Pathoma

[dude1344]

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Anyone use this and have any opinions? Dr. Sattar has been frequenting many schools recently and talking up his book. Does this add anything that can't be found in Goljan or FA?

 

[sp226]

Anyone use this and have any opinions? Dr. Sattar has been frequenting many schools recently and talking up his book. Does this add anything that can't be found in Goljan or FA?

Dr. Sattar was my lecturer for pathology in Kaplan last summer. I thought he was amazing! He breaks everything down in a simple way and tries to incorporate other subjects as well. Sometimes he explains things in a story form or uses mnemonics. He's a very good teacher. I tried listening to Goljan lectures but for some reason Goljan didn't stick to me as well as Sattar did.

I'm not sure about his book but if I had more time, I definitely would have looked into it. I'm a big fan of Dr. Sattar.

 

[johnwall11]

Any other opinions on this book/author? Just checked out the sample on the website and it seems to be in outline format, but much easier to read than Goljan RR. Only ~200 pages so wondering how much he left out...

 

[lackli]

I love Dr. Goljan's audio and I've been using it throughout the year. That being said, I'm more of a visual learner and just listening to Goljan doesn't do it for me for a lot of the topics. He's great for walking between places or going to the gym but I feel like I retain more using pathoma. Dr. Sattar will have his slides up and be circling things, drawing and annotating histo slides which I find remember better.

Also although goljan is very charismatic, the second time through I just want the info and maybe not the stories about his grandkids and how strong his anal sphincter is

 

[webEmDee]

Golijan always seemed like too much to read and retain, so the 200 pages is a welcome relief. I checked a few chapters against Golijan and didn't really find anything lacking.

You cant beat it for the price. US$100 for the book, and access to the lectures for a year. I just finished reading my copy. It was a painless read and short enough so that I know what to go back to for review. I haven't listened to more than the free lectures, but they're really good. He's also Associate Director of Clinical Pathophysiology at the University of Chicago, and I've heard that the students there LOVE him.

A friend of mine tells me he emailed customer support and told them he's taking the exam in June and can't afford $100, so they gave him a subscription till the end of July for HALF PRICE.

Anyone else read the book yet?

 

[johnwall11]

Just bought mine for 50% off as well - just email them via Contact Us link.

 

[kma83]

I've been using pathoma and I agree that it's great. The lectures really hammer down the material, and being ~200 pages it's more manageable than Goljan's RR (I read a number of chapters from Goljan during the semester with course work, but couldn't retain much from it, felt it was a little too much for me to handle). Pathoma seems to have the major points on everything, so basically you know you have to know it cold. Of course, like most resources, you'll find stuff to add from UWorld or FA (or vice versa).
I'm definitely still going to listen to Goljan audio and read the audio transcripts...there's high yield info in there you don't want to miss.

 

[ajndersn]

The book is fantastic, but I really think watching the lectures are the way to go. The lecture material comes straight from the book but he adds little pearls in the lectures that aren't in the book (like concepts frequently tested on exams or ways the examiners like to trip you up) and also often goes to a "white board" to draw stuff out for better understanding (I fricken love the white board). For example, his hematology lectures are amazing because he draws pictures of what is going on in most of the diseases. He really makes sure you understand need to know physiology material as well. I found it to be better than Goljan because he dumbs it down to a level where you can really understand what is going and why it is all happening. You don't really need to memorize stuff from his lectures because it all makes sense after watching them. The lectures are about 35 hours long but there is an option to watch them at 1.7 speed.

 

[lackli]

Small caveat: until recently not all his lectures had been posted because he was still making the videos. He didn't post in the chapter order...and so the final chapters he posted were 11, 8, 15, 17, 18, 19.

It seems to me that the lectures posted more recently have seemed a little rushed and not on the same level of quality as the earlier lectures. Don't get me wrong, they are still good but I really felt like his general pathology, heme/onc, repro and GI lectures were excellent.

His 8 cardio,11 hepatobiliary and 15 endocrine seemed a little rushed and lacking in all the extra info I had come to expect from his earlier lectures.

That's just my opinion though...and I would definitely use these resources again. I had never understood gen path and heme/onc very well before listening to his lectures and that was worth the price of admission for me.

