also, I've taken boards and I can say that there was a lot of M1 material on my exam. But I guess lots of people are still on the traditional curriculum I guess.

Yes, a lot (most?) of us are still on a traditional curriculum, and a lot of the step relevant material from first year gets repeated in some fashion in MS2.

 

[notbobtrustme]

Yes, a lot (most?) of us are still on a traditional curriculum, and a lot of the step relevant material from first year gets repeated in some fashion in MS2.

ya, I'm actually surprised at how much M1 physio/anatomy comes into play in pathology.

 

[Donald Juan]

I would just like to know why this gets thrown around SDN ad nauseum. Aren't most schools on systems-based curriculums now? Maybe it was just my school but we did path/pharm/micro all throughout first year with each system we were covering, so the whole "M1 material isn't relevant for boards" was always very weird to me. Also, I've taken boards and I can say that there was a lot of M1 material on my exam. But I guess lots of people are still on the traditional curriculum I guess.

Many schools are systems based curriculum, but still only cover histo/biochem/physio/anat in first year, and then cover the path/pharm/micro the 2nd year. Basically, you go by systems, but you go through the whole body first year and then again in 2nd year. "Traditional" curriculum would just mean you do all anatomy at once, then all biochem at once, then all histo, etc.

 

[sobored]

Many schools are systems based curriculum, but still only cover histo/biochem/physio/anat in first year, and then cover the path/pharm/micro the 2nd year. Basically, you go by systems, but you go through the whole body first year and then again in 2nd year. "Traditional" curriculum would just mean you do all anatomy at once, then all biochem at once, then all histo, etc.

Interesting. I didn't realize that's how some schools did it. We learned everything about each system we were on. Naturally, some things overlap between the systems in the two preclinical years (some bugs/drugs/etc) so we learned it twice I guess.

 

[Wordead]

Interesting. I didn't realize that's how some schools did it. We learned everything about each system we were on. Naturally, some things overlap between the systems in the two preclinical years (some bugs/drugs/etc) so we learned it twice I guess.

Wait, so after your first organ system in M1 you never see it again? That sounds like a terrible system.

 

[sobored]

Wait, so after your first organ system in M1 you never see it again? That sounds like a terrible system.

What do you mean "you never see it again"?. Systems overlap so you see lots of stuff over and over again. It was a fantastic system. We were able to study along with the review books, do Qbank questions with each system, etc because we studied everything within that system. Great curriculum.

 

[Wordead]

What do you mean "you never see it again"?. Systems overlap so you see lots of stuff over and over again. It was a fantastic system. We were able to study along with the review books, do Qbank questions with each system, etc because we studied everything within that system. Great curriculum.

I think I'm just confused. What do you mean systems overlap? I can think of tons of pathologies that dont really fit any other.

 

[sobored]

I think I'm just confused. What do you mean systems overlap? I can think of tons of pathologies that dont really fit any other.

Are you being dense on purpose? Of course there are separate pathologies. There are also many many drugs/bugs/principles you see in multiple different organ systems, so there is repeated exposure throughout the curriculum. Just because I learned about staph aureus in cardio doesn't mean we didn't also cover it in neuro, rheum/immune, respiratory, etc. It becomes repetitive and you "re-learn" how it applies to that system.

 

[Wordead]

Are you being dense on purpose? Of course there are separate pathologies. There are also many many drugs/bugs/principles you see in multiple different organ systems, so there is repeated exposure throughout the curriculum. Just because I learned about staph aureus in cardio doesn't mean we didn't also cover it in neuro, rheum/immune, respiratory, etc. It becomes repetitive and you "re-learn" how it applies to that system.

I'm actually not. I get that theres some overlap, but theres a ton that doesnt. Like when are you going to re-learn the nephrotic/nephritic syndromes? Does that somehow pop up again in heme onc for low immunoglobulin? And okay sure duh you use s.aureus as an example. What about giardia? What system other than GI would that come up in?

 

[Dires]

Are you being dense on purpose? Of course there are separate pathologies. There are also many many drugs/bugs/principles you see in multiple different organ systems, so there is repeated exposure throughout the curriculum. Just because I learned about staph aureus in cardio doesn't mean we didn't also cover it in neuro, rheum/immune, respiratory, etc. It becomes repetitive and you "re-learn" how it applies to that system.

Dude he's not the only one that's confused. You're acting like we should know how your curriculum works. Did you still have biochem, genetics, ect in the first year though?

My school does systems approach, but we don't really divulge into path until 2nd year.

 

[notbobtrustme]

I would just like to know why this gets thrown around SDN ad nauseum. Aren't most schools on systems-based curriculums now? Maybe it was just my school but we did path/pharm/micro all throughout first year with each system we were covering, so the whole "M1 material isn't relevant for boards" was always very weird to me. Also, I've taken boards and I can say that there was a lot of M1 material on my exam. But I guess lots of people are still on the traditional curriculum I guess.

M1 traditionally refers to subjects like anatomy, histology, biochemistry, physiology. M2 is path/pharm/micro. It can organized in a block format (eg all of anatomy in 6 weeks, then all of physio in 6 weeks, etc etc) or systems format (eg cardio, pulm, renal, neuro).

 

[vonburen]

All of anatomy in 6 weeks sounds absolutely horrid, if even physically possible.

 

[Leonidis I]

All of anatomy in 6 weeks sounds absolutely horrid, if even physically possible.

nah they probably just cover it to a lesser depth. this seems to be a growing trend with less focus on the nitty gritty of anatomy and biochem and instead having more time for systems phys/pathophys. we had something similar with less time in anatomy and biochem with focus on clinical anatomy and clinical biochem and pretty much nothing on memorizing the course of random nerves/arteries or every step in metabolic pathways

 

[Cranial ALLDAY]

have a life, go party and socialize. this will help you in rotations since you will know how to talk unlike all the other Urkel's in your class. Oh ya, and be sure to pass