Pre-emptive studying?

[gro2001]

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I am an MS0, and before I get my head bitten off, I do NOT intend to study before classes start. However, one of the med students a couple of years ahead suggested going through every block with First Aid, starting September. Any thoughts on how useful this is?

 

[Pewl]

I am an MS0, and before I get my head bitten off, I do NOT intend to study before classes start. However, one of the med students a couple of years ahead suggested going through every block with First Aid, starting September. Any thoughts on how useful this is?

I did not do this and managed to get honors in most of my first year courses, so I really don't know what to say. In my opinion First Aid is really more directed towards step 1.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

from reading old threads, BigFrank and p53 (they dominated step 1 and this board for a while) both suggest reading FA along with the classes in med school. I plan on supplementing my school's lectures with FA and maybe one subject review book, not only to help focus my mind on learning the high-yield stuff for boards, but also to reinforce important concepts that are going to be tested during the course itself.

However, p53 cautioned that obsession with doing well on boards should not come at the expense of enjoying life and getting good EC experiences in such as research.

 

[gro2001]

from reading old threads, BigFrank and p53 (they dominated step 1 and this board for a while) both suggest reading FA along with the classes in med school. I plan on supplementing my school's lectures with FA and maybe one subject review book, not only to help focus my mind on learning the high-yield stuff for boards, but also to reinforce important concepts that are going to be tested during the course itself.

However, p53 cautioned that obsession with doing well on boards should not come at the expense of enjoying life and getting good EC experiences in such as research.

I think that was pretty much the rationale behind the suggestion. Thanks, and good luck!

 

[SoCuteMD]

from reading old threads, BigFrank and p53 (they dominated step 1 and this board for a while) both suggest reading FA along with the classes in med school. I plan on supplementing my school's lectures with FA and maybe one subject review book, not only to help focus my mind on learning the high-yield stuff for boards, but also to reinforce important concepts that are going to be tested during the course itself.

However, p53 cautioned that obsession with doing well on boards should not come at the expense of enjoying life and getting good EC experiences in such as research.

Actually, I think p53 never revealed his score.

 

[Roy7]

from reading old threads, BigFrank and p53 (they dominated step 1 and this board for a while) both suggest reading FA along with the classes in med school. I plan on supplementing my school's lectures with FA and maybe one subject review book, not only to help focus my mind on learning the high-yield stuff for boards, but also to reinforce important concepts that are going to be tested during the course itself.

However, p53 cautioned that obsession with doing well on boards should not come at the expense of enjoying life and getting good EC experiences in such as research.

There's a lot of "dont study early" people on this board advising against studying early. Personally, I think 99 percent of them are suggest that simply because they didnt. I've never seen someone start studying early then regret it.

That being said - no matter what you do - make sure you learn your lecture stuff reallly realllly reallllly well the first time through so you never forget it, stay organized, and save your resources.

 

[lord_jeebus]

I don't know how much it would help, but if it doesn't take that much time I don't see a problem with it.

Just don't fall into the common mistake of thinking that Step I only covers material found in First Aid. It will cover material from all your classes, including material not deemed "high yield" enough for any of the review texts. Knowing such material well is much of the difference between a good and a great score.

 

[Roy7]

It will cover material from all your classes, including material not deemed "high yield" enough for any of the review texts. Knowing such material well is much of the difference between a good and a great score.

Best advice anywhere. I wish I'd heard that sooner and taken lecture "extra" more seriously instead of assuming it was gratuitous.

That being, you wanna make sure you know all the stuff in the review books cold.

 

[ginger60]

The reason why I don't advocate starting studying early is that all of the Qbank stuff I went over in the fall before I took my test (I took it in March) looked completely foreign to me in February when I really started studying for the exam. However, going through FA during corresponding blocks in 2nd year (or BRS phys for 1st year) is a good idea--it allows you to still focus on your classes (very important) but familiarize yourself with the review books and be introduced to things that may not be covered by your classes but are on boards. I started looking at FA part of the way through 2nd year and wish I had started earlier because it was quite helpful once I did start looking at it. Keep in mind that by going through FA I mean briefly reading through the corresponding section in an hour or so after you have learned most of the class material--no annotations, not too much time spent. Goljan RR path would also be good to glance at, although I did not use it during 2nd year.

 

[gro2001]

Some great advice here. Thank you very much!

 

[Law2Doc]

Personally, I think 99 percent of them are suggest that simply because they didnt. I've never seen someone start studying early then regret it.

Disagree. Actually, given the type A personalities on here, I'd say the majority actually probably did try to study early in some fashion but ultimately found it a waste of time. (Much like studying the summer before MS1 was found by a lot of us to be a waste of time). I and many regret the time wasted trying to get ahead but actually were just spinning our wheels on stuff we wouldn't retain, at various junctures on this road.

From personal experience I would suggest that FA type info has a remarkably short shelf life in your brain -- it is a much better cramming resource than anything else. IMHO, there are much better resources for first year material (HY, BRS), which are great during the course but too voluminous for quicker board review at the end, and learning the first year material is the best way to prepare yourself for the boards and for getting anything useful out of FA when it is actually time to utilize that resource. If you are going to use it, I would suggest that it is going to be much more helpful in second year than first, because of the way it incorporates the first year anatomy and physio into the largely pathophys oriented chapters. You would be reading a ton of extraneous info that you haven't gotten to yet if you start it in first year.

 

[viostorm]

DO IT FROM DAY 1! Especially 2nd year.

My school has one of the worst cirriculum's in the country and does absolutely horrible at preparing students for the step.

Knowing this day #1 I did review books almost exclusively although class notes were much "higher yield" for in class exams. I did much better on NBME's then class exams as far as where I fell on the curve. I hope this pays off for USMLE (I guess we will all know July 18).

