Pediatrics Shelf

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I am. I have heard that it's a hard shelf from upperclassmen.

Thus far I am planning on using blueprints, case files and pre-test. Just wanted some input as to if that was enough.
 
I scored higher on this one than any other. It's not particularly hard for a shelf exam.

I didn't think I was the type to Honor peds (but I did despite my best efforts to slack), so I used nothing but Pretest. However I was also studying for Step II at the time, so there may have been some overlap there.

If I were to repeat 3rd year, I would use one of the commercial Step II banks (save USMLEWorld for the actual test if you don't plan on taking it after application season) like QBank or the Elsevier one.
 
lord_jeebus said:
I scored higher on this one than any other. It's not particularly hard for a shelf exam.

I didn't think I was the type to Honor peds (but I did despite my best efforts to slack), so I used nothing but Pretest. However I was also studying for Step II at the time, so there may have been some overlap there.

If I were to repeat 3rd year, I would use one of the commercial Step II banks (save USMLEWorld for the actual test if you don't plan on taking it after application season) like QBank or the Elsevier one.
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Since I've heard so many different opinions, I took a stab at using USMLE question bank's pediatric questions, case files, and I also purchased Secrets and Step Up to Medicine for relevant Peds information. I would love to honor the course, so do you think my list of books will do the trick? Please advise- thanks!
 
It depends how well you want to do. I just wanted to pass and ended up doing very well. Blueprints worked good for me, but it was a very hard read. I also read the tiny section on Peds in Boards and Wards. I read over the summaries mostly at the end of the chapters in Bluprints right before the test to review and I scored high on the shelf (about 700/900 in Osteopathic one). I didn't do any questions. Personally I think if you know Blueprints really well and do a few hundred questions that should be enough to honor the shelf.
 
the consensus for most people is that its a pretty hard exam, so dont discouraged. I studied hard and still didnt do well - i read BRS and did UWorld and pretest. most importantt hing i guess is to do just do quesitons, either uworld or pretest or both. the book doesnt really matter they all say the same thing its just preference. None of them will cover everythkng you need to know. this test just has a lot of whacky questions that you wont have seen or read about.
 
FA for Peds 2x
Case Files 1x
Pretest 1.5x

I did not expect to do that well but I ended up honoring. I think if you use these resources it's a very manageable exam.
 
Blueprints is the best for this shelf. Read it twice and do world or other questions and you'll be golden.
 
All I did was questions. UW, Pre-Test, and Kaplan Q book.

It wasn't easy like Psych but it wasn't hard like IM or Surg. Middle of the road shelf.

Since it's early on in the year I would probably recommend more than just questions but I found doing a bunch of questions to be more than sufficient for honors.
 
I did:
1) Blueprints 1X and then the quick review at the end of each chapter 1X
2) Casefiles 1X
3) Pretest 1X

I still thought this shelf was harder than IM or Ob/Gyn. I may have thought this because it was the second shelf I took last Friday (Ob being the first). The only thing I would go back and do is read the endocrine phys section from BRS Phys once before the test.
 
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