 

[ajndersn]

Small caveat: until recently not all his lectures had been posted because he was still making the videos. He didn't post in the chapter order...and so the final chapters he posted were 11, 8, 15, 17, 18, 19.

It seems to me that the lectures posted more recently have seemed a little rushed and not on the same level of quality as the earlier lectures. Don't get me wrong, they are still good but I really felt like his general pathology, heme/onc, repro and GI lectures were excellent.

His 8 cardio,11 hepatobiliary and 15 endocrine seemed a little rushed and lacking in all the extra info I had come to expect from his earlier lectures.

That's just my opinion though...and I would definitely use these resources again. I had never understood gen path and heme/onc very well before listening to his lectures and that was worth the price of admission for me.

Now that I think about it, I totally agree with you. He definitely did seem rushed in the later lectures.

 

[kma83]

I also noticed that those lectures done later were a little faster, but I kind of liked them like that. He goes a tad bit too slow in the first few lectures for me so I listen to them at 1.7x.

 

[ChandutheMagici]

Anyone use this and have any opinions? Dr. Sattar has been frequenting many schools recently and talking up his book. Does this add anything that can't be found in Goljan or FA?

I can't recommend Dr. Sattar enough. I know things on a conceptual level now that I just memorized before to pass the test. I tried Goljan with RR, but like other posters I found it to be a bit too much. Especially during crunch time.

If you're a visual learner, like awesome lecturers, and really want to learn the material as opposed to just learning it for the boards - I really recommend Pathoma. Best 50 bucks I ever spent.

 

[behindthemask]

Anyone use this and have any opinions? Dr. Sattar has been frequenting many schools recently and talking up his book. Does this add anything that can't be found in Goljan or FA?

As one of my classmates put it, Goljan has everything you need, and everything you don't. He even mentions in his lectures a few times that some of the material in the book is for Steps 2/3, or that it's not important for Step 1 and that he included it for completeness (which you'd never know if you just read the book).

Sattar is literally just what you need to know, and the videos are awesome. He includes a lot of material that's not in the book already, but the book has blank space on the side of the text so you can take notes and copy down some diagrams that he uses (I'm shocked publishers haven't figured out that this is a great idea). I found this really helpful because it kept me actively engaged during the lectures instead of passively listening, which helped me retain more. He also follows the book exactly, which means that you're never flipping pages or wondering what on earth he's talking about.

And he emphasizes understanding WHY things happen instead of memorizing - to see what I mean, watch this sample video. Going through Dr. Sattar's book brought my UWorld percent correct on 46Q sections up by ~5-10 percentage points. Definitely think it's worth the money, not just for boards but because I'm pretty sure I didn't really understand a lot of diseases until I used Dr. Sattar's book and lectures (and I read baby Robbins during 2nd year!).

 

[Whatsyourname]

I used pathoma and I can clearly say, its WAY better than Goljan, my level of understanding was at new levels

 

[waterlilly]

For those who has used this product....how long does it take to listen/watch all the videos? Thanks!

 

[mrosediddy]

For those who has used this product....how long does it take to listen/watch all the videos? Thanks!

There is 35 hours of videos but you also have the option to watch it all in 1.7 speed. I'd recommend watching them in normal speed at least the first time through because he does a great job of explaining things

 

[lion2013]

you can run through all of pathoma and know the material inside and out if you spend 10 days. can't recommend him enough.

 

[todds]

Just want to give one more recommendation for Dr. Sattar. His book/lectures are awesome. He breaks things down simply so you have pathology organized in a logical simple way...MUCH better than Goljan.

I used Pathoma exclusively for path and UW + FA. I would say that Pathoma is better than FA in preparing (at least for the path sections) for Step I.

Some things from his mouth/book were on my exam that i never came across from UW or FA. You will have a much better level of understanding of pathology for sure, and the best is that it only takes like a week to get through everything. I wish I had this during the year.

 

[Step1Hash]

This thread needs to end. Makes me wish I used pathoma...damnit. O well, if I fail I get another chance right? lol.

