Pathology?

[kate0834tkjn]

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Hi all-so after numerous revisions of my boards schedule, I've decided to do subject rather than systems based, but I still want to mainly focus on path. Right now, I'm planning to spend 14 days on path doing RR and Goljan lectures. Do you think that's enough time? Before that, I'll have done anatomy, embryology, physiology, biochem, biostats, pharm and micro. Plus, I do about 50 QBank a day (going to try to up that if possible).

Also, after doing a first pass through everything, I'll have 12 days before my test to review/do questions/nbmes....again, is this enough in your experience?

Thanks a lot!!!

 

[mountainman123]

Depending on how fast you read- that definitely is possible. The goljan lectures pretty much go along with the book and I used them more for times when I was driving, walking, etc... You should be able to read about 100 pgs/day of RR Path meaning that you could even do it twice if you wanted. I did my studying by reading it once at the beginning of my study time and then again at the end and there was a ton of stuff I missed the first time and better understood it later. But, the way you have it set out is plenty of time to do both- do what you think will work best for you, only you know how you learn best. For me it was repetition.

 

[winsicle]

Depending on how fast you read- that definitely is possible. The goljan lectures pretty much go along with the book and I used them more for times when I was driving, walking, etc... You should be able to read about 100 pgs/day of RR Path meaning that you could even do it twice if you wanted. I did my studying by reading it once at the beginning of my study time and then again at the end and there was a ton of stuff I missed the first time and better understood it later. But, the way you have it set out is plenty of time to do both- do what you think will work best for you, only you know how you learn best. For me it was repetition.

Hey, I was wondering how useful RR Path was, it seems that some people were saying it's kind of overkill for Step 1 to really meticulously read through it... do you think the early general path chapters were higher yield than the organ systems, thanks

 

[mountainman123]

I guess it depends on what kind of score you want. I read it 2.5 times and do not regret it whatsoever. I did not like BRS Pathology, I thought it was too basic, skipped important stuff, lacked all the integration that Goljan uses, and was poorly organized. RR seems really long but if you subtract the side margins, the photos, the questions at the end, and all the integration, you are left with BRS Pathology. This is just my own personal opinion and experience with both- others will have different opinions. I liked RR due to the fact that there were lots of GREAT pictures and a lot of integration with Pharm, Micro, etc...

 

[kate0834tkjn]

Thank you for your response!

Yea, I feel like I'm at least an average speed reader, but I feel like I'm tending to rush through things in my boards prep since I feel a time crunch already. I'm hoping a lot will come back from path from this past year....I did a speed read through BRS before the shelf, so maybe that was at least a little helpful. I'm really hoping to break 240 and am 5 weeks away....do you think it's possible?

Also, I haven't purchased USMLE World qbank yet, but was thinking about it for the last 30 days....I feel like the stuff I learn on kaplan qbank sticks more than what I read in books. I also have Robbins Review of path questions, but have not yet used them. Any opinions on whether UW is worth it if I sitll have 2/3 of qbank left and robbins review questions?

Thank you again for your suggestions!!

 

[mountainman123]

Yeah I think that a 240+ is possible depending on what your current NBME score says. The average person raises their NBME or CBSE exams by about 25-40 points. I did not use UW, but from what I read on here I should have. I used Qbank and hated it- about 50% of the questions are way too specific. I would use UW and Qbank on the side if I were you. UW supposedly teaches concepts. You have a lot of time left and can do a lot with your score if you spend your time wisely.
I personally used about half of Robbin's ROP and felt that it was a little overkill on top of doing Qbank, USMLERx, and RR Path. They are tough questions and are good at teaching though so if you have the time and feel weak in Path, go for it.