My opinion it is absolutely critical to learn stuff that is on USMLE but not presented in medical school while you are going through it. For me this was a huge undertaking because of the poor quality of instruction at my institution.

 

[Rugby MD]

Hey-
I think I would have liked to have a FA while starting studying. Some of the mneumonics and stuff would have been really helpful for year 1 and 2. I don't know how much help it would be otherwise.

 

[Long Dong]

I'm one of the rare ones who actually studied ahead. Mainly because I'm a forgetful dumba$$, and because I know I'm an average guy who wanted to do above average. So I have to put in extra effort to do well. Their were some in my class who read things once and retained it, I wasn't lucky enough to be one of them. The pre-emptive studying payed off for me, I did well in the classes that I pre-read for, helped me do well on step 1 and match in my dream res.

 

[drstudychick]

As I'm trying to study for Step 1, the one thing I really wish I had done was buy First Aid at the beginning of school, or, at least at the beginning of second year. I wouldn't necessarily have used it for classes, but after each block, I wish I'd spend an hour or two going through the corresponding section in FA and annotating while it was still fresh, that way, it's not two years later and all this first year micro isn't so foreign.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I'm one of the rare ones who actually studied ahead. Mainly because I'm a forgetful dumba$$, and because I know I'm an average guy who wanted to do above average. So I have to put in extra effort to do well. Their were some in my class who read things once and retained it, I wasn't lucky enough to be one of them. The pre-emptive studying payed off for me, I did well in the classes that I pre-read for, helped me do well on step 1 and match in my dream res.

could you be more specific about what you did to prepare while you were taking the classes (FA vs. subject specific review books, etc)

 

[shivasHeroLike]

long dong's advice are always golden.

maybe cus i have the same mindset.

 

[Acherona]

wow i'm surprised at how many people advocate studying early. First aid is a mindless collection of facts. I don't see how it would at all help to study it early. In the first two years you have to actually learn the material, which I don't think you can do from the likes of BRS and HY. As I prepare for the boards, I see that the things I know well are largely because I happend to learn them well during school, from class notes, textbooks, and espeically seeing patients on the wards. The things I never learned because I slacked during those units (which is most things 🙁) are really hard to solidify from review books after the fact. One thing that might help is reading RR path during pathology since it is relatively extensive but a lot more manageable than robbins.

 

[SeventhSon]

wow i'm surprised at how many people advocate studying early. First aid is a mindless collection of facts. I don't see how it would at all help to study it early. In the first two years you have to actually learn the material, which I don't think you can do from the likes of BRS and HY. As I prepare for the boards, I see that the things I know well are largely because I happend to learn them well during school, from class notes, textbooks, and espeically seeing patients on the wards. The things I never learned because I slacked during those units (which is most things 🙁) are really hard to solidify from review books after the fact. One thing that might help is reading RR path during pathology since it is relatively extensive but a lot more manageable than robbins.

The biggest asset that FA has is it gives you a good framework for what is fair game for the test. If there is stuff that wasn't in your biochem class that was covered in FA, it might be advantageous to try to learn that along with the other biochem at the time.

 

[Long Dong]

could you be more specific about what you did to prepare while you were taking the classes (FA vs. subject specific review books, etc)

Example before my biochem/endocrine block I skimed HY bio chem and read the endocrine sections in BRS. So when the material was covered in class it was some what familiar, I retained it better and I was some what knowledgeable in pbl (got great evals for this, important in my school cuz it is p/f). One evaluater even wrote "one of the brightest students in the group, and maybe even one of the brightest in the class." I know for a fact I'm not I'm just a little above average, but I only gave off that impression cuz I knew things others didn't cuz I read ahead. This quote and many similar to it was put in my deans letter and helped an average joe like me match in a competitive res.

Another example is during the summer before 2nd year I did path research, and a path res recommended for me to listen to goljan audio and read his path review book so I wouldn't be so clueless when being pimped by the path attendings during autopsy. I ended up listening to goljan audio mutilple times while working out, and reading his path book 3x by summer end. So during the path courses of 2nd year it was like review and not like drinking from a fire hydrant. It also helped me do well on step 1.

One more example for you soon to be 3rd years. The weekend before a new rotation I'd skim that section from boards & wards, so on rounds and pimp sessions I knew a little somethang somethang. This helped me get good evals and appear smarter then I actually was. Come review time for step 2, I just reviewed B&W and did questions.

This advice is for the average students or forgetfull people like myself who want to do above average. All you super smart, photographic memory people, read something once and retain it need not apply.

 

[Pewl]

I think FA will become useful at the start of second year when you start covering the organ systems. Year one was really just basic science. At least that's how it was at my school.

 

[gouda]

If you have the time to take notes in FA during your classes then do so. However, you'll find FA is more of a "skeleton" and BRS/HY books will be very helpful for you to do above average in your classwork. At some point you will want to consolidate your sources, but during your first year you're getting the hang of it. I would wait until you start second year because you'll have a sense of WTF is going on via your mutliple BRS/HY, professors, exam questions...etc.

 

[Law2Doc]

The biggest asset that FA has is it gives you a good framework for what is fair game for the test.

I would change your wording "fair game" to "high yield". I certainly saw a few things not in FA on the test that were covered in class, on one of the qbanks, or from other resources. Could have been experimental questions, but certainly FA is not all encompassing. In fact FA itself says don't use it as your only resource. So use it as your framework, but realize that everything you cover in your first two years is potentially fair game. You cannot know it all, so you want to make sure you at least know the things that will historically make up the largest bulk of the test. But don't be too surprised if some obscure detail in your course not in FA shows up on the real test; particularly since FA gets updated to include new things each year and if you start first year with FA, there will have been two additional revisions of FA published by the time you take your test, incorporating more things that have been tested.