 

[noob1]

haha, i hate to add fuel to the fire...but a friend from school told me about it
2-3 weeks ago, I started it last week and finished it today...he is fantastic. As others have said, he explains the concept better than any teacher i've ever had - he is a teacher at U of C's med school in chicago so he's pretty familiar with the high yield concepts for path. He also mixes in a little bit of relevant physiology and biochem here and there, along with relevant pharm. It's a great supplement with FA and Uworld. I read RR goljan twice throughout the last few months and i think i learned more in a week from this book than i did from goljan by reading it twice. Goljan has intense amounts of detail that are just not board relevant, not a 'high yield' book by any means. Sattar does a great job of just supplementing little facts and ways to remember diseases that you would normally overlook in first aid. Does he cover every possible path scenario and question? probably not ; there is still some stuff in goljan that he doesn't add in, but it's just not worth reading 700 pages of goljan when u can read a relatively light 180-200 along with 40 hours of videos explaining everything...The best part is the tons of pics he has for allt he relevant diseases, he explains the gross, histological, stains, etc..
best 75 bucks i've spent on board prep so far..

 

[mtwop]

So after all this talk about how useful it is, would you guys recommend using Goljan RR, Pathoma, or both for:
1) Board Prep
2) Coursework

Thanks!

 

[BS81]

The videos and book are awesome. I'd get the one year membership to use throughout your second year and through your Step I studying. He explains everything so well, and with the book and powerpoint it is easily better than the goljan lectures.

 

[todds]

So after all this talk about how useful it is, would you guys recommend using Goljan RR, Pathoma, or both for:
1) Board Prep
2) Coursework

Thanks!

I honestly think Pathoma covers most of the stuff Goljans book has but in a MUCH more logical and organized way.

If I knew about this earlier, I wouldve understood pathology MUCH better during my classes which would allow me to add the detail onto that understanding that professors love to give.

Staring during your general pathology/system pathology course, I would HIGHLY recommend getting the subscription with video+book and a 6 month or so subscription to UWorld.

I would go through Pathoma, then do UWorld and add in details from UW into the pathoma book. I honestly didnt have to add much because the way he explains it makes it so logical. But DEFINITELY go through the videos, those are the highlight of the package. One things is that its not as much clinical info as Goljan, but thats more step 2 stuff or UW will likely cover it.

In short Pathoma+UW >>>>Goljan.

 

[kma83]

i completely agree with todds post above

 

[LiverpoolFC]

I am really eager to hear more stories as to how pathoma helped

 

[thisismyyear]

i just signed up for it yesterday and waiting in the mail for the book to come so i can start it. my step 1 is july 30th. i will let you know if it was helpful for me or not. good luck to everyone!

 

[MintChocolateChip83]

I just finished pathoma right before the start of a kaplan review course and I couldnt agree more with all of the postive responses that have been posted. We'll see how i feel the closer i get to the real thing though

 

[1badvette]

i think im gonna give him a try , how are u guys getting the 50% off code ?? thanks

 

[ClostridiumDiff]

Ummm, I know this sounds absolutely crazy but I subscribed to the lectures last week (my test date is in a few days). I was having trouble with a few concepts so I thought this might help, and it did! I def wish I bought it earlier, but even now it's been a great review of all of pathology. Highly recommended!

 

[waterlilly]

I agree! They gave me the same $50 deal. I watched it all in a day at 1.7x.....very good review for me!

 

[245399]

Not one critical review?

 

[LiverpoolFC]

Not one critical review?

I know! It is that good. I personally believe it is one of the best kept secrets.👍👍👍👍

 

[UAAWolf]

brb buying this because its only 100 dollars.

Whats there to lose

 

[waterlilly]

$50 because you can email them and ask for 3mo for $50....and still get the book. 🙂

 

[nick_carraway]

So glad I clicked on this link. I thought a pathoma was some disease that y'all needed advice on for Step 1. Goljan has so many mixed reviews, but this resource doesn't. The sample videos are so clear and logical. I'm going to enter M2 so I don't have much basis for comparison, but this seems like a good way to go...

Has anyone found the video viewing limit to be a problem? Also, why does waterlilly recommend a 3 month purchase? The $100 doesn't seem to come with a time limit on their site... am I missing something?

