Nova Biochem
- Thread starter Rob C
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Why would you want that stuff? I think that is the more important question. It is just a class. Nothing in med school requires pre-studying to do well in.
Don't listen to these people, if you feel compelled. pick up a book like BRS Biochem, or buy first aid. Something that is quick overview of material to review so that you don't waste time learning it again in the Biochem class. It will save you time. NSU biochem was a bitch. Netter's Anatomy atlas, is probably good to buy already, so is BRS physio. Physio, anatomy, biochem.. will be the biggest challenge when u start at NSU. I suggest over preparing for the first round of exams. Most don't, have an eye-opener, then have to fight up hill.
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Seriously? Our final consisted of recycled questions from the exams during the semester... and we got those back. Oh, and if your grade on the final > grade of your exams averaged, you got the final grade. So basically if you didn't pass biochem with a 95-100 you were a complete idiot.
Unless that has changed I wouldn't put much effort into nsu biochem, which is poorly taught anyways. Find one good book for boards and get very familiar with it.
Yea they changed the class. merging what was 2 semesters into one. The final no longer replaces your average. They do not recycle questions anymore. In the past you could just study all the old exams and the questions were exactly the same. m2's told the m1's it was a joke just to memorize the old exams and tons of people flunked. I would take what the year before you says with a grain of salt, bc the class of '13 said to do this and that and '14 got screwed. Nova keeps changing stuff around, hopefully for the better. In any case you are not wasting your time, since you need to know it for the boards anyways.
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I think part of the reason for a bunch of curriculum changes at Nova is a dip in board scores. On my interview day, some faculty member told us that the first time Comlex pass rate was 85% the previous year
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yeah. from what i understand from upperclassmen, there was an uncharacteristic large drop in first time pass on COMLEX about 2 years back. like a 10% dip from ~95-~85%...so i think they kind of scrambled to come up with novel curriculum ideas to help quick fix the problem before it became a regular thing.
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NSU Step 1 scores dropped a few years back but it has never gone below the national average according to the dean. Their step 2 scores have always been well above average. Not sure about step 3.
True, they began restructuring biochem last year and are still in the process of that.
Something like Lippincolt Biochem will do wonders for you on the boards if you have the time to read it. Just know that its not that high yield. But this doesnt even mean you'll do well in the class. The class goes straight off of the professors notes. So we have had undergrad biochem majors struggle in that course since everything is what the teacher lectures on and not a book.
If you pre-study anything before med school I'd make it anatomy or physio. Those are the hardest for most people and take a lot of background info and concepts to get down. And they're the ones that constantly get repeated second year and for boards.
True, they began restructuring biochem last year and are still in the process of that.
Something like Lippincolt Biochem will do wonders for you on the boards if you have the time to read it. Just know that its not that high yield. But this doesnt even mean you'll do well in the class. The class goes straight off of the professors notes. So we have had undergrad biochem majors struggle in that course since everything is what the teacher lectures on and not a book.
If you pre-study anything before med school I'd make it anatomy or physio. Those are the hardest for most people and take a lot of background info and concepts to get down. And they're the ones that constantly get repeated second year and for boards.
yea it is 1 semester now. Alot of m1's are annotating first aid along with biochem/micro/immuno, etc. And some are doing GT alongside the classes. Alot of the m1 classes i feel don't adequately prepare students, but who knows thats my opinion. Attendance apparently is mandatory, but they don't enforce it this year i guess. I know people that never go, and never swipe in. For some reason they aren't using tegrity this year. M1 year at nova sucks, bc the professors are from the Health sciences department, not the college of osteopathic medicine. So you will notice it in how the material is presented and how crappy the schedule is. M2 year i hear has fantastic professors that make up for the m1 years shortcomings, but workload at the end of m2 is still too high when it should be board study time.
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Damn what is with all these negative posts about Nova these past few weeks??? I'm starting Nova this August and I am really excited and cant wait to start. But all these posts are kind of getting me nervous.
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i wouldn't sweat it guy. people like to moan and groan. it is also easier to blame others for poor performance than to take responsibility on yourself. i feel like i have had an overall good experience this year (educationally and otherwise). keep your nose to the grindstone and make a legitimate effort to learn the material they present to you. if you do, you will get a good education at nova.
one bad class and an anomalous year in COMLEX performance don't make a bad school.
one bad class and an anomalous year in COMLEX performance don't make a bad school.
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couldnt agree more. dont forget you are also on SDN which is the ultimate source of people who like to complain and b****. here's just a thought - so my M1 year I never got on SDN and cancelled my cable because i simply didnt have the time. hmm... these people sure do have a lot of time...
my opinion, nova has been nothing but fantastic for me so dont sweat it. ive had great experiences and its gotten better each year. last week they just received the highest re-accreditation rating you can get so obviously theyre doing something right.
also- for boards they've done numerous additions and improvements. including a board prep class that meets every week, a copy of the entire kaplan step 1 books for free, access to all of the kaplan board prep videos (which is like a few hundred hours worth), regular board prep reviews with Dr Raymon (one of the best Step 1 teachers in the country), and acceess to the entire Kaplan QBank and comlex Bank. thats a ton of free board prep that no other schools do. Most of this just got instituted in the past year or two so I guarantee youll be seeing some great scores and residency placements coming up. Their match list this past march is already pretty stacked and thats from before this was even in place.
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