 

[MintChocolateChip83]

I think the 100 dollars gets a years access to the videos. For someone who's gonna take the step soon, they probably wouldn't need the full access to the videos for a year

 

[ClostridiumDiff]

FYI, First Aid and Pathoma have a lot of the same information, but Pathoma adds a little bit more and actually explains what is going on.

For example, I used First Aid as my "textbook" when listening to the thyroid pathology lectures because the Pathoma textbook didn't arrive yet. It had everything there for the most part, but it helped to have the lecture explain more detail. Sometimes, that isn't really necessary, because the material is fairly straightforward. However, there are things that need more explanation. For me, one of those topics was biliary tract pathology. First Aid has a nice table on stuff, but for some reason it just didn't click for me. I listened to Dr. Sattar's lectures and it was a lot clearer.

If I had to do it all over again, I would use Pathoma as a replacement for the Pathology section of First Aid. It's also easier to annotate UWorld notes into, as there are empty margins. Anyway, that's just my two cents, and since I've been a lurker here for a while I thought I would add something to the discussion.

 

[UAAWolf]

So glad I clicked on this link. I thought a pathoma was some disease that y'all needed advice on for Step 1. Goljan has so many mixed reviews, but this resource doesn't. The sample videos are so clear and logical. I'm going to enter M2 so I don't have much basis for comparison, but this seems like a good way to go...

Has anyone found the video viewing limit to be a problem? Also, why does waterlilly recommend a 3 month purchase? The $100 doesn't seem to come with a time limit on their site... am I missing something?

Enter the code NU for 20% off guys

 

[ampersand]

$50 because you can email them and ask for 3mo for $50....and still get the book.

I tried this and they replied that they no longer do this. The NU code still works though...

 

[IandIatrogenic]

Hmmm. The NU code didn't work for me.

Oh well I'm not going to squabble over 20 bucks when by contrast someone like Goljan wants you to drop a couple grand to come to TX or PA to see him in person even though he hasn't added much to his lectures in the past 8 years. Add to that his arrogance (my friend has a picture for DO day on the hill with him wearing a shirt that says "Goljan Approved"), The fact that continues to make and print a lot of mistakes for someone who's been in the business of teaching the same subject for over 30 years, and ironically condemns people for using his pirated lectures when in fact they are the only reason for his annoyingly universal popularity in the first place.

Well you get the point this product is more than fairly priced given it's value.

And I will say as someone who has used Barone (Kaplan), the new Kaplan videos, Menarzic, Goljan's audio, Goljan's new Falcon Review book, his RR book, and read Robbin's cover to cover this Sattar is undeniably the best.

I think Pathoma's superiority can be attributed to Dr. Sattar's drawing of simple schematics (when you do it with him you are guaranteed active learning that can't be match with note taking alone) , and his logical progression first from the normal then to abnormal for each discrete aspect of an organ system.

By contrast, most teachers don't draw anymore (if they ever did for anything other than GA and NA I can't say) and if they bother to go through histology, physiology, and anatomy before covering a system's pathology they tend to lump it all in the front. Dr. Sattar's method serves to better reinforce the differences between the normal and the abnormal by taking a dauntingly complex system and breaking it up into easily digestible chunks.

 

[LiverpoolFC]

Hmmm. The NU code didn't work for me.

Oh well I'm not going to squabble over 20 bucks when by contrast someone like Goljan wants you to drop a couple grand to come to TX or PA to see him in person even though he hasn't added much to his lectures in the past 8 years. Add to that his arrogance (my friend has a picture for DO day on the hill with him wearing a shirt that says "Goljan Approved"), The fact that continues to make and print a lot of mistakes for someone who's been in the business of teaching the same subject for over 30 years, and ironically condemns people for using his pirated lectures when in fact they are the only reason for his annoyingly universal popularity in the first place.

Well you get the point this product is more than fairly priced given it's value.

And I will say as someone who has used Barone (Kaplan), the new Kaplan videos, Menarzic, Goljan's audio, Goljan's new Falcon Review book, his RR book, and read Robbin's cover to cover this Sattar is undeniably the best.

I think Pathoma's superiority can be attributed to Dr. Sattar's drawing of simple schematics (when you do it with him you are guaranteed active learning that can't be match with note taking alone) , and his logical progression first from the normal then to abnormal for each discrete aspect of an organ system.

By contrast, most teachers don't draw anymore (if they ever did for anything other than GA and NA I can't say) and if they bother to go through histology, physiology, and anatomy before covering a system's pathology they tend to lump it all in the front. Dr. Sattar's method serves to better reinforce the differences between the normal and the abnormal by taking a dauntingly complex system and breaking it up into easily digestible chunks.

I completely concur. I did well in my Path course in MS2. But to tell you the truth, I didn't really enjoy learning the subject or knew that Path was that simply understood if one had the right teacher. He is damn good! Wow. Why can't teachers teach this way? He is truly gifted at explaining concepts. I guess the other teachers might know their stuff well, but don't truly have the gift as Dr Sattar. Enough said!!!

 

[Elbowstoopointy]

I completely concur. I did well in my Path course in MS2. But to tell you the truth, I didn't really enjoy learning the subject or knew that Path was that simply understood if one had the right teacher. He is damn good! Wow. Why can't teachers teach this way? He is truly gifted at explaining concepts. I guess the other teachers might know their stuff well, but don't truly have the gift as Dr Sattar. Enough said!!!

Cardiac Path was a joke after watching Pathoma. He simplifies it so well...I'm gonna use these all through MS2

 

[Rokitansky]

In all fairness we shouldn't really compare the Goljan audio to Pathoma. The audio was recorded without Dr. Goljan's knowledge or consent and has been distributed without his permission. People complain that he tells anecdotes, but when you are sitting in a classroom that kind of stuff breaks up the monotony, which is a totally different situation from sitting at home studying with the Pathoma videos which are specifically recorded for that purpose. Plus those audio files are pretty old now.

I thought RR was a great resource for supplementing class material and it covers everything in path pretty solidly. Pathoma seems very high-yield and does seem to have most of what you'll need for Step 1, but it's not as comprehensive as RR and some things are not covered. Whether or not that extra stuff in RR is worth the time and energy is an individual thing.

Edited: Forgot to say that while $100 is a good price for a high quality resource like Pathoma, only $30 for RR and free Goljan audio were definitely not a bad deal either.

 

[Elbowstoopointy]

Another positive thing...the book came 1 day after I ordered it. Wow...and its a nice book as well. Follows his lectures so closely that after you watch them the book is pure gold

 

[lilPhysician]

Wish I saw this earlier. I already bought RR path cuz I thought Goljan was the gold standard. Ignore RR pathology and use pathoma, or use both? Thoughts?

 

[DoctwoB]

Wish I saw this earlier. I already bought RR path cuz I thought Goljan was the gold standard. Ignore RR pathology and use pathoma, or use both? Thoughts?

I also was planning to use RR path + Goijan audio along with second year. Would people who have used both recommend using Pathoma book + audio alone or using them alongside Goijan (perhaps pathoma for more concepts/high yield, then RR for more details/hammer points home)?

 

[LiverpoolFC]

I also was planning to use RR path + Goijan audio along with second year. Would people who have used both recommend using Pathoma book + audio alone or using them alongside Goijan (perhaps pathoma for more concepts/high yield, then RR for more details/hammer points home)?

The book doesn't come with an audio but a video. He draws on the white board to illustrate concepts.

 

[kma83]

I used Goljan's RR initially, probably covered 6 or 7 chapters, then switched to pathoma with its videos. I'd definitely recommend sticking to pathoma and forget about Goljan's RR as far as prep for the step1 goes. Pathoma is pure high yield and concept oriented which is how you need to study for the boards, and as everyone mentions, the whiteboard from Sattar's videos is huge. Rapid Review path has alot of other information that can get distracting...not the greatest way to prep for boards in my opinion...and you retain a much smaller amount of info by just reading (RR) compared to reading and watching videos explaining all the text (pathoma).
I would still listen to Goljan audio while in the car/gym, it's a good way to reinforce the material another way.

 

[1badvette]

Pathoma + Goijan audio is the way to go to kill path ...

 

[Bluefiya]

anyone else used pathoma who also recently took step? more reviews would be appreciated! thank you